Anxious thoughts €“ Fear Goggles

Members, Anxious thoughts are powerful and not easily controlled. Anxious thoughts are automatic and many people don€™t even notice them. After some tracking of your panic symptoms, you will slowly become more familiar with your anxious thoughts. Over the next few weeks we will take a look at some common types of anxious thoughts. Join in and share how you control your anxious thoughts. Fear Goggles: When people are anxious or afraid they tend to only see things that confirm their anxious thoughts and not pay any attention to information that challenges their anxious thoughts. For example, people who are afraid of flying pay more attention to information about plane crashes than to information about how much safer flying is than driving a car or walking across the street. People who worry about having a heart attack pay more attention to changes in their heart rate than they do to the information from their family doctor or cardiologist. People who worry about public speaking only remember the things they thing they did wrong the last time. When you have €œfear goggles€ on it€™s hard to see information that doesn€™t confirm your fear and you are more likely to jump to conclusions. Sylvie

Im so tired

Dee, Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. Work through the program and read through previous posts. Try to eat a little more, your kids need a strong mom. Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

FREAKED OUT DRIVING

Jo, It's important for you to take some time for yourself. Don't overwhelm yourself with too much right now. Also, you should check in with your doctor. Your health is very important. Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

FEAR List Exposed

DazedMommy, Everyone has fears, but what's most important is to learn how to develop strategies that can help you minimize them. Work through the program and don't be too hard on yourself. Keep persevering, Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

Information of Topic

Members, Spending too much time in the office? Try to work together with other work mates to change the office environment by doing some of these five minute power boosters: Get Moving! €¢Do some step aerobics at the office stair case €¢Take a short walk around the block or through the office building €¢Stand up and stretch your muscles, starting from your neck working your way down to your ankles €¢Keep a stress ball on hand to squeeze when you need to release some pressure Stimulate your mind! €¢Take some time to do a word search, crossword or sudoko €¢So some deep breathing exercises and some quiet meditation €¢Clean your desk or office a little bit €¢Draw a picture The office environment can be draining so it€™s important to take some time out for yourself to regroup and stay active. What have you found helpful to keep you on track to a healthy lifestyle? Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

Stress, Part IV

Welcome to Behavioral Therapy Day (CBT) on the forums! Every Sunday and Thursday will now be known as CBT day. Every Sunday a PC health educator will launch a challenge. Members are encouraged to take on the challenge and post their results. On the following Thursday, a PC educator will post specific tips and strategies to aid you in the way you look/interpret yourself and the way you view the world. This week€™ challenge we will continue talking about stress management€¦ Earlier this week we talked about common ways in which we can reduce our stress. Today we will be exploring how our belief system intertwines with our stress levels. A lot of stress results from our beliefs. We have literally thousands of ideas and assumptions about all kinds of topics & issues that we hold to be the truth. We have beliefs about things, people and ourselves (E.g.: Children should be seen and not heard, she€™s too old to be wearing a short skirt, I€™m so dumb... ) Most of these beliefs are held unconsciously. These beliefs can cause stress in two ways: 1. The first is the behavior they cause. For example, if you believe that work should come before pleasure, you are likely to work hard and schedule less time to yourself. If you believe in €œwork hard, play hard€ you are likely to be balanced. If you believe my husband/children/parent/patients/students /work/dog €¦ come first, who€™s taking care of you? These type of people tend to get overloaded and burnout. Solution? Make an effort to learn the skill you are missing. In this case, one of the skills to focus on would be to learn how to delegate. 2. The second way beliefs cause stress is when they are in conflict with those of other people. If we can realize that our varying opinions reflect our upbringing and subsequently neither is right or wrong, our anger will often times diminish. For ex: Your daughter battles you every morning because she wants to wear her dress to school in the middle of winter. This morning power struggle stresses you as a parent and stresses your child. Really, what is the core issue here? You were taught you do not wear dresses when it is cold out. Your three year old may be under the assumption she can wear a dress on any occasion and may not understand the sudden restrictions. You have three options 1. Keep fighting (neither your way nor her way) 2. Put thick tights on your child (her way but you know she won€™t be cold) 3. Let her go bare legs (her way but she€™ll likely have a change of opinion having learned the natural consequence of wearing a dress in winter time.) Last week, we asked you to keep track of your stressful events. How many of them were rooted in your beliefs? What beliefs were they? Are those beliefs the absolute truth? Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

Hello everybody~

Hello and Welcome Manx, Congrats on joining our support community. You'll find a lot of great information and a lot of support from members. Get started on the program when you feel ready. We're here to help, so post often! Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

Nervous in the Mornings

Hi amy68, You should have your symptom looked at by your doctor. You shouldn't worry what other people think. Just look out for yourself and make sure your health is number one. Work on the exercises provided and come visit with us when you need support. Keep persevering! Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

This is unreal!

dancingheart, We're here to help you, have you started working through the program yet? Please feel free to come share with us. Members have great suggestions and can be a tremendous help. Take things one day at a time, keep persevering! Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

DEALING WITH ANXIETY WITHOUT PERSCRIPTIONS

Thanks for sharing DazedMommy, Members, do you have any suggestions for amy 68? Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator