Don't Let Anxiety Become Your BFF!

We're all anxious sometimes-perhaps when we're at a doctor's appointment or making an important decision an. But there's a difference between occasional nerves and constant low-level panic-just like lunch with a friend is different from moving in with them. 

A Problem-Not a Condition

The good news is that if you maintain constant low-level anxiety that inhibits your ability to function, it is not a permanent condition-it is a problem that can be solved. You just need new skills to turn your relationship with anxiety into one that works for, not against, you.

You can learn to identify the scary, irrational thoughts called untrue stories. How can we say they're untrue? Mostly because if we're imagining them, they haven't happened yet. Or, we revise history, kicking ourselves for not knowing then what we know now.

Try these on for size:

• If I get promoted, I won't perform. (How do you know? You can't predict the future.)
• I should have taken the other job. (You can never know if the other job was the "right" one.)
• My kids will never succeed, and it's my fault. (How do you know? And were you their only influence?)
• Nothing I do matters. (To whom? Based on what criteria?)
• If I go to the doctor, I'll have a terrible disease. (Or you might be fine, or get help. Death is not your only option!)

Don't Lose Yourself

Untrue stories eat energy. We're less able to deal with real problems. We're not present for those we love. Obsessions about what "might" happen or "could have been" rob us of today.

To escape, we consume distractions like tv, excessive alcohol or food, or even potentially healthy things like exercise. But we're filling a bucket that has holes. It doesn't work-at least, not for long.

Take Action 

Review your thoughts. Are you unable to focus? Do you keep imagining the future or past? Are you repeating troubling or influencing thoughts (I need a drink; If I miss that call, my career is finished; If Suzi gets a "B," she'll never make UT; Harold's late again-so he doesn't love me)?

While the anxiety is real, the stories aren't. Pinpointing them is easiest when reflecting in the confines of a like-purposed, confidential group. Together, we see the stories for the falsehoods they are and root them out-even if we've been rehashing them for years.

Listen to your body. It might give the first clues you're lost in an untrue story with:
 - shortness of breath
 - stomachache
 - dizziness
 - muscle tension
 - sleepiness without

Comments

[Sydney's Anxiety Treatment]

I also find chest pain can be a common sympton.

Thanks for this, very interesting!