Hello everyone,
I just felt like writing something about what seems to be a very common negative thought amongst people with anxiety issues. I know it is one of the main culprits in my anxiety thought pattern.
It hides at the back of my thoughts a bit like a ninja- recently i have been calling it out whenever i hear it and putting a spotlight on it does seem to help. The thought has a couple of main forms for me:
I will probably be like this forever
This wont end (or) I will be lucky if it doesnt get worse
My old life is gone for good
These are incredibly powerful statements, as they basically amount to saying that everything you enjoyed about life is now gone forever. They also imply that life is now going to be unbearable forever (even though this is extremely unlikely). The fact that a lot of people (like myself) have truly believed these statements makes me feel like, no wonder we get the symptoms we do! Any average person who found themselves truly believing this statement, even for a moment, would feel very anxious, down and unmotivated. The fact is that this thought gets reinforced many times daily for some of us, and ends up being something we have accepted about our situation.
I urge you to call this thought out whenever you find it- it flies in the face of all the published research and good common sense. I know many friends who have recovered from anxiety and i know none that have lived unbearable lives forever. I can only begin to imagine the impact that thoughts such as this one have on our conciousness, as we are being bombarded by such a massively negative statement. It is about the worst thought that one could have about one's situation. Above all, its completely false and is about the least likely thing to happen. Dont let this ninja get away with stealing your hope- it is something you deserve, put it in your safest place.
Jamie
