Hypnotherapy to Help with Excessive Worry: by Dublin based hypnotherapist Ailish McGrath

Worry

Worry is a common way of thinking and feeling that we can practice. Like other forms of anxiety, worry can have a useful initial function. Worry can be a form of problem solving, where we are spending time considering our options and possible outcomes in the hope that we will either a) come up with an insight or helpful solution or b) prepare ourselves for the disappointment if things don’t work out the way we hoped. Rarely however does worrying result in either solution or protection. This is because it produces the feeling of fear and when we go into fear we are in the ‘fight or flight’ mode of thinking and creative solutions arise out of calm, optimistic, resourceful quality of thinking.

When we find ourselves in a state of perpetual worry, the worry is serving no positive purpose whatsoever and has become a detrimental habit. Such worry can be free floating, bouncing from topic to topic and often we worry about people, situations and possible outcomes we have no control over.

We drain ourselves of energy, feel tired and depleted with little motivation to affect change on what we can change or have control over. We will develop tunnel vision, black or white thinking and keep ourselves in a loop of worry, anxiety, fear and helplessness.

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a condition where these free floating worries can feel like we are going round and round in circles. It can be one of the most intrusive ways of thinking as it can seem as if it is invading most of our waking moments.

A worrisome mind set can be helped

Treatment often involves:

Learning that we do not have to believe or entertain worrying thoughts.

We can take our power back and develop discernment around the kind of thoughts we think.

We can also learn to avoid consuming ourselves with people or outcomes out of our control. We can learn to ‘control the controllable’s’.

We can heal and resolve past emotionally anxious memories so that the limiting beliefs and negative assumptions that arose out of these events can be let go of (e.g if there is unresolved grief over the death of a fiend then by resolving that grief we can stop worrying about the worst case scenarios when we are told someone is sick etc).

We can learn to think more optimistically. We can train our focus to look for solutions, options and possibilities.

We can find acceptance for people or situations we cannot change or have no control over.

We can develop self belief and develop feelings of safety.

We can learn how to take positive action.

Worrying thoughts are just thoughts, and they are not something to feel a victim to. And in the event of distressing conditions coming to pass you can develop the resourcefulness to handle and get through the situation without worrying.