Tip of The Week
08/016/10 - Week Five
Stop Worrying
By Tara Deliberto, M.A.
While solving problems and thinking ahead are beneficial strategies, worrying just seems to cause distress. But if worrying causes more problems than it solves, what is the use? There must be a reason why 19 million Americans have been classified as chronic worriers. Perhaps this is partially because just putting an end to worrying isn’t that easy.
Luckily, psychological scientists have come up with several strategies for ending worry! Here are some tips:
1. First, you want to reduce your vulnerability to worrying by taking care of yourself. Make sure you sleep and eat right.
2. Second, when you catch yourself worrying, take a few minutes to calm yourself through meditation, listening to music, or deep breathing.
3. Once you’re in a more relaxed state, try to examine whether or not your thoughts are productive and problem solving focused. Pick out what thoughts can be useful in helping you solve a practical problem. Label the rest as worries.
4. Examine the accuracy of your thoughts. Ask yourself questions like:
- What the probability of my thought being true?
- What is the likelihood that what I fear will actually happen?
- Is having this thought helpful?
- If a friend had this worry, what would I say?
5. If you find yourself worrying about what you cannot change, remind yourself that struggling with what you cannot control will only make it worse. Acceptance of what you cannot change is much more favorable strategy.