How to Stop Worrying - Self-Help Strategies for Anxiety Relief

From one perspective, worrying can be seen as a positive response to a situation. If you worry enough, you might be motivated to take action, to do something to fix the situation and end your worry. But from another perspective, constant and continual worry that is coupled with never-ending thoughts of questions like “what if” and “if I just” or “maybe if” can become a very big problem. The anxiety that comes with constant worry can be debilitating. But there are things you can do to counteract these things and get relief from your worry and anxiety.

The fears and doubts that mark your worry can make it hard to be productive and they tend to inhibit your actions. They can leave you exhausted and unmotivated, emotionally drained and anxious. They get in the way of your everyday life and don’t bring anything positive to the situation. It seems, though, that worry begets worry and anxiety breeds more anxiety. It can be habit-forming. But the good news is there are ways to help break the cycle. You can actually teach yourself to stay calm and control your situation, naturally.

You may find yourself thinking that breaking the habit of worry is very difficult to do. You’ve tried. The problem you may face is that you’re worried about worrying. It’s a cycle which is hard to break. The anxiety over this can keep you awake at night, leave you feeling tense and make you extremely tired. Now the question remains – why is it so difficult to stop worrying?

For many worriers there is a positive and a negative side to worrying. On the negative side of things, a person who worries may feel that their anxious thoughts will take over their lives and affect their physical and mental health. But on the opposite side, worriers have a positive view of their constant worry. They can see the benefit of it by thinking it helps them avoid bad things by leading them to solutions, or preparing them for the worst thing that could happen in a given situation. It’s very hard to break your habit of worrying when you believe that it’s helpful to worry. The first step to breaking your worry habit is to understand that the worry is the problem and not the solution.

Try these few tips to help break your worry habit and achieve anxiety relief.

Instead of trying to stop your anxious thoughts put aside some time each day that is dedicated to your worries. Be sure that this timeslot is early enough in the day that it doesn’t affect your thoughts just before bedtime. Sometime in the late afternoon seems to work well for most people, depending on their work schedule. If an anxious thought enters your mind, write it down and save it for later.

By doing this, you will avoid the regular interruptions your worry can create throughout your day. When you reach the time of day that you have set aside for your worries, take a look at your list. If the things that you wrote down still bother you, then spend some time thinking about them. You may find that the things on your list are no longer important. Saving your worries for a later time in the day allows you to break your habit of dealing with your worries in the present moment. In fact, postponing your worry will show you that you have much more control over it than you think.

When you do finally sit down at your appointed time to think about your worries, make the time productive. Worrying for the sake of worrying doesn’t actually accomplish anything. You can think of all the worst case scenarios for your different worries, but this will not make you more prepared should the worst case scenario actually happen. Instead, ask yourself a few pointed questions about your worry and begin to solve the problem. First, ask yourself if the problem is a current problem or if it’s actually a “what if” scenario. If it’s a “what if” kind of worry, ask yourself how likely the scenario is to actually happen. And lastly, ask yourself if you can do something about the problem.

Can you prepare for it or is it out of your control? If you do have some control and can take action to solve the problem or reduce its likeliness to occur then start to brainstorm. Write down specific actions you can take to help solve your problem. Once you have a plan to help fix your problem you will feel much less worried about it. Look for a way to change your thoughts so they are more positive and get freedom from anxiety & strees.

So what can you do if your worry is a problem that can’t be solved?

Beneath all your worries lies a flood of emotions. Worrying helps you suppress the emotions because dealing with them can be too scary. But once you accept that emotions are part of being human then you will come a long way towards getting over your fear and anxiety. A key component here is almost always uncertainty.

Worriers worry because it makes them feel safer and it helps them predict the outcomes when they are uncertain what the outcome will be. But the problem with this thought pattern is that worrying will not help you predict the future. Worrying doesn’t solve any problems. You have to learn to accept uncertainty in order to help alleviate your anxiety and worry about it. Ask yourself if you can live with the chance that something bad will happen, given the small likelihood of it. Ask what the advantages and disadvantages are of having certainty in life.

The more you explore your fear of uncertainty, the more you will learn to accept it as part of life and you’ll be able to move past your worry and anxiety.

Let’s review.

1. Set aside time to worry
2. Use your worry-time to brainstorm solutions to solvable problems
3. If the problem can’t be solved, focus on dealing with the emotions underlying your worry

With these tips for natural anxiety relief, you can break your worry habits and start to live in the present moment.