Khaberni - Everyone experiences some level of anxiety as it is an inseparable part of the human experience. However, when transient fears dominate everything, it can become a recognized psychological health condition called general anxiety disorder.
Feelings of anxiety can quickly get out of control, turning a minor worry about not turning off the oven into an excessive fear of burning down your house. It is an uncomfortable feeling, repeated with many thoughts and notions.
Psychotherapist Sally Baker likens worrying thoughts to "seeds," and unfortunately, the conditions they need to grow are abundant in our minds. "The more you focus on your worrying thoughts, the more they grow."
Interrupting the worrying thought
According to "Daily Mail," there are several ways to do this: You can make a sound, either silently inside your head, or if possible, say it out loud, as this indicates that it was an unhelpful thought that should be interrupted.
Baker also suggested two simple methods to force your nervous system to stop.
Go to the window
Baker says, "Go to a window or entrance and breathe slowly and deeply for several breaths, or if possible, run up a flight of stairs."
Whether the action you take is mental or physical, Baker says it is the first step in stopping the worrying thought.
She adds: "It is essential to act instead of repeating the same program in your mind which always ends with the same results, like a repeating record."
Baker suggests an easy way to interrupt worrying thoughts, which is to focus on two points and the space between them.
She explains: "To do this, find a point in front of you, preferably at about the height of your head. It could be the top of a group of shelves, a corner of a picture, or a detail in a pattern within your field of vision."
Baker clarifies: "Just now, when you identified the problem causing you anxiety, your body chemistry and functions adapted to support this anxiety - you thought about it and then you felt it."
The chemistry of the mind
"Now, you are focusing on something simple, so the chemistry in your brain and body adapts and changes."
She continues: "After a moment of observing the first point, shift your attention to the second point you chose, not too far from the first."
And "after switching your attention between the two points several times, you will feel a decrease in stress levels, as the chemistry of your brain will follow the body chemistry that only monitors two points."
