A HYPOCHANDRIACS TALE

Today I'm going to tell you about a little trick you can use
to take the edge off your anxiety, it only takes minutes to
do...

When you are feeling anxious your mind usually thinks forward
into the future and begins worrying about what *could* happen.
What follows is a sequence of thoughts where you become over
focused on the worst case scenario happening. It's this very
thinking that causes a lot of anxiety, creating those feelings
of dread, fear and nagging tension.

To counter act this some therapists have their anxiety
suffering patients work out the percentage chance of that
worst case scenario happening, and then use logic to try and
counter act anxiety. Trying to counter act emotion with logic
isn't ideal. It's the reason why men (more logical thinkers)
and women (more emotional thinkers) who are in close
relationships often argue.

Instead of using logic, try and switch your focus and feed
your brain alternative scenarios to work with. Your brain
reacts to imagined images as if they were real. This is why
you feel fear when you think about possible worst case
scenarios, even if it's probably never going happen!

But the good news is your brain also reacts to positive images
in the opposite way, causing the body and brain to relax,
which directly counters stress, worry and anxiety. To do this,
grab a pen and paper...

First write down the worst possible outcome of the thing you
are worrying about. Then write the best possible outcome.
Finally write down the probable outcome, the most likely
outcome that will happen. You only need write a sentence or
two for each. For example, if you are worried about an
upcoming presentation you have to make, you might write:

1. Worst Possible Outcome: I totally mess up and make an idiot
of myself, everyone laughs at me.

2. Best Possible Outcome: I surprise my self with a flawless
performance, there is rapturous applause and praise after.

3. Likely Outcome: I will do the presentation, maybe make or
two small errors which nobody will care about, and I'll get
through it just fine and wonder why I worried so much!

Now every time you start worrying about that topic again,
spend a couple of minutes imagining outcomes 2 and 3. If it
helps, close your eyes and picture the scene as if it were a
movie unfolding before your eyes.

This will help stem anxiety as positive and negative emotions
can only exist one at a time, so not only does this tip
prevent the build up of anxiety but also creates a sense of
relaxation and calm. Spend most of this time imagining the
best possible outcome.

Of course this trick shouldn't be used to avoid working out
solutions to worries. But for worries which are out of your
hands and you've done your best to prepare or work out
solutions for, then this is quite a handy little trick.

If you feel like stress and worry dominates your every waking
minute (or keeps you tossing and turning at night) then be
sure to check out my complete anxiety solution here...