It is not unusual to worry when you perceived some threat to you or your loved one’s safety. Worrying is normal given that life always has something surprising and unfamiliar challenges for us and it is natural for us to respond or feel anxious when thrown to these varying circumstances.
However, when this anxiousness or chronic worrying has become part of your daily life and is already interfering with how you function with your day-to-day activity, causing adverse effects on your performance and productivity at school or work, that’s your sign that you have to take necessary actions to have control back in your life.
If you suspect that you or someone you know is battling with chronic worry, it is imperative to immediately seek professional help in order for you to get the medical assistance you need. In this piece, we have listed some effective ways for how you can better manage chronic worry.
Analyse the Risks
Chronic worry can take over your mind and ruin your risk assessment skills. This may result in finding yourself preoccupied with too much worry about future possibilities even when there is no compelling reasons or evidence to support these possibilities.
Instead of worrying, it is better to analyse the risks you have and make a reasonable assessment out of these. Worrying without sufficient evidence or reasons to back it up is a waste of your time, energy and can be a source of your frustrations. Hence, next time you worry, try to analyse realistically first if your worry has solid evidence. If it does not, eliminate these thoughts and focus on other important things in your life.
Identify Your Trigger
Another technique in order to better manage your chronic worry is by identifying your worrisome thoughts. Write down your worrisome and distressing thoughts when they attack. This way, you can track and eliminate them immediately when they attack in the future.
Aside from identifying these thoughts, it is also helpful to write down alongside these notes some positive substitution statements to calm your mind about these distressing thoughts. This is a great way to eradicate these thoughts before they completely occupy your mind again.
Learn and Practice Relaxation Techniques
Practising mindfulness meditation is a good relaxing technique to completely immerse yourself in the present moment. Practising this technique regularly helps in reducing intrusive thoughts.
Mindfulness meditation helps you acknowledge your distressing thoughts but allows yourself not to engage with them at the same time. It positions you to focus more on what is happening around you.
Some activities that may be beneficial include progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, walking, meditation, guided imagery and journaling.
Mindfulness is being completely immersed in the present moment. It involves acknowledging the worries that enter your head and then letting them drift away without engaging them, allowing you to refocus on what you are doing at that moment. Meditation, going for a walk in nature or playing with your kids are great ways to practice mindfulness.
By learning and practising relaxation techniques, you will be able to reduce intrusive worry. Some techniques that may be beneficial with mindfulness meditation include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and journaling.
Talk To Someone
Reaching out to your family and friends is helpful when these distressing thoughts occur as you will be given a chance to see things from a different perspective. Your family and/or friends may give you solutions to your problems, helping you to clear up your minds with these unrealistic worries.
If talking to your loved ones and/or friends is not sufficient to alleviate your worries, it is probably best to seek professional help so that they can guide you better with the proper treatment modalities. It is sometimes best to talk to someone expert in this field as they can give you the proper advice and feedback what steps to do in order to eliminate these disturbing thoughts that are preventing you from living the best years of your life.