How Can I Stop Worrying?

The world can be a scary and unpredictable place, it’s not surprising that many people are troubled by worried thoughts. Having anxious thoughts about what could go wrong is a natural part of being human. Eliminating all of your worried thoughts isn’t realistic, achievable or even helpful. Worrying can be really useful at times, it can help you put work in you need to in order to succeed in your job, it can prompt you to get that check-up or scan you know you should, or encourage you to prepare adequately for what lies ahead. Sometimes, though worried thoughts are not helpful and can really start to take control and dominate your thinking. In these cases, worries become more than passing thoughts that prompt you to do what you need to, they can become futile preoccupations.

One of the key things with worry is to consider if the issue you are worrying about is under your control. Can this issue benefit from planning, problem solving or some kind of positive action? Examples include worrying about passing an exam, this can lead you to study hard and prepare well. Sometimes though, there may not be any steps you can take or anything you can do. Sometimes the issue is not under anyone’s control at all, and sometimes other people are the ones who have the power to effect change. When you have considered if the issue benefits from problem solving and you find the answer is no, then learning to put the thought away and disengage from that train of thinking is the best thing to do. Sometimes you may need to process any emotions you are feeling or develop skills in managing your thoughts to be able to do this effectively. Sometimes we are worrying to stop experiencing a particular emotion, considering what you are feeling and trying to tune into that can press the ”STOP” button on your worries.