The Anxiety Beast
It is the middle of October already, and the holidays are fast approaching. For some people, the holidays represent warm thoughts of family and friends gathering together. For others, the holidays can represent stress and uncomfortable thoughts of family and friends gathering together. Hopefully you fall in the first category, but if you don’t, never fear because we are going to talk about managing stress and anxiety. I specialize in the treatment of anxiety and am going to offer you a few steps to keep the anxiety beast at bay.
- Noticing – First of all you need to listen and pay attention to what your mind is telling you. All of us have negative and judgmental thoughts from time to time, but if your inner dialogue is a running commentary of what is wrong with you or everyone around you, it’s time to change that talk. So, the first step is to just tune in and notice what you are telling yourself.
- Ask – When you notice a negative thought, stop and take a deep breath and ask yourself, “Is this really true and what evidence do I have?” This question is really important because many of us think thoughts based on how we feel or pre-judging a situation without really knowing the facts.
- Get creative – After asking yourself the previous question, now it’s time to think of alternative reasons about the situation you are facing. For example, if someone was rude to you, maybe they have something major going on in their life and are low on sleep. Or, if you have just been unkind to yourself for something you said or did, extend yourself some compassion and flip that negative statement on it’s back or find some humor in it.
The point for this article is many times we get in our own way and create so much more anxiety than needed. We can take life too seriously and create unrealistic expectations. If you find yourself experiencing unmanageable anxious thoughts and feelings, it might be time to seek out some extra help. At the Carlsbad Counseling Center, we have two very experienced therapists ready to help you reduce anxiety and discover more helpful patterns, so you can get on with your precious, amazing life. Let’s kick the anxiety beast to the curb!
If you’d like to see how Deborah can help you with anxiety and stress management, please call (619) 431-1842 for a FREE 15 minute consultation!