Change How You Think About Anxiety
Struggling with anxiety? If a person feels worried and stressed, they will often reach for food, alcohol, porn, drugs, shopping, or something else to help soothe and calm them. If left unchecked, anxiety can make someone turn to addiction to cope.
But there is a tool called a thought record that can reduce anxiety. A thought record can help people identify automatic negative thoughts and check to see if their thinking falls into one of the many distortions that increase stress, such as catastrophizing. How it works is that a person will write down an alternative balanced thought which states the truth.
For example, let’s say a person thinks that if they try to go to a Life Recovery Group to connect with others, it will be terrible. This would be an example of catastrophizing because they’ve already determined how something will be a disaster beforehand. (more…)
Does worry weigh you down? Maybe your mind races when you go in for your annual checkup, afraid you’ll be diagnosed with a terminal illness. Or you might lie awake at night wondering if your spouse is keeping something from you. Perhaps you worry that there will not be enough money at the end of the month. Can you relate?