Magnification Syndrome is the tendency to make little things, big things. This of course is not a real syndrome or condition, but it is what anxiety sufferers endure from time to time. It is not voluntary on the part of the anxiety ridden person either it’s just that when you have anxiety everything seems bigger than it is.
Someone says something nasty to you and you get emotionally wounded – this is magnification syndrome. The things that people say mean so much more when you have anxiety because you are more sensitive then most people. The same is true about small things like losing your keys, getting lost, or even missing your favorite t.v. show. Simply put it is not very hard to upset you. So what gives?
It seems that stress and anxiety can do a myriad of things, including heightening your emotional reactions. Your "nerves" get on edge and as a result your body and mind magnify things. This is true of things like phobias, hypochondria for example, and other phobias that magnify small fears and create real big concerns out of them. That’s why chest discomfort becomes an ER visit and back pain becomes multiple sclerosis for you.
To beat the magnification tendency you have to catch the thought before it becomes big. In other words, when you want to say "I can’t believe….!" or "maybe I have…." stop yourself and acknowledge that your headed for the wrong end of good. Talk to yourself and put things into prospective and help yourself gain control in order to avoid an emotional melt down. It has taken me years of practice to learn how this works but now when I feel myself losing my grip I slow down.
This is particularly true when people tell me things I don’t want to hear and I want to get upset about it. I listen to the problem (and think of solutions) and avoid the tendency to focus on the delivery. This helps to take away the sting that some people can convey with their words. When it comes to potential sickness the same holds true. Be realistic and understand that 9 times out of 10 it’s your anxiety causing the pain.
Ultimately we are humans and can’t avoid being emotional because it’s such an integral part of our makeup, however we can relieve our anxious hold on ourselves long enough to avoid becoming overly upset about small things. We can also try to do the same when it comes to our fears and keep them in control by keeping them in prospective. Anxiety can become an old hated friend but believe me this "friend" will not show you anthing you haven’t already seen.
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