Almost there

Well I am nearing the end of my CBT course of treatment for my GAD (worrying). I have taken the postpone worrying and "worry time" further. I have learned to challenge the problems at worry time rather than just going over them which will hopefully in the long term help me to automatically challenge my anxious thoughts immediately before I can begin stressing over them. Secondly I have tried to "Let go" of worries where you remain passive and observe rather than engage with them. The latter is not so easy! I find I can manage this with minor issues or things I have no control over but for anything more intense or troublesome I need to know I can come back to it later or it will nag away at me all day. Maybe oneday...

Now I am tackling the acceptance of uncertainty which is the main catalyst in worrying. This is the thing! The main aspect of my problem which I really need to come to terms with. But it is the just not knowing...

Worry time...

Some of you will be familiar with "Worry Time" which is when you save worries for a certain time of the day each day when you can worry about all the things which usually endlessly and ineffectively occupy your poor, tired and harassed mind for a large portion of the day. You do this for just 10 or 20 minutes (max) each day. It has proved very useful. I had heard if it before but always dismissed it as something which was not possible for me. Because of the intensity of my anxiety I always thought it was useless to even attempt it. However, I learned through one of the modules that I am able to put aside worries even when in intense fear. I had infact done this previously in troubled times. I just needed this highlighted and then to work on it. I now save worries up and it seems effective so far. It not only has the advantage of not worrying the whole time but your worries fade if you don't give them fuel. Worrying has a snowball effect. It grows and becomes stronger the more you think. The more you think the more you add to it so the more fearful you get and the more anxious worrying you do. If you postpone it it is likely it will fade away because you become occupied with other things. By Worry Time I am often not really bothered any more and sometimes don't even use the worry time!