How to Stop Worrying and Get Rid of Worrying Thoughts - Vivsco.com.ng

Do you constantly worry, fear, and think about things you can’t control?

The Effects of Worry and Anxiety

Worry, doubt, and anxiety are a normal part of life. It can be overwhelming.

Constant worry, negative thoughts, and negative expectations can take a toll on your emotional and physical health. They can sap your emotional energy, make you anxious and nervous, and lead to insomnia, headaches, stomach problems, and muscle tension. You find it hard to concentrate on work or school. Study.

You may vent your negative feelings on those around you, self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, or try to distract yourself by sitting in front of a screen. Chronic worry can also be a major cause of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a common anxiety disorder that involves worry, anxiety, and feelings of unease that affect your entire life.

If you are experiencing excessive worry and anxiety, there are some things you can do to get rid of the thoughts of chronic worry. It is a mental habit that can stop you from feeling anxious. You can train your brain to relax and view life from a more positive, less threatening perspective.

Why is it so hard to stop worrying?

Constant worry can keep you up at night and make you feel anxious and irritable during the day. Even though you hate the feeling of depression, many people with anxiety suffer from beliefs about worry (both positive and negative):

Negative Beliefs About Worry

You may believe that constant worry is harmful, that it will drive you crazy or affect your health, or perhaps you are afraid that you will completely control yourself and that it will consume you and never stop.

While negative beliefs or worries about worry can increase your anxiety and make you more anxious, positive beliefs about worry are also harmful.

Positive Beliefs About Worry

You may believe that your worry can help you avoid bad things, prevent problems from happening, prepare for the worst, or find solutions. You may tell yourself that if you keep worrying about a problem long enough, you will eventually be able to solve it. .Or perhaps you firmly believe that worrying is the right thing to do, or that it is just a way to make sure that nothing is going to happen to you?

It is difficult to change your worrying habits when you believe that your worry has a good purpose. Once you realize that worry is the problem and not the solution, you can regain control of your anxiety.

Tip 1 for not worrying: Set aside time each day to worry.

It’s hard to get things done in your daily routine when stress and anxiety are taking over your mind and distracting you from work, school, or family life. This is when a “worry postponement” strategy can help.

It’s no use telling yourself not to worry. In fact, trying to do this all the time will only make you worry more and more. This is because trying to “stop thinking” forces you to focus more on the thoughts you’re trying to avoid.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to manage your anxiety. You just need a different approach. This is when the “worry postponement” strategy comes in. Instead of trying to block or push away the worrying thought, allow yourself to experience it and postpone thinking about it until later.

• Create “worry time.” Choose a time and place to worry. The time should be the same every day (for example, 5:00-5:20 pm in your bedroom) and at a time that is comfortable for you to not worry before going to bed. During your worry period, you can worry about anything and everything that comes to mind. However, the rest of the day is worry-free.

• Write down your questions. If a troubling thought or worry comes to your mind during the day, write it down briefly and then move on with your day. Remember, you will have time to think about it later, so there is no need to worry about it now. Additionally, writing down your thoughts on a tablet, phone, or computer is more effective than thinking about them alone, so your worries may fade away.

• Review your “to-do list” when you are worried. If the things you wrote down still bother you, give yourself permission to worry about them, or at least during the time you set aside for worrying. If you look at your problems this way, it will be easier for you to develop a more positive mindset. When your worries are gone, simply reduce the amount of time you worry and enjoy the rest of your day.

Stopping worrying is effective because it breaks the habit of dwelling on it when you have other things to do, and you don’t have to work hard to block the thought or judge it. You can save it for another time. As you develop the ability to let go of worrying thoughts, you will begin to realize that you have more control than you think.

Tip 2: Be aware of your anxious thoughts

If you suffer from chronic anxiety and stress, you may see the world in a more dangerous way than it really is. For example, you may forget that things can go wrong, jump straight to the worst-case scenario, or take every anxious thought as fact. You may also begin to doubt whether you can handle the challenges that come your way, thinking that you will collapse when presented with problems. These behaviors are called irrational and pessimistic.

Although delusions are not based on reality, they can be difficult to break. Often, they are part of a lifelong thought pattern that has become so automatic that you are not even aware of it.

Complications that increase anxiety, worry, and stress include:

Think: It’s all or nothing. There are two ways of looking at things, black and white, with no middle ground. "If everything is not perfect, then I am a complete failure."

Generalization. Collecting negative experiences and expecting them to always be true. "I don't have a job." "I will never get a job."

Mental filtering. Focus on the negative and eliminate the positive. Focus on one thing that went wrong, rather than all the things that went right. I got the last question on the test wrong. "I am stupid."

Reduced enthusiasm. Reasons for good events do not count. "My words are beautiful, but it is bad luck."

to jump to conclusions. Making negative interpretations without good evidence. Like a mind reader: "I can tell he secretly hates me." Or a fortune teller: "I just know something terrible is going to happen."

They are disasters. Waiting for the worst to happen. “The pilot said we were expecting a crash.”

Unreliable reflection. Trust your feelings and your intuition to be true. “I feel like an idiot.” “Maybe everyone is laughing at me.”

“Should” and “Shouldn’t”. Be firm about what you should and shouldn’t do, and punish yourself if you break any rules. “I should have tried to talk to him at all.”

Notes. Self-criticism based on the mistakes and shortcomings found. “I’m losing my mind; ”

Self-discipline. Take responsibility for things you can’t control. “My son had an accident, it’s my fault.”

How to challenge these thoughts

To change these negative thought patterns and eliminate the anxiety and stress they bring, you need to rewire your brain. Once you identify negative thoughts, don’t view them as facts, but as thoughts you’re experimenting with. By examining and challenging your worries and anxious thoughts, you will develop more positive thinking.

When you are worried, challenge your negative thoughts by asking yourself these questions:

• What evidence is there for the truth of this thought? What is it?

• Is there a better, more realistic way to look at this situation?

• Is what I am worried about likely to actually happen? If the problem is small, what are the consequences?

• Is the thought useful? How will addressing it help me, or how will it hurt me?

• What would you say to a friend who is having this thought?

Tip 3: Ask yourself if the worry is manageable

Research shows that when you worry, you feel a temporary decrease in energy. Thinking about it in your head can calm your emotions and make you feel like you’re taking action. But worrying and problem-solving are two very different things.

Problem-solving involves assessing the situation, devising a plan to solve the problem, and then putting that plan into action. Worrying, on the other hand, doesn’t usually lead to decisions. No matter how much time you spend thinking about worst-case scenarios, when they actually happen, you’re no longer prepared to deal with them.

Can you control your worry?

When worry arises in your mind, first ask yourself if this problem is really something you can solve or control.

• What problems are you facing right now, rather than imagined “what ifs”?

• If the problem is framed as a “what if…”, how will it happen? Is your worry realistic?

• Is there anything you can do to solve or prepare for the problem, or is it beyond your control?

Problems that are actionable and solvable are those that you can do something about right away. For example, if you are worried about your debt, you can call your creditors and ask about flexible payment options.

Unproductive and uncontrollable worries are those that do not lead to appropriate action. “What if I have cancer?” or “What if something happens to my child?”

When worries are controlled, ideas begin to emerge.

List all the solutions you can think of. Try not to beat yourself up about finding a perfect solution to the problem. Focus on things you can change rather than circumstances or events that are beyond your control.

After you’ve considered your options, create a plan of action. If you have a plan and start taking action to solve the problem, you’ll feel less overwhelmed.

If the worry is overwhelming, embrace the uncertainty.

If you worry frequently, then many of your anxious thoughts likely fall into this category. Optimism is often a way to anticipate what will happen in the future, a way to avoid unpleasant surprises, and to manage the consequences. The problem is, it doesn’t work.

Thinking about all the things that could go wrong doesn’t make life predictable. You may feel more confident when you’re worried, but that’s just wishful thinking. Focusing on the worst-case scenario prevents you from enjoying the good things in the present. To stop worrying, you must learn to accept the uncertainty we face in life.


Consider your need for immediate answers. Do you often say that bad things will happen because of uncertainty? How is this possible? We can have a small chance of something bad happening, since the probability is small?

Learn how others cope with uncertainty. Ask your friends and family how they handle uncertainty in certain situations. Can you do the same? For example, if you are worried about your child riding the bus to school, asking your neighbors how they cope with uncertainty can help you feel less overwhelmed.

Understand your feelings. Worrying about uncertainty is often a way to avoid negative emotions. But you can't stop your feelings from affecting you. When you worry, your feelings subside temporarily, but once you stop worrying, they will return. Then you start to worry about your feelings: "What's wrong with me? I shouldn't feel this way!"

By using HelpGuide's free Emotional IQ Toolkit, you can connect with your feelings and begin to accept your feelings, even when they're not positive or meaningful.

Tip 4: Talk About Your Problems

It may seem like a simple solution, but talking to a trusted friend, family member, or therapist face-to-face — someone who will listen to you without judging, criticizing, or distracting you — is one of the best ways to calm your emotions. Lower your nervous system and relieve stress. When your worries start to flare up, talking about them can make them less scary.

If you keep your worries bottled up, you’ll just let them build until they become overwhelming. But talking about them out loud can help you understand your feelings and put things in perspective. If your fears are unfounded, expressing them will expose them for what they are: irrational fears. If your fears are reasonable, sharing them with others can help you find solutions that you might not have thought of on your own.

Build a strong support system. Humans are social animals. We are not meant to live alone. But a strong support system does not mean a large social network. Don’t underestimate the value of having a few people you can trust and rely on. If you feel like you have no one you can trust, it’s never too late to make new friends.

Know who to avoid when you’re feeling anxious. Your anxious attitude toward life may have developed as a child. If your mother is constantly anxious, no matter how good your relationship is, she’s not the best person to call when you’re feeling anxious. When thinking about who to turn to for help, ask yourself whether you’ll feel better or worse if you talk to her about your problems.