Chronic worry

[joey9]

Enough of this worrying already! I just can't stop. I can't bear it - I am ruminating literally all day long, and every now and then I am getting odd glimmers of perpective where I realise my worry is totally out of proportion and I feel like a normal person, but then suddenly it will hit me again and I can't focus on anything else. As soon as I clarify one thing in my head another worry races in to take over. I am reading a million self-help books which are brilliant and then I think I'm cured and pleased with myself, and then bam its back with a vengeance. When will this end? I read a great quote: The misery of uncertainty is worse than certain misery. I reckon I have spent a good 85% of today worrying. What a waste of time!

[ron111]

I know, I hate it. My best advice is to stay as busy as possible. That has worked for me. But the hardest thing for me to do is when I start feeling better to not go back to my old ways of worrying.

[joey9]

I stopped worrying for a few minutes this evening and I just thought to myself how great it was not to be worrying when that reminded me of the thing I was worrying about again and hey presto - that feeling of impending doom came flooding back. I am finding it very hard to do the positive thinking techniques at times when my thoughts are so totally out of control. And then when I am fine for a while I don't feel the need to do them any more.

[ron111]

Yea, I think once you feel better you need to keep pushign the positive thought process just as hard. I think it will get easier and you'll gain more confidence. It did work for me for two weeks and I was pretty good. Even drinking coffee, haha. But then I found something else completely different to worry about. And i'm back to where I was. Just keep pushing positive thoughts. Then your mind will start wondering off to good things or things that don't cause you to worry. It's very hard and takes so much discipline. I'm really working at it.

[bio]

My humble suggestion is, take a lot of vitamin B(complex).

[ron111]

Can you explain more the significance of vitamin B?

[jlyaphrodite]

It is supposed to help the nervous system. I started taking a few weeks ago and I feel a lot better! I have read to take vitamin C with it as well, which I do on occasion.

[ron111]

Sounds good to me. Might be worth a try. Thanks for the info.

[gaugreg1x]

Wish I had an answer. I also am a chronic worrier and catastrophizer.
When I try to stop myself from doing it it only tends to work temporarily. Greg

[joey9]

I know its so wrong but i can't shake the attitude that its better to be prepared for all eventualities in case they happen...I think I am secretly in denial and I think that maybe worrying is productive even though it feels so bad. I must stop! also, this whole positive thinking thing - its great and sometimes i feel it works but then i think - what if i visualise myself doing great in a presentation and i get all full of confidence and then...the presentation goes really badly - I'm going to feel like such a fool. This is why I am such a pessimist I think. I can't even bear to look stupid to myself! How sad is that - its social phobia gone wild! I need a lot of help.....

[ron111]

I know, I'm really struggling too. We have just trained our minds so much to worry all the time. It's really hard getting it back to normal. I try to keep busy, and keep saying that the mind controls your anxiety, and we control the mind.

[ron111]

Ok, Joey I have a new method that I thought of myself that makes sense to me that I'm going to try. My reasoning is that we got ourselves like this because we started worrying all the time. We are really unable to clear our thoughts. So, in order to change this process, we need to start thinking more positive. It's obviously not as simple as that. I think we all need to set out a certain amount of time everyday to think positve. Sit and meditate or think positively for 30 minutes in the morning. 30 Minutes in the afternoon, and 30 minutes at night before bed. This will make us calmer and convince ourselves that we can calm ourselves. It will also teach us to think differently and our mind will wonder in different directions rather than in the negative. But the key is, once you start feeling better, keep it up just as before. Keep Keep pushing positive thoughts. This is what i'm going to do.

[joey9]

I bought a(nother) book this week - Its Paul McKenna's how to think positively, and it comes with a hypnosis CD. The book is so great you feel positive just reading it, and it keeps reinforcing the sad truth - 'What we practice we become'. So we have become nervous wrecks. Heaven knows what I will be like when I am 50. Anyway the whole point is to practice thinking positively in every situation. I tried it out and it kind of works - the moment I woke up I said positive things to myself, and did it all day. I felt kind of good that day, but then I had a major anxiety trigger and it flipped me back to the dark side where I still am...I must make amends and try the CD, every evening.

[ron111]

Yea, makes sense. That's why I'm going to try to pratice differently. I should get books like that, but I think this positive thinking might work the same way. Just so hard to change.