Usually, this means that even though you’re not in the situation, you’re imagining being in the situation. This image triggers your anxious response and intensifies the dread as the day nears in which you’ll actually enter the feared situation. For example, Roman began to worry and feel anxious each night as he imagined riding the escalator of the subway station. Although he lay safely in his bed at home, the image of the escalator loomed large in his anxious mind, and grew bigger and scarier each hour, causing him to toss and turn all night long.

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