How ACT Helps With Anxiety: Panic, Health Anxiety, GAD & Doomscrolling
Anxiety doesn’t just live in your head. It shows up in your body, your behaviour, your sleep, your scrolling habits — and in the quiet rules you may have started to live by about what feels safe.
Panic. Health anxiety. Generalised anxiety. Doomscrolling.
They can look different on the surface, but underneath they often run on the same engine: a mind trying desperately to protect you by controlling uncertainty.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a different, kinder way forward.
What Is ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy)?
ACT (said as one word: act) is an evidence-based therapy developed by Steven Hayes and widely taught by clinicians such as Russ Harris. It sits within the CBT family but takes a notably different stance.
Instead of asking “How do I get rid of anxiety?” ACT asks:
“How can I live a meaningful life, even when anxiety shows up?”
The goal isn’t to eliminate anxious thoughts or feelings, but to stop them from running your life.
For further reading, you might explore Steven Hayes’ books on ACT or Russ Harris’ practical guides for helpful exercises and metaphors.
Why Anxiety Gets Stuck
Most anxiety problems are unintentionally maintained by struggle and avoidance:
- Monitoring your body for danger
- Googling symptoms for reassurance
- Avoiding places that trigger panic
- Mentally rehearsing worst-case scenarios
- Scrolling the news to feel ‘prepared’
Russ Harris uses the tug-of-war with a monster metaphor. Anxiety is the monster on the other end of the rope. The harder you pull, the harder it pulls back. ACT teaches you how to drop the rope.
A Brief Case Vignette: The Bus Ride
Imagine you’re driving a bus. You’re the driver — your life, your direction.
Anxiety jumps on board as a loud, convincing passenger:
“You’re about to panic.”
“What if this symptom means something serious?”
“You should check the news — what if you miss something important?”
For a long time, you stop the bus whenever anxiety shouts. You argue with it, reassure it, or wait until it quietens down.
ACT teaches you something radical: you don’t have to throw the passenger off the bus. You can let it shout and still drive where you choose to go.
How ACT Helps Different Forms of Anxiety
Panic Disorder
With panic, the problem isn’t anxiety itself — it’s the fear of anxiety.
ACT helps you:
- Make room for racing heart, dizziness, and breathlessness
- Stop treating panic sensations as emergencies
- Rebuild trust in your body
Instead of “I must calm down”, the stance becomes:
“I can feel this and still cope.”
Health Anxiety
Health anxiety is driven by certainty-seeking.
ACT works by:
- Reducing compulsive checking and reassurance-seeking
- Helping you step back from catastrophic health thoughts
- Building tolerance for uncertainty
Thoughts shift from facts to mental events:
“I’m having the thought that something is wrong with me.”
That distance matters.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD often feels like nonstop mental problem-solving.
ACT helps by:
- Untangling you from worry loops
- Bringing attention back to the present moment
- Reconnecting you with what matters beyond ‘what if’
Worry stops being your full-time job.
Doomscrolling
Doomscrolling is a modern form of threat monitoring.
ACT doesn’t shame this behaviour — it makes sense. Your nervous system is trying to stay safe.
ACT helps you:
- Notice the urge to scroll without automatically obeying it
- Name the function (control, reassurance, avoidance)
- Choose values-based limits around news and social media
You regain choice, rather than being pulled by urgency.
The Core ACT Skills (In Plain English)
ACT builds psychological flexibility through six overlapping skills:
- Acceptance – making space for anxiety instead of fighting it
- Defusion – stepping back from anxious thoughts
- Present-moment awareness – coming out of imagined futures
- Self-as-context – remembering you are more than anxiety
- Values – clarifying what really matters to you
- Committed action – taking small steps toward a meaningful life
You don’t need to master all six. Small shifts make a real difference.
What ACT Is (and Isn’t)
ACT is not about:
- Positive thinking
- Forcing exposure
- Pretending anxiety doesn’t exist
ACT is about:
- Compassion
- Practical skills
- Living well, not symptom-free
As Russ Harris puts it, the aim isn’t to feel good — it’s to live well.
A Different Relationship With Anxiety
When anxiety is no longer in charge:
- Panic loses its power
- Health fears soften
- Worry no longer dominates
- Doomscrolling becomes a choice, not a compulsion
ACT helps you build a life that is wider, richer, and more meaningful — with anxiety along for the ride, not at the wheel.
Further Resources
If you’re struggling with panic, health anxiety, chronic worry, or doomscrolling, ACT offers a grounded, compassionate way forward — one that focuses on how you want to live, not just how you want to feel.
