Worried is a word I hear all too often - worried I won’t get better, worried about the thoughts, worried about heart palpitations, worried worried worried.

These are side effects that you’re worrying about.  It’s like worrying about the side effects of a cold - the sore throat, runny nose, aches etc.  Its pointless worrying about these because it won’t make the cold go away any quicker and you know once the cold goes then so too will the sore throat and runny nose.

Same for anxiety.  Worrying about the side effects of anxiety is pointless as it’s not going to cure the anxiety, but instead will add to it.

I know how hard it is to not be alarmed by all the sensations you experience, but just know that anxiety causes it all.  Even those intrusive thoughts.

You don’t need to fix your palpitations, your fear or panic, sweating, ringing in the ears, dry mouth, headaches, feeling dizzy, the detached feeling, or any other symptoms - because they’re all caused by anxiety.  Worrying about these causes more anxiety which then produces more of these symptoms.

Can you see the cycle?

I know you can’t just switch off any fears you have, but understanding anxiety, its side effects and how it works is the first key to overcoming anxiety.  Knowing what’s happening, why its happening will help your mind from flailing around.

Most people who have anxiety will have a racing mind, intrusive thoughts, inward thinking, scary thoughts, and are constantly focused on themselves.  This again is another side effect of anxiety.  All this thinking causes a feeling of detachment and is because your mind is tired and you feel cut off from the world.  Again another side effect of anxiety.

All these side effects will ease off as the anxiety eases off, and you’ll find the worse your anxiety is then the worse the side effects.

Intrusive thoughts / racing mind seem to be the most distressing of all the side effects and people will try many things to stop them.  Distraction, keeping busy, trying to think of other things, Vitamins, increasing or decreasing your anti-depressants, searching and searching on the internet for an answer ……… when all this does is cause even more anxiety.

Worrying, thinking, analysing all this will do nothing at all for you.  Breaking the worry is the second key to recovering.

When you have a fearsome, anxious thought (along with any anxiety feeling that washes over you) you need to let that thought come, let it be there, but you need to then resist analysing that thought, replaying it over in your head, looking at it from all angles ……. because you’ve already had the thought and analysing etc is just adding on more thoughts about the thought.  By thinking about the thought you’re keeping that thought replaying round and round your head, keeping that fear locked in.  

You can’t stop those intrusive thoughts but you can stop the analysis of it.  Ok that intrusive thought will be present and it will hang over you - let it.  Just resist the temptation to check it out or analyse it.

Even positive affirmations are secondary thinking (thinking about the think) ie you have a fearsome thought of you might harm someone and you then think ‘ah its just anxiety, it will go’.  Well that is secondary thinking too.  So resist any secondary thoughts about the first thought.

I see all too often people will read this, say ok I get it, I know what I must try to do ………. and then in the next breath they’ll say ‘its just that I’m worried about being stuck like this’ ….. or, ‘its just that I’m worried about the palpitations’.  And there they go again with that ‘worried’ word.  Again this is head chatter / secondary thinking.  You know you’re worried about not recovering or the palpitations so let that thoughts come, but don’t analyse it.  Once that thought has popped into your head its done, its the past, its history, its happened - do not head chat about it.

So that ‘worried’ word should be ‘worr…..’ stopping it in its tracks.

Stopping secondary thing isn’t easy and don’t expect to do it once and then feel relief from anxiety.  You won’t - not yet anyway.  But what you might start to find is your head might start to feel a little less cloudy, and that’s because you’re stopping all that head chatter.  You’re giving your mind a rest.

Stopping the head chatter takes time, so practicing it one day doesn’t mean tomorrow you’ll be anxiety free - but - continued practice will bring about the relief you so desire.

On your journey to recovery you will take the anxiety with you, and during this time the it will fluctuate many times, so some days you’ll feel bad and some days slightly better, some weeks you’ll feel bad and some weeks slightly better.  This is how recovery works - so understand anxiety and side effects, let those thoughts be there (don’t stop them), don’t add on any head chatter about them (resist the temptation), expect the anxiety to fluctuate, let as much time pass as it needs to and let anxiety walk alongside you on your journey.