Life can cause you to worry about the things you can and cannot control. Worrying may be a driving force in causing you to take action and solve problems but constant worrying is not good for your mental health when you focus too much on the what-ifs and worst case scenarios. Here are strategies to stop yourself from worrying in order to prevent your emotional energy being sucked away and interfering with your daily life.
It is hard to stop worrying because you believe that worrying will help you avoid bad things, prepare for the worst to happen, and can help you come up with solutions. The truth is that when you are excessively worrying, you will not be able to think and worrying about worrying will not make those thoughts go away. If you continue to believe that worrying will protect you from bad things happening and that it serves as a positive purpose, it will be a tough habit to break.
One strategy is to determine if the problem you are having is solvable. Use problem solving skills by looking closely at the situation, see how you can deal with it, and put the plan into action. While you may feel like worrying will help you put your emotions on hold so that you can focus on the ask at hand, it will rarely help you solve problems. Ask yourself if the problem you are currently facing is real or just an imaginary what-if scenario. Think if this is a realistic problem that is occurring and how likely this outcome will happen. Remember that solvable problems can be fixed right away such as if you left your jacket at a restaurant, you know to call the restaurant and see if the jacket is still where you left it. Just make a list of possible solutions and do not try to find the perfect one. Focus on what you can change. As for problems that are beyond your control, just remind yourself that you have no power over the outcome and to accept your feelings without being overwhelmed.
Sometimes, worrying can be contagious where your worrying can make others around you worry. To prevent this from happening, write your worries in a journal and what triggered it so you can see a pattern. Use mindfulness meditation to focus on the present to break free from the negative worrying thoughts.
Smarmore Castle Private Clinic in County Louth, near Dublin was founded in 1988 as a residential rehabilitation hospital treating people suffering from drug and alcohol purposes. Smarmore Castle believes in helping patients lead a life of abstinence through 12 Step programs, detox and medical treatment, psychotherapy, and complementary therapies for mental illnesses. For more information, please call 041-214-5111. For those who live out of the country, the international number is 00353-41-214-5111.
