Anxiety is lying to you, here's why.
Anxiety is such a fibber, making us feel like everything is about to go wrong, looking at the worse case scenario. Anxiety is like an invisible force clouding your mind & stopping you from enjoying the simplest of things. I know, I’ve been there! Its hard to switch off from the anxious thoughts and stay in a positive mind frame all the time. Now we have the added pressure of worrying we could get the coronavirus, plus loosing our jobs, running out of funds, food and well, our sanity. It’s scary, right? and you know what you have every right to feel fearful, its a natural reaction but you can't stay there, its no good for your well being.
Although people struggling with anxiety will often know that their fears are not worth worrying over. This knowledge isn’t always enough to stop their fears from taking over their life. Especially now when there's constant news about the lockdown and the latest death toll, plus all the conspiracy theories that are flying around. Its hard to know what to believe and to be honest you have enough to contend with, so you don't really have space in your head for somebody else's thoughts. Its time to detach and concentrate on you.
When you’re isolated and worried about the world outside you can soon feel stuck in a rut. It can leave you feeling like everything is out of your control. It’s easy to go down the slippery slope where you are riddled with negative emotions, feeling jealousy because it looks like other people are having it easier than you, or anger because of all the bad decisions that are being made, which is costing people their lives. Now all these emotions are natural responses and why shouldn't you feel sad at the situation or angry because something isn't being handled right? You are entitled to feel whatever you need to feel, but again please don't stay there because all it will do is fuel your anxiety and waste your energy, its certainly not going to change the outside world.
Your inner world chats are massively impacting how you see the world right now. Your anxiety is telling you a good few lies, because the truth is, its very unlikely you'll be effected and that is something you need to remember next time you're watching the news and you feel like the room is closing in on you. Going forward think about, when you are anxious what are you telling yourself is going to happen? What you think matters, where you take your mind matters and how quick you nip it in the bud matters. I'll talk more in my upcoming Free Anxiety Workshop about how you can change your thoughts.
Just Remember that fear is fueling your anxiety, which means most of our worries will never come true and just remain a thought in our head. So worrying the house might burn down because you left the stove on has never come true. Something bad happening to your family, is so very unlikely. That rapid heartbeat doesn’t mean you’re having a heart attack, it’s just your body’s natural response to how you are thinking & feeling. Many thoughts & sensations that we interpret as cause for concern are just false alarms. It’s just about controlling your mind, instead of it controlling you.
I promise you that if i can get on top of this so can you. So try not to panic, remember you're in control and start to fill your head space with positivity, laughter and fun. You deserve to feel happy, so start with small things, relax your jaw and shoulders when you notice they are tense. Switch off the news and put something on that makes your eyes leak happy tears and unfollow everything on social media that triggers your negative thoughts, out of sight really helps.
You've got this!
