How to prevent irrational fears?

[WoopWoop403]

Well um Hello! Haha I'm new here so I don't really know how the system goes around here. But might as well ask haha. So I'm currently studying, and there are often times wherein a worry just pops in my brain. More often than not that worry pertains to umm a scientific paper/project in which I'm the main developer of. And whenever I am reminded or if my brain reminds me of this project, everything goes haywire. I am not able focus or even pay attention to my surroundings when I am reminded of this project. Most times I even forget whatever it is I am doing or even the place or conversation in which I am currently participating in. But when I look at every angle, my project is perfectly fine. Yet I can't seem to convince myself that it is. This has been going on for a while, umm around 2 or 3 weeks. My worry is kind of irrational I know, but it has been constantly bugging me. Any advice on how to deal with this?

[Needtovent]

On the surface this seems like normal stress related to your project. When will it be completef and submitted? Can you shift to looking at the end point? The fact that you are here suggests perhaps you’ve been considering that you may have an ongoing anxiety issue. Not sure. Are you in therapy or have someone to discuss with?

[WoopWoop403 in reply to Needtovent]

According to my project advisers, I would be working on this project for a minimum of 1 year, but if the project is chosen to take part in regional competitions, I should expect around 2 years of work. And no, even though I have been diagnosed with anxiety, I haven't been able to take part in therapy due to financial issues and the psychologist having to move away 2 weeks after my diagnosis. As for someone to discuss it with, well friends and family alike say its overreacting. Maybe I am, I'm not quite sure.

[Needtovent in reply to WoopWoop403]

Sorry as I know what it’s like to hear that you’re overreacting when it’s just YOUR WAY of reacting. Perhaps a trusted advisor could help you locate a counselor on campus or at the very least help you talk through your worries. Maybe a local community clinic? They often have low cost or sliding scale fee arrangements. You

[WoopWoop403 in reply to Needtovent]

Counselors and community clinics are quite the scarcity in my neighborhood, but I will continue looking. Thank you for your advice!

[quitter333]

As Arnold Schwarzenegger said "The first rule - is trust yourself"

That's about it.

If the grades/ indicators show you are doing above average, then all you should do is not fall into the trap of self-doubt.

Why would you stress over a paper? You should stress over developing you personal greater vision about why you even need that paper. Then every second you work on it, win or fail, will have value to you.

[quitter333 in reply to quitter333]

And to answer your question - fail more. Be a professional failure. The greatest people in the world have failed more than others, simply because they have attempted more.

I personally also found great peace using the stoic system of visualizing the worst outcomes (yeah, not the best) - you mentally live through them, so they do not faze you if they happen. Also visualizing makes the possibility of that happening much lower.

imo best course for a day is to do your morning routine, visualize the worst, do some gymnastics, and then "pump" yourself up, vizualize the absolutely best scenario, imagine yourself as a third person that you saw, you would think acts/completes work in an awesome way.

combined these two techniques will eliminate stress from possible bad scenarios and pump you up to simply feel and be better overall.