Does your mind enjoy running like a hamster on the late night wheel of worry? Maybe it is about the dropping grades of your daughter, or your tight finances. Maybe it's about something else. You might be having relationship troubles. Whatever it is, it has kept you awake late at night. You want to solve the problem then and there. But you can’t, so then you start worrying about how you can’t sleep and how you’re going to be a wreck the next morning. It’s a vicious cycle.
But you can relax; you're not the only one. Anxiety can be a common thing for many of us. How we deal with it can differ greatly though. Here are some useful but unorthodox approaches that can help you deal with your anxiety. Perhaps you will find something among them that suits your personality.
The “Boredom” Cure:
There’s a reason why this is so named. What you need to do is repeat your fear so many times that you get bored of it. Seriously, just repeat it till you’re bored to tears. If you fear going to the movies alone, summon enough mental strentgth to go alone once. Then do it again, and again, and keep doing it until you’re sick of it. It will get easier each time. And then there will come a time when it no longer makes you anxious. Don’t try this with irrational fears or phobias but it’s great for social problems such as meeting people or going to places. You can, however, employ professional help for phobias that you cannot manage to overcome on your own.
Face Your Fears:
Sometimes we just try too hard to control our anxieties and fears, but it seldom helps. What might help is facing your fears head on. You can even fake a scenario where you are faced with it. Make things worse for yourself intentionally. For example, if you’re afraid of messing up in an important presentation at work, intentionally fake it during the next one and see how it isn’t as bad as you thought. Pretend to forget something and ask yourself loudly, “What was I going to say?” and then laugh lightly. It will diffuse some tension. This might not seem like a traditional way but trust me when I tell you it works wonders for many people.
Don’t Box In the Craziness:
Realize that we all ahve crazy thoughts every once in a while. It is completely okay and you need not fret about it. Some of us try too hard to box it in and when we can’t, we judge and level ourselves. This is the way to make things even worse. Instead of boxing it in, let the craziness roam around your mind freely. It won’t do any harm, unless of course you repeatedly feel like mundering someone. Then you’re just psychotic probably. But in all seriousness, don’t let the occasional crazy thought get you so worked up.
Think of the mind as a series of boxes. When you are depressed, what you tend to do is open up all the boxes at the same time and that causes anxiety. Concentrate on one thing at a time and try to close off the boxes that you don’t need to be open. I do this by doing something called Zentangle. It’s very good for this. It’s drawing doodles on a piece of paper and if you look up Zentangle you will see that it’s a method that takes a bit of practice but by which you can produce great drawings. Look at YouTube. There are loads of videos there on Zentangle practice. What this tends to do is get you concentrating on somethign creative and in doing so, you release tension at the same time because you let it out creatively. In many mental institutions and centers all over the world, patiences are asked to do this because it gives them release and it can do that in your own home too. This style of drawing is particularly good for concentrating your mind on one thing. That thing is creative and thus works the positive parts of your brain that helps you to overcome negative feelings. In fact, you may get so hooked that you start to design pieces of furniture in this way. I did, and we are very happy with the results. I also managed to do the same with a very old second hand guitar and it now takes price of place in my home.
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