Isn’t it bad enough to be disturbed about events? Now you find out you can even be disturbed about being disturbed about the event.

A person is so afraid to ride in an elevator, that they develop a phobia about it. Soon, not only anxious about elevators, they worry about anxiety about elevators. “Something is drastically wrong with me,” they think; “Maybe I’m going crazy.” “I should not be so anxious about elevators that I can’t use them; that’s an awful problem; I can’t stand to have this fear; I must certainly be inadequate.” “I know I’m losing control; soon I’ll bet I won’t be able to take care of myself at all; I’ll wind up in a mental hospital.”

Can you see how they are not only fearful of elevators, but down on themselves for being afraid of them? In this case there are two A-B-C sets:

• Activating event A₁: Elevator ride
• Irrational belief B₁: “I couldn’t stand to be trapped forever.”
• Emotional consequence C₁: Anxiety (about being trapped).
• Activating event A₂: Anxiety at C₁ (about being trapped).
• Irrational belief B₂: “I should not be anxious about elevators.”
• Emotional consequence C₂: “I’m crazy.” Anxiety (about the anxiety).

We might find it more efficient to work on the secondary set of A-B-C’s first. Once the person can think differently (more rationally) about having an emotional reaction, they may be more able to concentrate on working through the first set of A-B-C’s.

Do you also have a few sets of secondary A-B-C’s that prevent you from making progress?