Practical Ways Of Not Worrying

[tturt]

I didnt miss it and didnt mean to offend. Sometimes we have to be persistent But hopefully the counselor can help since you are open to that avenue.

 

[Isilwen]

I didnt miss it and didnt mean to offend. Sometimes we have to be persistent But hopefully the counselor can help since you are open to that avenue.

Hard to persist when the other thoughts flood your mind.

I am pretty sure that I have depression once again on top of it all. All the signs are there.

 

[Celticroots]

If worrying is affecting your health then it’s time to get an assessment by a psychologist or psychiatrist to see if you may have an anxiety disorder. If you have one the psychiatrist may prescribe medication or suggest seeing a therapist who specializes in anxiety disorders.

I say this as someone with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and OCD.

 

[Isilwen]

If worrying is affecting your health then it’s time to get an assessment by a psychologist or psychiatrist to see if you may have an anxiety disorder. If you have one the psychiatrist may prescribe medication or suggest seeing a therapist who specializes in anxiety disorders.

I say this as someone with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and OCD.

I'm thinking I just need to speak with someone to help me that isn't family or my girlfriend. I need someone that is objective.

 

[Isilwen]

Something else I am finding is that my insurance, while it covers the cost completely for this stuff, none of the counselors are Christian based.

IS this a problem?

 

[Celticroots]

I suffer from this as well. There's not much you can do about if counseling dont work for you. All you can do is learn to just relax when you can. Find things to help you relax. Drink some tea, watch some YouTube. Occupy your time with things that make you happy. If your focused on just worrying about having high blood pressure it will never go away. Look at your life style do you get exercise. I know you said your healthy its just cause you worry. Do you sit inside a lot? In case I missed the point I'm trying to get across what I'm mainly trying to say right here is analyze your life how much free time do you have on your hands. Stay busy!

Not true. Medication can also treat anxiety.

 

[Celticroots]

I'm thinking I just need to speak with someone to help me that isn't family or my girlfriend. I need someone that is objective.

A therapist is objective and will give you techniques to lessen your anxiety.

 

[Celticroots]

Something else I am finding is that my insurance, while it covers the cost completely for this stuff, none of the counselors are Christian based.

IS this a problem?

No it’s not. A therapist is there to help you give practical advice to combat your anxiety. All my therapists have been secular and all have been helpful. Don’t discount a therapist because they may or may not be Christian if they specialize in what you’re struggling with.

And a therapist is not allowed to bash the client’s religion if that’s what you’re worried about. If they do it is completely unprofessional. You don’t have to see someone you don’t like.

 

[Isilwen]

No it’s not. A therapist is there to help you give practical advice to combat your anxiety. All my therapists have been secular and all have been helpful. Don’t discount a therapist because they may or may not be Christian if they specialize in what you’re struggling with.

This is what part of their about says... We are committed to providing services that will move you forward to a healthy fulfilling lifestyle. We give you the opportunity to discuss and work on the challenges you face. Our staff offers compassion and empathy knowing life can be easier when we share our burdens in a non judgmental environment. Recognizing that our client’s personal faith and belief system may be an important aspect in counseling, we at New Directions support and encourage spiritual growth.

 

[Celticroots]

This is what part of their about says... We are committed to providing services that will move you forward to a healthy fulfilling lifestyle. We give you the opportunity to discuss and work on the challenges you face. Our staff offers compassion and empathy knowing life can be easier when we share our burdens in a non judgmental environment. Recognizing that our client’s personal faith and belief system may be an important aspect in counseling, we at New Directions support and encourage spiritual growth.

Well there you go. What is the problem?

 

[Isilwen]

Well there you go. What is the problem?

There isn't one. Just double checking that this is what would be helpful for me.

As my girlfriend says, I need to learn coping skills to deal with my anxiety, worry and emotional outbursts.

 

[Celticroots]

There isn't one. Just double checking that this is what would be helpful for me.

As my girlfriend says, I need to learn coping skills to deal with my anxiety, worry and emotional outbursts.

From what you have described it sounds like this may be needed to help you deal with your anxiety. You could also pray that God matches you with the right therapist. Keep in mind it may take time to find that right match and you’re fully within your rights to not see someone you don’t click with.

 

[Isilwen]

From what you have described it sounds like this may be needed to help you deal with your anxiety. You could also pray that God matches you with the right therapist. Keep in mind it may take time to find that right match and you’re fully within your rights to not see someone you don’t click with.

Yeah, my worry can be so intense that it literally shuts me down for a little while or with an emotional outburst.

 

[Isilwen]

First place I called that has three or four providers on my insurance list doesn't have anything till May... ugh!

 

[Isilwen]

I only found one person that will take me in the next two weeks, but I don't have a good gut feeling about her.

Everyone else is May or longer or I can pay out-of-pocket $60-$120.

 

[HatGuy]

As I told someone yesterday, telling me not to worry is like telling me not to breathe.

I have heard all the Christian things, such as let go and let God, or give all your cares to Jesus at the foot of the cross, etc... I have read all the scriptures concerning worry. None of it helps. Worrying has been an ongoing battle and while I have been a Christian for ten years, the Christian ways of getting rid of worry don't work for me. I tried just not worrying, yeah, that didn't work.

What are some practical ways?

My mom says what's going to happen will happen and you cannot change it. There is no comfort in that at all. It doesn't help me to stop worrying. My worrying is now affecting my health. Most of the day yesterday my pulse was above 100. It didn't finally drop down to under 90 till last night. My blood pressure is now in the hypertension range. When just six months ago it was a good blood pressure.

I need to stop worrying for my health.

As a long time anxiety sufferer, let me first say that I do think some of us are predisposed to anxiety due to our DNA / personality profile, and it was a great relief for me the day I realised that it's not about curing my anxiety as much as it is about managing it effectively. Worrying about a magic bullet that doesn't exist helped me to approach the problem effectively.

I'm not necessarily out of the fire yet, but some things do help. Exercise helps, but you've got to find a sport you enjoy, otherwise you won't be consistent with it. Forget all the self-discipline nonsense people like to throw around - exercise has to be enjoyable, self-discipline only goes so far. People who run early every morning do so because they enjoy it, not because they have more discipline than the next person.

But outside of that, if you're a creative person, a lot of anxiety comes from not being creative. You need to get more into what they call a state of Flow - "being in the zone", as it were, creatively. I've found this helps tremendously. Creative people need to do creative things, and when this is shut down, all sorts of emotional trouble comes out.

Nature helps, tremendously. If you can couple exercise like rucking with a walk through nature, you can help yourself. And you can couple it with prayer, too. A lot of anxiety, at least for me, comes from not actually engaging my senses fully, but focusing just on a few that I prefer or are necessary for work. But all of our senses need to be engaged to one degree or another.

This is just some of the kind of advice you won't necessarily usually find. All the usual "try harder" answers don't work. Rather, we have to learn to accept our weakness and move on from there, finding how to work with it rather than get hung up about it.

 

[Isilwen]

I actually called someone else today and was able to get in today.

First session went well. Basically he says I need to take my power back. Take the power that anxiety robs of me, back again.

I see him again next week.

 

[Cis.jd]

As I told someone yesterday, telling me not to worry is like telling me not to breathe.

I have heard all the Christian things, such as let go and let God, or give all your cares to Jesus at the foot of the cross, etc... I have read all the scriptures concerning worry. None of it helps. Worrying has been an ongoing battle and while I have been a Christian for ten years, the Christian ways of getting rid of worry don't work for me. I tried just not worrying, yeah, that didn't work.

What are some practical ways?

My mom says what's going to happen will happen and you cannot change it. There is no comfort in that at all. It doesn't help me to stop worrying. My worrying is now affecting my health. Most of the day yesterday my pulse was above 100. It didn't finally drop down to under 90 till last night. My blood pressure is now in the hypertension range. When just six months ago it was a good blood pressure.

I need to stop worrying for my health.

My honest opinion is get into some good exercise (not just gym). Find something like Martial Arts, dance clubs, yoga, maybe some local baseball/softball teams that caters to your age demographic or something. Martial arts would be my number 1 suggestion. You develop self-confidence, useful skills, physical fitness, mental toughness, and even a friend circle. It's probably one of best hobbies to get into.

Doing visual arts such as painting can help too, if you are artistic.

 

[Gup20]

As I told someone yesterday, telling me not to worry is like telling me not to breathe.

I have heard all the Christian things, such as let go and let God, or give all your cares to Jesus at the foot of the cross, etc... I have read all the scriptures concerning worry. None of it helps. Worrying has been an ongoing battle and while I have been a Christian for ten years, the Christian ways of getting rid of worry don't work for me. I tried just not worrying, yeah, that didn't work.

What are some practical ways?

My mom says what's going to happen will happen and you cannot change it. There is no comfort in that at all. It doesn't help me to stop worrying. My worrying is now affecting my health. Most of the day yesterday my pulse was above 100. It didn't finally drop down to under 90 till last night. My blood pressure is now in the hypertension range. When just six months ago it was a good blood pressure.

I need to stop worrying for my health.

Worry is fear. Fear is faith in the negative things of life. Even the statement "I need to stop worrying for my health" is a statement of fear that worry will negatively affect your health.

[Heb 2:14-15 NASB] 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

[Rom 8:15-17 NASB] 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.]

[1Jo 4:16-20 NASB] 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.​

From the scriptures above we see that worry and fear are an enslavement. Romans 8 gives good practical advice on how to get out of fear:

[Rom 8:5-7 NASB] 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so,]
​

So fear (like faith) is an act of the will. Something you decide to do. You have the ability to change your mind and the way you think. How do you eliminate fear? You set your mind on the promises of God rather than the circumstances of the world. It's time to stop letting fear and the world determine what you think and start telling your heart and mind what to think.

[2Co 10:5 NASB] 5 [We are] destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,​

Like this verse, you need to CAPTURE negative thoughts and worry as though they are bandits sent to rob you joy and peace. As soon as you feel that worry or fear creeping in, SPRING into action... capture that thought like it is a burgler you've sprung a trap for... say "NO! I have decided to think differently and I won't allow this thought."

Another way to get away from selfish fear and worry is to spend more time thinking about and loving others than you do worry about yourself. This is the solution from 1 John 4 above. If you want to cast out fear, perfect loving others.

Final thought is this - the scripture says it is our fear of death which enslaves us to the sin nature... but death is not the end.

Acts 24:15
having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

John 5:28
“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Revelation 21:8
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Daniel 12:1
Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.
2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.​

All humans will be resurrected to face the great white throne judgement. Then, those with faith in Christ will be given eternal life, and those who do not have faith eternal punishment. There couldn't be a more temporary enemy than death.

[1Co 15:26 NASB] 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.​

We know the fate of death, so why should we fear it? He who is in us is greater than death. Even sinners will escape the first, temporary death to a life of everlasting torment, so why should fear of death control how we choose to think?

How you set your mind is your decision.

 

[Isilwen]

My honest opinion is get into some good exercise (not just gym).

My girlfriend and I have been talking about maybe getting into some boxing classes.

She has taken one class before and she did it without any friends so, after the first night, she stopped as it kicked her butt. However, she say that it is a total body workout.