Life getting on top of you? This simple three-step plan will help you banish your worries for GOOD
BE it your kids, this month's rent or work: modern life means worries come thick and fast on a daily basis.
Once your mind gets caught in a spiral of worrying, you can be powerless to stop it.
But, one expert has come up with a handy three-step plan to stop your brain in its brooding tracks.
Professor Hans M. Nordahl, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology said as humans we attach too much importance to our thoughts.
He said instead we should focus on what is happening in the here and now.
Dwell too long on worries and it could lead to a mental health problem, like depression or anxiety, he added.
Prof Nordahl said: "Worry and brooding create a lot of stress, exhaustion and fatigue in people.
"I usually illustrate it by holding a glass of water in my hand.
"Most people would say that's easy to do, but if I hold the glass continuously for two hours it gets heavy.
"It works the same way with our brooding and worries.
"They aren't necessarily that heavy when they're short lived, but they get heavy when they last for a long time."
He said while worrying isn't dangerous, it is exhausting and stressful.
Worry and brooding create a lot of stress, exhaustion and fatigue in people
Professor Hans M. Nordahl
"We're well equipped to develop anxiety and worry, because our minds are so capable of imagining things and our thoughts become facts,"; he explained.
"Our capacity as humans to analyse ourselves or to anticipate threatening scenarios can be used in constructive ways but can have negative and unhelpful effects as well."
But, with brooding an inevitable part of life, here is what you can do to lessen your angst, without resorting to medication or counselling.
THREE STEPS TO DE-STRESS
1. Realise it's a waste of time
First and foremost you have to tell yourself worrying is a waste of time and energy.
Prof Nordahl said: "The most important thing about brooding as a mental activity is to realise that brooding itself is meaningless and useless activity.
"It doesn't help anything and has no calming or problem-solving effect."
2. Focus on the here and now
Brooding is different to thinking, which can be helpful and productive.
It's characterised by being negative, self-focused and going over and over bad experiences and why they happened the way they did.
As soon as you realise you're slipping down that slope to brooding territory, it is good to ask yourself if it has any point?
Or if there's actually any answer at the end of it all?
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Instead, Prof Nordahl said it is better to dwell on the here and now.
"Get involved in other more real-life things currently happening in your life," he said.
"If you focus on the here and now, the illusions – that is, the worry and brooding – won't take hold as much.
"The thoughts may continue to churn, but just let them be there and live their own lives.
"Anything that isn't given attention will gradually disappear on its own, and this also applies to one's brooding."
3. Stop looking for distractions
Stopping your brain brooding does not mean trying to escape or distract yourself from your thoughts.
People use TV, gambling, computer games, even drugs and booze as a distraction.
But, these tactics will fail in the long run, Prof Nordahl warned.
"Distracting yourself in order to calm down doesn't work well in the long run," he said.
"Then you're relying on other people or external things to get calm."
In fact, distraction has the opposite effect, making you MORE not less stressed.
"Trying not to think of negative thoughts creates a recoil effect, because the brain has to keep track of what you shouldn't think about, and those are the very thoughts you're trying to avoid," Prof Nordahl said.
He compares negative brooding with sitting in a mental rocking chair.
Your thoughts go back and forth without making any progress.
"There's plenty else you can use your brain on than brooding," he added.
"Take issue with your tendency to brood about yourself and your fate.
"It's your mental rocking chair, you're not getting anywhere with it, and it's wasting powers that you could instead use to live your life with others in the present."
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