These are often symptoms not just of current situations but also of learned behavior due to lifelong conditioning, self-beliefs and past experiences.

People who suffer with these conditions often have a tendency to have regular and repetitive negative thoughts about previous experiences where they felt fear, anxiety and stress. The problem with this behavior is that the mind responds to these thoughts with images or mini films of them continuing to respond in the same way. In effect they are mentally rehearsing and getting better and better at feeling stressed and anxious in certain situations.