What is agoraphobia? Personality factors are thought to play a bigger role in the formation of agoraphobia than in other types of anxiety disorders.
In this article, we will talk about some personality traits and characteristics that are found more frequently in those who suffer from anxiety and panic than in those who don't.
The person who has more of these traits, or most, or even all of them, is far more likely to experience agoraphobia than one who shows only a few of them.
Because other variables contribute to anxiety issues as well, simply possessing these kinds of personality traits is not a 100% guarantee that you will develop an anxiety disorder.
The other good news is that many of these traits are changeable.
Most of the them are based on distorted negative thinking patterns, which are usually learned in childhood.
It is certainly possible to re-program these thinking habits by replacing them with new and healthier ways of relating to, and being in the world.
Some personality factors may serve you well, and really only need to be toned down a bit.
When exaggerated, though, they interfere with your functioning, and contribute to anxiety.
You can learn to change any of these traits that are contributing to your anxiety.
By reading through them and determining which ones apply to you, you have taken the first step! Factor ONE: NEED TO BE PERFECT - "I must never fail or make a mistake.
" You really do focus on never making a mistake.
You believe that one must never fail at anything.
You believe that others will judge you as ruthlessly as you judge yourself.
And you can be ruthless! Expectations of yourself are unrealistically high.
If you fall short of the mark, you beat yourself up.
You judge your success in all or nothing terms, and focus on mistakes and negatives rather than seeing the bigger picture.
Your self worth tends to be excessively related to achievement, in many areas, for eg.
intelligence, work success, status, attractiveness, etc.
Factor TWO: HIGH NEED FOR APPROVAL/SENSITIVITY - "I must have everyone approve of me and like me.
" You dread rejection from others because you depend on them for your self image.
You are very sensitive to the feelings of others to the point that you can't feel happy or content unless everyone likes or loves you.
Without the approval of others, you don't feel like a valid person.
You have a strong tendency to be a "people pleaser", ie.
feel it is your duty to keep those in your life happy, even if you make yourself miserable in the process.
You suppress your feelings that you fear may not be approved of by others, such as anger, jealousy, sadness, etc.
You hide your vulnerabilities/flaws from others, fearing if they knew, they wouldn't respect or like you.
You feel extremely threatened by criticism from others, and avoid conflict for fear of rejection from them.
Factor THREE: HIGHLY CREATIVE & FREE THINKING - "I have a strong imagination.
" You are great at imagining things that may happen in the future, and you can imagine in great detail.
Being creative is generally a positive trait, but it also provides you with the ability to think of scary things, dreaded things, and anticipate what could go wrong in every situation.
As you can see, too much of this is not a good thing, and can lead to anticipatory anxiety if it is excessive.
Factor FOUR: HIGH NEED TO BE IN CONTROL - "I must always remain calm and I need things to be predictable.
" You like to know what is going to happen ahead of time, to be in control of situations.
Unexpected changes are very uncomfortable, and may cause anxiety.
In order to control situations, and future events, you may have a tendency to want to control others as well.
You dislike it when people don't behave, feel or think the way that you expect them to.
Losing control personally is also very distressing to you; loss of composure is seen as weakness.
This can result in suppressing feelings that "shouldn't" be felt because they might cause loss of control.
Eg.
Believing that anger might lead to acting out aggressively, sadness might lead to uncontrollable crying, etc.
Factor FIVE: INFLEXIBLE THINKING: "You must do it my way.
" Trouble with seeing the gray areas in life, in situations, and in ways of doing things.
You feel distress when things are not done in the "right" way.
This way of viewing the world is commonly called "black or white", or "all or nothing" thinking.
You likely have many rules that you live by, which help you control things, and you have lots of "shoulds", "have to's" and "can'ts" in your daily thoughts.
As stated before, some of these personality factors may serve you well if you can learn to change the negative thinking that turns these personality factors into negatives that can interfere with your ability to be a happy and calm person.
In this article, we will talk about some personality traits and characteristics that are found more frequently in those who suffer from anxiety and panic than in those who don't.
The person who has more of these traits, or most, or even all of them, is far more likely to experience agoraphobia than one who shows only a few of them.
Because other variables contribute to anxiety issues as well, simply possessing these kinds of personality traits is not a 100% guarantee that you will develop an anxiety disorder.
The other good news is that many of these traits are changeable.
Most of the them are based on distorted negative thinking patterns, which are usually learned in childhood.
It is certainly possible to re-program these thinking habits by replacing them with new and healthier ways of relating to, and being in the world.
Some personality factors may serve you well, and really only need to be toned down a bit.
When exaggerated, though, they interfere with your functioning, and contribute to anxiety.
You can learn to change any of these traits that are contributing to your anxiety.
By reading through them and determining which ones apply to you, you have taken the first step! Factor ONE: NEED TO BE PERFECT - "I must never fail or make a mistake.
" You really do focus on never making a mistake.
You believe that one must never fail at anything.
You believe that others will judge you as ruthlessly as you judge yourself.
And you can be ruthless! Expectations of yourself are unrealistically high.
If you fall short of the mark, you beat yourself up.
You judge your success in all or nothing terms, and focus on mistakes and negatives rather than seeing the bigger picture.
Your self worth tends to be excessively related to achievement, in many areas, for eg.
intelligence, work success, status, attractiveness, etc.
Factor TWO: HIGH NEED FOR APPROVAL/SENSITIVITY - "I must have everyone approve of me and like me.
" You dread rejection from others because you depend on them for your self image.
You are very sensitive to the feelings of others to the point that you can't feel happy or content unless everyone likes or loves you.
Without the approval of others, you don't feel like a valid person.
You have a strong tendency to be a "people pleaser", ie.
feel it is your duty to keep those in your life happy, even if you make yourself miserable in the process.
You suppress your feelings that you fear may not be approved of by others, such as anger, jealousy, sadness, etc.
You hide your vulnerabilities/flaws from others, fearing if they knew, they wouldn't respect or like you.
You feel extremely threatened by criticism from others, and avoid conflict for fear of rejection from them.
Factor THREE: HIGHLY CREATIVE & FREE THINKING - "I have a strong imagination.
" You are great at imagining things that may happen in the future, and you can imagine in great detail.
Being creative is generally a positive trait, but it also provides you with the ability to think of scary things, dreaded things, and anticipate what could go wrong in every situation.
As you can see, too much of this is not a good thing, and can lead to anticipatory anxiety if it is excessive.
Factor FOUR: HIGH NEED TO BE IN CONTROL - "I must always remain calm and I need things to be predictable.
" You like to know what is going to happen ahead of time, to be in control of situations.
Unexpected changes are very uncomfortable, and may cause anxiety.
In order to control situations, and future events, you may have a tendency to want to control others as well.
You dislike it when people don't behave, feel or think the way that you expect them to.
Losing control personally is also very distressing to you; loss of composure is seen as weakness.
This can result in suppressing feelings that "shouldn't" be felt because they might cause loss of control.
Eg.
Believing that anger might lead to acting out aggressively, sadness might lead to uncontrollable crying, etc.
Factor FIVE: INFLEXIBLE THINKING: "You must do it my way.
" Trouble with seeing the gray areas in life, in situations, and in ways of doing things.
You feel distress when things are not done in the "right" way.
This way of viewing the world is commonly called "black or white", or "all or nothing" thinking.
You likely have many rules that you live by, which help you control things, and you have lots of "shoulds", "have to's" and "can'ts" in your daily thoughts.
As stated before, some of these personality factors may serve you well if you can learn to change the negative thinking that turns these personality factors into negatives that can interfere with your ability to be a happy and calm person.
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