The Inner Critic: Why It Becomes the Main Source of Anxiety

Everyone has an inner critic, and it is almost always "in the minus" — toxic toward ourselves. In this brochure we look at it through the lens of the method: not *what it says*, but why it switches on at all and why it becomes the main source of anxiety.

The Critic Is Always Near and Almost Always "in the Minus"

The doctor notes: the inner critic never leaves; it stays and works "little by little." By observation, roughly 80% of the time it is a toxic attitude toward oneself. It creeps in quietly: "am I doing the right thing, will I make it, what if they bury me" — and this "infection" grows gradually, starting up the whole inner "music" of anxiety.

Why Fatigue Specifically Triggers the Critic

The key mechanism in the method's logic is simple: the critic grows stronger when you are tired. A tired nervous system becomes weak, and a weak one becomes suggestible. In this state a trigger easily "breaks through" the defense: catecholamines go up, cortisol goes up — and there is the anxiety.

The doctor compares: it's one thing to hold your own wave, to keep the inner "spark" going. But when the wave gets knocked off and there is no energy to stay in it, reality seems to "wash away" — and then you get caught "in the crossfire" in your most vulnerable state.

The Critic Is Not One "Culprit" but a State of the System

Here the method departs from the usual explanation. We tend to look for a single cause: parents, teachers, "all that music." But the doctor insists — it is not one thing.

He uses the image of a fever: 38.5 isn't the number by itself, it's the whole organism in a certain state. The same goes for the critic: it becomes the main source of anxiety precisely because in that moment it seems to be the only one — like in a dream where there is "no first, no second, no third." The nervous system simply cannot withstand it.

The Ability "Not to Buy" the Situation

The method links resilience to the critic with development. As a person grows — neuroplasticity, epigenetics — there emerges the ability to take a hit and not "buy" the situation, to switch it off.

But if the nervous system isn't strong enough, or the blow exceeds its resources — it can't cope. And here is the doctor's key stance: don't be afraid to break. "The best goalkeeper is the one who has let in the most goals."

Practice

1. Notice fatigue as a signal. When the critic "starts the music," first ask not "what's wrong with me" but "how depleted am I right now."
2. Run a reality check. Test what the critic says against the facts — so reality doesn't "wash away."
3. Retreat to your "place of power." In a vulnerable moment, go where "no one can reach you," and breathe in and out.
4. Recover after load. After the "marathon" you must recover — then there will be more energy and strength.
5. Don't buy the situation. Learn to catch the moment when you can "not buy" the critic's thought and switch it off.