Cartoon by Christine Korol. A man in a suit with a bright yellow smiley-face head, captioned "Putting on a brave face worked well for Mark - except for the exhaustion headaches, heartburn and his string of emotionally superficial relationships."

Once you have decided that now is the time to treat your anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder, it is tempting to work as hard as you can to get better as fast as possible. That instinct is a good one, and there are intensive formats built around it — going through all the things you need to learn about anxiety in a condensed period of time. It’s kind of a personal workshop on what you need to know about your anxiety - like why your brain sends false alarms, what makes anxiety worse, how to talk back to your anxiety, etc.

The important thing to realize though is that rapid doesn’t have to mean rough. It’s important to go gently when treating anxiety and at a pace that feels comfortable to you. Many people are anxious when they start therapy that they are going to be pushed to face their fears at a breakneck pace. If done properly, treatment should stretch you but not so much that you feel overwhelmed or burned out. When it comes to anxiety, slow and steady wins the race.

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