Step by step

[lhortiz]

Good morning friends. I struggle with obsessive worry and negative thinking. With that comes thinking the worst about every circumstance. That is what actually caused my anxiety and depression.

I currently deal with symptoms of mind chatter, intrusive negative thoughts, fatigue, tense painful muscles, irritibility, headaches and chest pain.

I have learned that my thinking has taught my nervous system to respond to these thoughts with alarm and thusly the awful symptoms occur; fight or flight if you will. The only way to rid myself of the symptoms is to under react to my circumstances as well as the symptoms along with doing deep relaxation so that my hyper-stimulated nervous system has a chance to recover and return to normal functioning.

I was reading an article on mental illness last night that essentially places the origin on emotions such as fear, anger and sadness that come from distorted thinking which originated with faulty belief systems. The belief systems, if not challenged and dealt with cause the body to respond with emotional upheaval that left unchecked become entrenched and turn into depression and anxiety.

With that being said, this morning I caught myself worrying about a situation. (I have a handful of things that I worry about, same theme every time and it happens all throughout my day) And it dawned on me how ridiculous worrying really is. It never changes the situations, it only makes me physically miserable. Now how is that for solving problems? Uh no! I decided right then and there that my days of worrying were over. I would under react to my symptoms and let my nervous system recover and return to normal health. I will set a side a specific time to address my concerns, usually through prayer and planning and then let it go. Every time the thoughts creep back in I will say to myself, "That has already been dealt with" then get on with my day.

I believe in full recovery and though it will take time it will happen

On my way to freedom my friends and going to have a great day! Blessings on you as well!

[Wilburbudgirl]

Sounds like a good plan! I’m always thinking the worst about my health! I hope that your recovery goes well!

[lhortiz in reply to Wilburbudgirl]

Thank you so much! Yes! Let the light bulb go on and say, "This is stupid"! I'm missing out on great stuff. Check out anxietycentre.com. It will tell you everything you need to know about how to recover and contain your thinking. Good luck!!!

[lhortiz in reply to Wilburbudgirl]

Thanks! And you as well. : )

[August1]

You seem very self aware and that's an incredible tool to have. It's not always easy to shrug things off, but thinking about how the negativity has come to affect you and dismissing it in different ways can be a real game-changer.

What helped me was saying to myself: "you know what, I'm starting to feel that way again." And if I knew what was causing it, I tried to come to the conclusion that it didn't matter. If I didn't know what was causing me to feel badly, then I would just admit that to myself. "You know what, this is my disorder talking. Not me. I'm not going to let it upset me right now."

Be your best ally, not your worst enemy. Well done Ihortiz!

[lhortiz in reply to August1]

Thats a great approach Joey. I feel that continuing to not over react is key to recovery. I like to look back to when I didn't struggle and tell myself I'll be there again.

Good luck on your recovery!