Are worried thoughts and overwhelming emotions getting in your way? Why are you so afraid, so irritable, so angry, or so sad? Why do anxiety and negative emotions keep making everything so hard? It’s frustrating when you feel held back by your own dark moods and unproductive habits. It’s disheartening when the mental clarity you seek is consistently overshadowed by recurring negativity.
Thankfully, you don’t have to go on this way. Instead, consider the following actions to support your mental and emotional well-being.
Be Mindful of Unproductive Thought Patterns
Awareness is everything when anxiety runs rampant in your mind and body. Consciously slow your breath and observe your thoughts. Take in what’s really happening or what you’re afraid might be happening. There are probably some common cognitive misfires occurring in your anxious mind. It’s important to break down repetitive misperceptions and unhelpful thinking that are getting in your way. Do any of these thought patterns seem familiar?
Are you blurring “possibly, maybes” with “most likely, probables?”
In other words, do you tend to overreact, catastrophize, or get wrapped up in what could happen, complete with a lot of worst-case scenario details?
Anxiety and negativity make it hard to tell the difference between unlikely situations and likely situations. It's unhelpful to ruminate on catastrophes and calamities that may never come. It’s reasonable to be anxious and ready for immediate or imminent challenges or dangers.
Do you exaggerate the results or consequences of your choices?
Do you dramatically overestimate the negative impact of your decisions? You may believe that any mistake on your part could completely devastate your life. Anxiety can convince you that you’ll always come out the loser. When every decision is life or death, anxiety becomes overwhelming.
Are you unsure of your own agency, strength, and resilience?
Do you feel helpless, unprepared, or inadequate when it comes to facing your fears? Anxiety and negative emotion undermine what you know about yourself. You may even believe you lack a natural survival instinct or the ability to cope at all. As a result, you may have surrendered your right to live freely or seek out authentic relationships.
Begin noticing what’s going on in your own mind. What challenges healthy coping and positive thinking? Noticing and challenging fears as they arise is a powerful step toward putting anxiety in its place.
Interrupting Anxiety: How You Can Start Making Changes
This isn’t easy. It takes commitment, courage, and a willingness to be uncomfortable. Your efforts to disrupt your anxious patterns will likely require practice and time. However, keep in mind that anxiety and negative emotions are normal when they are put in their rightful places. Overwhelm is the real problem. You needn’t ignore, bury, or hide from tough feelings. The goal is to refuse to surrender to them. Practice facing your fears strategically. How? Here are a few ideas:
Be intentional.
Few things change without an action plan. You can choose to take back control with support. Stay the course when anxiety tries to distract you, give yourself some grace when anxiety gets the upper hand. Overcoming unhelpful thought patterns is a practice; simply commit to the process.
Prioritize and practice being present.
Don't live and think too far ahead. This moment is enough, and today requires your full attention. Notice your emotions without judging them. Meditate. Journal. Share with someone you trust.
Listen to your self-talk.
Sometimes, shaming, blaming, or belittling yourself becomes such an automatic response to your anxiety that you make matters worse. Awareness of fear and worry isn't a call to beat yourself up. Your emotions aren't character flaws. Show yourself compassion and temper your inner tongue by intentionally being kinder to yourself. Instead of criticism, practice affirming yourself honestly and positively.
Celebrate each decision to cope rather than avoid difficulty.
When you struggle with anxiety, it's important to accept that some uncertainty comes with life. Acknowledge the anxiety, but also acknowledge every time you face it, however big or small the fear. Celebrate your ability to cope with emotions that seem too big in the moment. When you make it through a tough spot or bad day, congratulate yourself for moving through it.
You Can Take Charge of Anxiety and Negativity with Help
It’s human to be afraid at times. Feeling occasionally on edge, experiencing some discomfort, or wrestling with uncertainty means you’re living. Try to give yourself room to accept life for what it is: unpredictable.
Changing automatic reactions and learning new ways to cope takes support and encouragement. Strongly consider working with a therapist. Counseling can help you learn to organize your thinking and make solid behavioral changes. Empowered with new emotional tools, you can support your mental health well and manage anxious, negative thoughts when they try to take over. Soon, you may come to realize just how well-equipped you are to cope and thrive, whatever the circumstances.
Are you ready to take the next step together? I am experienced, compassionate, and qualified to help. Please read more about my Anxiety Treatment services. Please call (805) 374-1770 or email me at Linda@lindafisherman.com for compassionate care and support.