Have you got the fear?
Feeling paranoid isn’t an Olympic sport (yet) and if it was Britain would snatch every medal going. According to a 2010 survey by mental health charity mind, the recession sparked a huge rise in stress-related GP visits – two-thirds of which were made by women.
It’s official: we’re freaking out.
We all know The Fear – sweaty palms, a gurgling tummy, the dreadful certainty that you’ve done something “terrible”. And we all know how gipping these feelings can be.
Dr.David Harper from the Clinical Psycology department at the University of East London reckons that: “while worrying is a perfectly normal emotion to experience, extreme angst can be hugely deliberating. However, there are way of curbing it.
“Phew”!!
Here’s how to take The Fear down once in for all.
Catch it:
Next time you’re wondering why everyone likes someone more than you, stop and acknowledge you might be being a smidgen paranoid.
Check it:
Now’ve you identified the anxiety, look into it objectively. Does EVERYONE really like her more? why?
Change it:
what can you do about it? Do you care? your family/boyfriend prefer you, right? isn’t that what matters?
And remember it’s natural to worry about your life, about your job, about your children etc. But the most important is to keep your anxieties realistic. If they become all-consuming, it can border on a mental health issue.
How to deal with it:
Write down what’s bothering you, and then go and get a glass of water and come back and look at it again.
Chances are, what you’ve written down won’t seem so likely after all. Research also shows spending 20 minutes writing about your fears, you can boost your mental state and immune system as well.