All the talk and fear about the swine flu is creating havoc for many people. It especially affects people prone to panic disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I’ve had many new patients come in for help because they are having a really hard time dealing with all the scary information coming from TV and radio. I’ve even received calls and notes from a few of my clients that I haven’t seen in years, asking for a refresher to get their fears back in control.
So today I’ll start to talk about some easy steps you can take to stop the thoughts that create unnecessary fear and worry. Although we might not be able to stop the reality of the flu, we can control the unhelpful thoughts we create about it.
First, let’s talk about the useful part of worry. If you use worry to take steps to protect yourself then worry is serving a positive purpose. For example, one of my clients took a positive step to deal with her worries about the flu. Instead of just worrying she took steps to protect her family, by getting them vaccinated. I personally use a diffuser that puts healing oils into the air in my office and home. This helps me to feel protected and it is what I do for my family, my clients and myself.
A positive way to deal with worrisome thoughts is to think about the purpose of the worry and then take action. After you’ve done everything you can worry no longer serves a useful purpose.
This is the worry we want to stop, the thoughts that keep playing in the mind, even after there is nothing else you can do.
So you might be wondering, how can you stop this useless worry? This first step is to realize that your own thoughts create worry. The second step is to know that worry can serve a positive purpose. The third step is to ask yourself if you have done whatever you can to deal with the worry. And the final step is that once you have decided you have done everything you can, it is time to change the worry habit.
Changing the worry habit: Start the change by listening for the “what if” questions running in your mind. There are many ways to stop the “what if” questions. The easiest is to change the “what if” thought to its positive form. For example this might sound like. “What if my children stay healthy no matter what happens in the school?” “What if they get the flu and they get over it and are happily playing a week?”
Can you see that these create completely different pictures than the negative “what if” such as “what if they get the flu and they get really sick?” or “What if the whole school comes down with the flu and they have to go to school in the summer?” Since we can’t control the future, begin to create thoughts of what you want instead of what we don’t want.
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