Contributed by Healthians Team
Constant worry refers to the thoughts, images, emotions, and actions of a negative nature in a repetitive manner. In other words, worry is the collection of continuous thinking about negative past events or living in the future. It is not always overthinking, sometimes it is related to work, school examination, family problems, money, personal relationships, financial stress, uncertain events, emotional trauma, regular use of illicit drugs, and lack of oxygen. Basically, there can be multiple reasons for constant worrying instead of overthinking.
As an emotion, worry is experienced from anxiety or concern about a real or imagined issue. People face generally two types of worry: occasional anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder.
People experience short-lived periods of anxiety without any particular incident happening. In the case of generalized anxiety disorder, people experience excessive worrying constantly. However, if you consult medical professionals, they would first want to find out whether your worry is from any medical condition or not. In this article, we will discuss what makes us worry, why it is hard to stop worrying, and 6 tips to stop worrying. Let’s begin!
What makes us worry?
People who can’t stop themselves from worrying tend to do that to be prepared for a piece of bad news or a bad surprise. They don’t want to be shocked by the sudden news. They believe that it won’t shock them if they continue thinking about it. Sometimes a superstitious element is also included in the minds of people that if you worry all the time, the likelihood of mishappenings would be less. Some people worry to show that they care. Some people believe that constant worry motivates them.
But we have to distinguish between productive and unproductive worry. Productive worry is for a reason but unproductive worry wastes our time. It is also being found that constant worry helps to solve problems. However, extreme worry interferes with problem-solving as well. It affects our mental health.
Why it is so hard to stop worrying
For most people who worry a lot, the anxious thoughts are fueled by the positive beliefs they hold about worrying. Here are some of the positive beliefs that people usually have about worrying –
- As strange as it may sound, but people think that worrying prevents bad things from happening to them.
- Worrying leads to motivation which helps them make fewer mistakes and improve their work better.
- Worrying helps to be prepared if something bad happens.
- Worrying helps to remember things and keeps them top on the list.
6 tips to stop worrying
Avoid fortune telling
Talking about the future is all about goal-orientation but when you are continuously thinking about the future, it becomes an addiction. We all are worried about the future but the future is uncertain so we cannot imagine it on our own. We don’t have to rely on imaginations that increase our anxiety. We have to avoid talking about the future with others, rather, work hard in the present.
Set aside a designated worry time
Instead of thinking all day long, designate a fixed period of time, say 30 mins when you can think about all your problems. Constant worrying is the result of some problems revolving in your mind. Analyze those problems with effective solutions. Problems are the reason that makes you worry all the time. You have to find out the object of worry. If you find yourself thinking again about the same problem at some other time, then keep it for only the designated time. Making a designated time to think about your problems saves your entire day from being wasted.
Kick your online addiction
All the time if you are pursuing Facebook and Instagram so obviously it is not good for your mental health. A study found that nearly half of the people are worried or uncomfortable being away from Facebook or Instagram. These findings suggest that people should take control of their emotions and not let technology control them. Spending all the time on social media makes you worried about an online lifestyle and deprives you of real life.
Identify and replace worrisome thoughts
As we have discussed above you have to take some time about your thoughts that make you worry. You must have to identify thoughts and replace them with solutions. Replace your worrisome thoughts with effective solutions. It will kill the intensity of negative thoughts and make you positive. Actually, worrisome thoughts also make you negative because you only think about problems, not the solutions. So effective solutions can turn your thoughts into positive thoughts and make you a positive person.
Practice Meditation
Medication helps you to stay away from negative thoughts. It gives your brain some peace and time to remain calm. It basically refreshes your mind and connects you with the beauty of nature. Not only the body, but meditation also refreshes your mind all day long.
Learn to distinguish between solvable and unsolvable worries
We have to understand that everything is not in our control. The problems behind some worries can be solved but other problems are not in our control so it is not in our hands to find solutions. We have to distinguish between the solvable and unsolvable problems. Unsolved problems should be replaced by some substitute solutions.
The Bottom Line
If you experience constant worrying, relaxation techniques such as mindfulness, deep breathing, and meditation can help. Because it’s not possible to be anxious and relaxed at the same time, strengthening your body’s relaxation response is a powerful worry-busting tactic. We have to take care of our health and should take
Take a Full Body Health Assessment
We hope you find the article useful for yourself.
