How to Stop Worrying: 4 Practical Tips

Are you wondering how to stop worrying? Why is it so difficult? Even when we know it has adverse effects on our mental and physical health and steals much of the joy we can experience, we still worry. Sometimes we feel that we have an insignificant amount of control over our worries, so what is the point of trying to do something that will not have the effect we want or need?

Before we begin it is important to know that it is normal to worry. It is also normal to at times feel discouraged. Do you know that a study found that almost 60% of adults indicated they experienced worry every day during 2020?

When you’re experiencing changes to your personal circumstances, a difficult financial season, or even an upcoming work deadline, worries often accompany that change. Constant worrying makes it difficult to enjoy life, and despite your feelings, you can be equipped with the tools you need to manage the stress and worry in your life.

Why do we worry?

An effective way for each person to learn how to stop worrying is to properly understand where your fears find their root in your life. The central nervous system of each person responds to stress and fear through the act of worrying. When you feel worried the first step is to recognize it and examine what is happening around you to find the cause of your feelings of stress and anxiety.

If you have a real and present problem in your life, then your body is designed to push it to the forefront of your mind so that you can think about it carefully, act on it, and find a solution to it. In this way, we show a healthy response to solve a problem. But worrying about things each and every day, sometimes being consumed with worry about things that are outside of our control, can and does have severe consequences for our mental health.

What do worries look like?

The symptoms of anxiety disorders show up as persistent and excessive worry that interferes with daily activity. If you experience severe or chronic worry accompanied by symptoms in your body such as back and other body pain, disturbed sleep, insomnia, stiff muscles, stomach pain, and panic attacks, you need to take a firm hand against these effects of worry as they can get worse if left untreated.

If you often suffer from chronic or severe worry, then it is easier to be triggered into that headspace. Change often introduces worry into our minds, and as we know life is full of changing circumstances.

Take some time to read through this list of phrases to see if they help you identify situations that trigger worry in your life:

• Trying to work through a stressful project.
• Facing a toxic personality at work.
• Recently getting married, becoming a parent, undergoing a divorce, or moving house.
• Financial stress or losing your job.
• Making a large purchase such as a house or a car.
• Trying to resolve a conflict between yourself and family or friends.
• Trying to mediate between people close to you that are in a disagreement.
• Physical or mental health concerns.
• Being overly busy with commitments and obligations.
• Not having enough time to take care of yourself or pursue personal interests.

Just like physical fitness, dealing with worry entails training your mind. You can and will become far better at handling worries by learning strategies to help you stop worrying and displace your anxieties.

Spoiler alert: learning how to stop worrying is not easy, but it is worth it.

If you are someone who worries too much, you will know the familiar pattern. You will be going about your day; a worry will enter your mind and seem to grow to consume your attention. It resists your attempts to focus on something else. Soon you feel like you are caught up in a downward spiral of anxious thoughts that seem to unfold automatically in your mind.

The term “thought pattern” accurately describes the way our thoughts behave. Like water furrows a path through the ground and establishes a stream that grows into a riverbed, so thought patterns establish a route in our minds that becomes fixed and is only interrupted by a conscious effort to do so.

How your body reacts to your feelings of worry

As physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual beings, our bodies and our minds are inextricably linked. This is why if you experience excessive worry this can be seen in your body through ill health. Do any of the following symptoms accurately describe how you feel when you are worried?

• Fatigue, despite sleeping soundly.
• Inability to concentrate.
• Shaking hands, quivering and twitching eyelids.
• Fast heartbeat, even though you are sitting still.
• Feelings of restlessness, or tense muscles.

If you do experience similar symptoms then that is helpful; it means that you can notice how you are physically feeling and tie it to your mental and emotional state of worry.

The act of worrying on a daily basis can grow into chronic stress. This stress response may cloud your judgment and make it difficult to identify exactly what thoughts initiated the feeling of stress. Besides impaired judgment, often experienced even while your mind is racing, being able to trace your negative thoughts and their physical effects can help you to reduce the effect of feeling stressed.

The snowball effect of worry

Worry that is not dealt with in an effective way can grow to affect other areas of your life. As discussed, unmanaged worry can lead to chronic worry, and this can lead to physical manifestations. However, if it is not managed, the bad effects can grow and go from bad to worse.

Our stress and worries accompany us wherever we go; home, to the office, even in our car in traffic. They can effect our decisions in each area of our lives; how we spend our money, and our time, how much we enjoy our hobbies, and much more.

Should worry go unchecked, then a person’s emotional resilience is compromised and this makes successfully completing everyday tasks more difficult. Learn techniques on how to stop worrying so that you can reverse the effects of stress and anxiety.

How to stop worrying: four ways to relieve stress

What follows is a list and brief description of various techniques that are useful when learning how to combat worry. Some methods will ring true with you while others may have less appeal. Take note of any that strike a chord and try them, starting with small increments before increasing the time you spend partaking in the exercise.

Displace worrying thoughts with gratitude

Just like light and dark are mutually exclusive, so gratitude drives out worry. Make a practice of writing down three things you are grateful for each day. You can journal them or place them on cards in a glass jar. Put it somewhere visible so you can see the progress you are making and every now and again take out a handful and read through them. By training our brains to look for the good in situations we strengthen new thought patterns and so interrupt thoughts of worry.

Share your fears.

If you spend a lot of time worried and concerned, then give serious thought to sharing your fears and frustrations with supportive friends and family members. Physically connecting with others is an effective way to improve your emotional well-being even if you feel like isolating yourself. By being honest with a friend or family member about the source of your stress and worry, you will get a chance to hear yourself air your perspectives.

Often our anxieties are less substantial than they appear to be when we do not share them. Having others examine them gives you the perspective of someone you know and trust to help you give proper weight to them. They may well offer a new view of the situation which may help you reduce your concern about it.

Relieve stress symptoms by practicing deep breathing

Deep breathing is beneficial for many reasons. Practicing deep breathing can help relieve physical symptoms of stress such as shallow breathing, shortness of breath, an elevated heart rate, or stomachaches. Take note that learning breathing techniques may help to address the symptoms of worry and anxiety but not the root cause.

Calm down by releasing tight muscles using a body scan

Feeling stress can make you tense up various muscles, perhaps by clenching your teeth or through raised shoulders. When you feel your muscles locking up take a deep breath and, starting with your toes, focus on slowly relaxing each of your muscle groups as you slowly exhale, working your way up your body with each breath. Focus on breathing out the discomfort each time.

Christian counseling to learn how to stop worrying

If you’re looking for additional help to learn how to stop worrying and the problems it creates beyond this article, or perhaps even if someone you love is unable or unwilling to recognize their worries and anxieties, then browse our online counselor directory or contact our office to find out how we can help you. We would be honored to walk with you on this journey.