Living in my head

I have found myself constantly ruminating with intrusive thoughts that wont stop . I'm not living in the here and now , I'm living inside my head . The maybes and what ifs never stop , its relentless, it really takes over all day long and I am not functioning. The jobs and housework aren't getting done as I just sit there worrying about the what ifs . Has anyone got any ideas how I can bring myself back to the here and now and try and gain back some kind of control. Thankyou

[1OshunDreamer]

Aahh good ol' anxiety. Mine happens mostly at night when I have less distractions. It causes me really bad insomnia. My Dr prescribed me Trazodone for it. It works 75% if the time.

[Hidden in reply to 1OshunDreamer]

I've just thought since you mentioned the word distractions , that's what i don't do , i never distract myself, perhaps i should start breaking the habit by making myself do random things, thankyou for replying

[mollykay70]

Do you have a therapist? There are some really good techniques that you can try when your in the moment. DBT therapy might be useful as well as CBT.

Things that help me...

- distraction - but I do have to be careful because it does lead me down the road of avoidance

- meditation- I like the iPhone app Calm

- put it in a box - the thing I’m worrying about, I imagine putting it away in a box that I can open later if I want

- check the facts - ask myself where the worry is coming from, write it down and really ask myself if that is based on a factual thing or just something that I made up in my head

- so what if it did happen. Imagine what you would do if the worst case scenario actually did happen and how I would handle it or manage it.

- the worry monster- sometimes I imagine that the voice in my head saying what if this and what if that is a little monster sitting on my shoulder talking my ear. I imagine putting him in a cage or just knocking off my shoulder.

Some of these might seem silly but sometimes they work.

I hope you find something that works for you.

[Hidden in reply to mollykay70]

Thankyou so much for all your information. I really appreciate it. I will write all this on paper and I will have a look at the calm app . Many thanks

[FearIsALiar in reply to mollykay70]

That’s a lot of great info! Thanks for sharing. Very useful

[1OshunDreamer in reply to mollykay70]

Journaling helps me if I catch it before my anxiety gets out of control.

[Hidden]

It is pretty hard some days to for the brain to stop thinking. I can relate to that. It is also when I am done working it seems like my mind is still going but not like it was when I am working. Some days its hard to concentrate.