Exploring the Mental Aspects of Recovery
Part one of “A Holistic Approach to Overcoming Anxiety,” offered a foundation for understanding how anxiety impacts our lives and the importance of including all aspects of who we are to achieve sustainable relief and recovery. The mental – or thinking – part of anxiety is a key anchor in any plan for change because our thoughts are powerful in shaping our experience.
When the mind is driven by anxiety it can be difficult to “collect our thoughts.” In fact, it may feel as if we are herding cats! As soon as I notice a thought going in one direction, it takes off in another. Pretty soon I’m way down the rabbit trail and not sure how I got there. Sound familiar?
We can recognize anxious thoughts by their focus because they are generally about the future – what will happen “when,” what might happen, what we fear will happen. “What if?” becomes a familiar companion. Anxiety takes us out of the here and now into the unknown, usually generating fear in the process.
As my mind becomes more and more fearful, it generally becomes more and more negative as well (often contributing to feelings of depression). Being mentally out of balance often leads to distorted ways of thinking; being more in extreme perspectives than balanced ones. Extremes in thinking lead to extremes in our emotions, which lead to extremes in our behavior.
Addressing the mental aspect of A Holistic Approach to Overcoming Anxiety, involves looking at these patterns of thinking and learning self-management skills to create new patterns. Here are some important parts of this process:
Increase awareness of self-talk.
We all have an ongoing dialogue in our mind all of the time, but most of us have not learned to pay much attention to it. As we cannot change what we are not conscious of, becoming more aware of our internal conversation is an important first step toward change.
Identify patterns of negative and/or distorted thinking.
Often called “cognitive distortions,” examples of these thinking patterns include “all or nothing” thinking, generalizing, catastrophizing, mind reading, personalizing, etc.
Identify mistaken or unproductive self-beliefs.
Unconscious, unrealistic convictions often underlie distorted thinking processes and perpetuate anxiety unless recognized. Examples of such beliefs are “I should always be successful.…pleasing….right….the perfect…., etc. “
Creating healthier patterns of thinking and self-belief.
Once negative patterns are identified and put into perspective, conscious energy can be used to redirect one’s thoughts and create new patterns with time and practice. Letting go of limiting self-beliefs is a life-transforming choice.
Revise critical, perfectionist attitudes.
Changing our self-beliefs and embracing our humanness reduces driven anxiety, creates greater personal ease and enhanced harmony in relationships.
Regularly practice techniques for quieting the mind.
The importance of this aspect cannot be overstated. We live in a 24/7 world where we are encouraged to be engaged and available around the clock. We were not designed to operate this way and it is not sustainable. It is imperative that we all learn to unplug, get quiet and allow our parasympathetic nervous system to do its job. Whether it’s a peaceful walk, meditation, yoga or other mind/body practices – find something that fits for you and do it regularly!
The mind is powerful tool in creating our reality and a key element in A Holistic Approach to Overcoming Anxiety. You can learn to more skillfully use this tool on your behalf. With a little guidance, practice and persistence, you’ll be amazed at the results.