Last update: April 18, 2017
Your typical day is full of worries, you can't stop ruminating on the events of the day and why they happened. Try to find solutions to situations that are now a thing of the past and cannot be changed. "And if I had done so instead of this ..." And if not for this, you are anxious for what is to come, you cannot help but worry about what you will have to do after you have finished reading this article ...
Or after you have finished eating. You worry about things to do tomorrow, and the day after, and in a month ... You spend the day thinking about all the threats of the past and the future, looking for solutions to dangers that, perhaps, do not even exist. What can we do to stop worrying? Cognitive-behavioral therapy can help us find some answers. Read on!
"Worry does not remove the pain of tomorrow, but it eliminates the strength of today"
-Corrie ten Boom-
What is meant by generalized anxiety?
Generalized anxiety usually leads a person to constantly feel restless and worried about aspects of daily life. In other words, he constantly thinks about things to do and automatically convinces himself that something will go wrong during the day. She may think, for no reason, that she will face financial problems, that they will fire her or that her children will fail.
But it's not just about that. Daily chores, such as cleaning or repairing your car or house, turn into sources of anxiety, stress and worry. They also spend their days mulling over the fears and mistakes of the past. In this way, they enter a tunnel of negative thoughts in which the person does nothing but look for solutions to their problems without, however, being able to solve any of them.
If you have generalized anxiety, you may be affected by a strong sense of restlessness and impatience, as well as muscle tension. Another typical feature is the difficulty in maintaining concentration or clearing one's mind. Problems related to sleep appear: it is not possible to reconcile it, to maintain it or to reach a phase of restorative sleep. It also increases fatigue and irritability.
As you can imagine, this disorder prevents people from relaxing, leading them to fear all situations that they believe may increase their anxiety. What do they do then? They avoid them, so as to temporarily calm the nerves. The problem is that they will tolerate anxiety less and less, avoiding as many situations as possible and considerably worsening their quality of life.
What happens to our internal dialogue in cases of generalized anxiety?
It so happens that these people perceive most situations as dangerous. They interpret reality in a threatening way, reaching negative conclusions even when there is no evidence that something will go wrong.
Cognitive biases, irrational beliefs and automatic thoughts play a fundamental role in the whole process. These people tend to respond above all to negative stimuli, interpreting the information collected in a negative way for them and evaluating current situations on the basis of others belonging to the past and which had been unfavorable for them.
“Can't you cure a sick mind? Don't you know how to eradicate from her brain a pain that is clinging to it, and by means of some sweet antidote that restores oblivion, cleanse her breast from that heavy, dangerous encumbrance that troubles her and weighs down her heart? "
-William Shakespeare-
They also believe in a number of clichés about how the world should work that don't quite match reality. But there is more, they tend to jump to conclusions without wondering if they are right or functional for them.
For this reason, it is necessary to learn to identify this type of prejudice. Once this step is taken, we may wonder what evidence we have to support them. In other words, we will look for information that is congruent or not with the same biases. In this way, we will be able to find more realistic information about reality, removing the temptation to think catastrophically.
Learn to relax and make decisions
Unfortunately, the ability to locate and modify our thoughts is by no means simple and requires, on the contrary, the support of a good psychologist to be able to learn and put it into practice effectively. But working with your thoughts is not enough: you need to control anxiety from several fronts.
“The ability to bear anxiety is important for the self-realization of the individual and for his conquest of the surrounding environment. Self-realization is achieved only if one advances regardless of emotional confrontations. This indicates a constructive use of anxiety ”.
-Kurt Goldstein-
We also suggest you learn to relax, reducing muscle tension and physiological activation. A good way to do this is to practice abdominal breathing which, once you are familiar with it, can be used in any situation. Another interesting technique is that of progressive muscle relaxation.
Furthermore, it has already been said that these people spend a lot of time looking for possible solutions in their heads without being able to put any into practice. For this problem, it might be helpful to learn a make decisions and carry them out even when they do not turn out to be the most appropriate. The important thing is to try until the right solution is found… making mistakes is human!
As already specified, in fact, avoiding certain situations is neither the right strategy nor the most beneficial. It is therefore important to stop running away. If you feel nervous in a certain context, try to put into practice the relaxation strategies you have acquired. The path to overcome this malaise is not easy, but with the help of a good analyst you can recover your life… Forza!
Images courtesy of Ryan McGuire.
