Your daily life is full of worries. His head keeps spinning thinking about everything that happened throughout the day. You’re looking for solutions to situations that are already in the past and can’t be changed. “What if I had done this or a kilo? Or if you’re not worried about what’s coming You can’t stop thinking about what to do after reading this article.
What happens after you finish eating, and what happens tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and the day after tomorrow?And in a month! The question is: do you spend the day turning your head, seeing the threats of your past and your future, looking for solutions to risks that don’t even exist?, what can we do to stop worrying?, does cognitive behavioral therapy give us ideas?about that? Read!
“Concern doesn’t take away tomorrow’s pain, but it takes away today’s strength. -Corrie ten Boom-
Widespread anxiety is characterized by the person who is constantly agitated or concerned about areas of everyday life, that is, we constantly anticipate and do so thinking that during the day something will change, you may think, for no real reason, that you are going to have financial difficulties, that you will be left out of work or that your children will recover.
But not only that. Daily tasks, such as cleaning or repairing the house or car, generate anxiety, demands and worries, in addition, the fears and mistakes of the past can be in their head, so the person enters a cycle of negative thoughts and constantly searches solutions to problems, but without implementing them.
When the person suffers from generalized anxiety, anxiety or impatience, as well as muscle tension, difficulty maintaining concentration or leaving the mind empty is also characteristic, sleep disturbances appear, either to fall asleep, to maintain sleep or to rest. They are also more tired and irritable.
As you can imagine, these people find it difficult to relax and fear situations where they think it will increase their anxiety. So, what are you doing? Avoid them, so that your nerves calm momentarily, the bad thing about this is that, over time, they tolerate less and less anxiety and avoid bad situations, so their life is more altered.
The fact is that these people perceive most situations as dangerous, constantly interpret reality in a harmful way, drawing negative conclusions even if there is no evidence that something is really bad.
Cognitive trends, irrational beliefs and automatic thoughts play an important role in this process. These people tend to follow negative stimuli, interpret information negatively for them, and analyze current situations based on other bad pasts.
“Can’t you erase the anxieties etched into your brain and, with a sweet antidote to oblivion, snatch the dangerous substances that weigh on your heart from your oppressed chest?-William Shakespeare-
In addition, there are a number of beliefs about how the world should work that do not adapt to reality, but that is not all: a series of reflections appear in situations that we do not question and are not functional to us.
Therefore, it is necessary to learn how to identify them, once this is done we can ask ourselves what evidence we have for and against them, that is, to look for information that is consistent or inconsistent with it. we will be able to seek more realistic interpretations of reality, to eliminate the temptation to think catastrophically.
The truth is that learning to locate and modify our thoughts is a complex thing and requires the help of a good psychologist to carry out effectively. But it is not enough to work on our own thoughts; you need to manage anxiety with other approaches.
“The ability to resist anxiety is important for the development of the individual and for his conquest of the environment. Self-realization is achieved only by progressing despite emotional shocks. This shows what is the constructive use of anxiety. ?-Kurt Goldstein-
I also suggest that you learn to relax, in order to reduce muscle tension and physiological activation, a good way to do this is by practicing abdominal breathing, which we can use in any situation once we have acquired the skill. Another technique that may be interesting is progressive muscle relaxation.
In addition, we have already commented that these people are dedicated to finding possible solutions in their head but cannot execute any of them, so it will also be good that they learn to make decisions and implement the solutions they have thought. even if they are not the most suitable, and without being punished. The question is to experiment until you find the right one?
As we have already said, avoiding these situations is not the strategy that benefits us the most, so it is important to stop running away from that. If we get nervous, we can practice the relaxation strategies we have acquired. Changing to overcome this discomfort is not easy, but with the help of a qualified professional can we regain our quality of life?Let’s go!
Images courtesy of Ryan McGuire.