What if they hate my presentation?
What if I have cancer?
What if I lose control and go crazy?
What if my husband dies?
What if I never get rid of these awful thoughts?”
Those darn racing, unwanted, intrusive, anxious thoughts. You’re being plagued with automated negative thoughts and images you can’t stand, yet there is nothing you can do to make them go away.
How to stop anxious thoughts fast?
The answer is here.
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How Anxious Thoughts Take Control Over You
Anxious thoughts are like that website that you open up in your browser and gets your entire computer stuck.
You wait a few seconds and when nothing changes, you restart your computer, right?
Racing, troubled thoughts get your brain stuck. You happily go about your day when suddenly they come out of nowhere and literally paralyze you in such a way you can’t think about anything else.
The anxious irrational thoughts send an unpleasant shock wave through your nervous system.
Then, once you start reacting to the anxious thought you find yourself thinking about it over and over again, building a fake and frightening future from it in minutes.
The repetitive anxious thought can last minutes, hours, days depending on how upset you become by the thought.
But if you want to combat depressive and anxious thinking, here’s exactly how to do it:
How to Stop Anxious Thoughts in 30 Seconds
I want to share with you an incredibly effective cognitive therapy technique for anxious thinking, to help you “restart” your brain and get rid of anxious thoughts almost instantly.
The “Observe – Trust – Move Technique”
“Observe the anxious thought and label it. Say:
“Oh there is fear X again, imagine that”
Try your very best to not get sucked into reacting emotionally to the thought.
Then:
Trust that what you are worrying about will in all probability never happen. Almost all the troubled thoughts we have are a complete waste of our time and energy.
Trust that things will work out fine.
(Joseph Cossman said, “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.”)
If you are religious/spiritual than hand your anxious thought over to a higher power. Trust that there is nothing to fear and you will be looked after.
Trust and let it go.
Lastly:
Move your attention elsewhere. Focus on something positive that takes your mind out of the anxious groove.
Replace the anxious thought with a positive thought. You are not trying to suppress the anxious thought, you are simply moving your attention elsewhere.
You are restarting your brain.
Whatever you are doing, focus on that completely. Be there. Be in the moment.
If you are out on the street, look at people’s faces. Check out what they’re wearing. If you are in your car, focus on your surroundings – the sights and sounds. Focus on the music on the radio.
If you are with someone else, focus your attention on him or her – completely.
By moving your attention to the present moment you will leave no more room for the anxious thoughts to take control of your mind.
[Tweet “The Observe – Trust – Move Technique to stop #anxious thoughts in 30 seconds”]Remember – O.T.M
Observe, Trust, Move.
This is one of the best ways to stop intrusive thoughts – fast.
It didn’t fully work for me for the first time, but the second time I did it – the frightening thoughts disappeared in 30 seconds. And so will yours.
If your life is being completely ruined by intrusive anxious thoughts, and you find yourself constantly worrying, CBT techniques are can help you in more ways you can imagine.
To learn more about how to use CBT to overcome anxiety and panic, click the link right now.
What Are Your Anxiety Thoughts About? (Poll)
Let me know what you think:
To your health and happiness,
Meital
P.S
If you suffer from full-blown panic attacks, you should know there’s a technique to stop them too in 30 seconds. Check it out.
Related Posts
How to Breathe Your Way Out of Your Anxiety Attack
How to Stop Anxiety-Induced Chest Pain
Snook says
I know this…..MY ANXIETY IS EVIL! And I don’t like it very much. Thank you for showing me a way to possibly deal with that anxiety monster of mine.
charlotte says
I have acute anxiety at the moment for various reasons, I can’t sleep or eat very well and I have pains in my chest. I know all things pass and one day this will be a memory but in the meantime, I will try these techniques and do the best I can.
Meital James says
Hi Deborah:)
Thanks for stopping by..I really enjoy your blog and the posts on your blog hop and thanks for your support!:)
Deborah Davis says
Anxious! Worried? Sure I am–more often than I like to admit.
I really enjoyed reading this post about how the CBT technique can help us “restart” the brain and get rid of anxious thoughts quickly. Unresolved anxiety is detrimental to our health and happiness. Using this easy-to-implement technique properly can actually change lives. Thank you so much for sharing this valuable tool with us at the Happy, Healthy, Green, and Natural Hop!
Lauren says
I love this! Thanks for sharing. It is so true that you need to take hold of the thought immediately. Otherwise you can let fear grip you. I am a school psychologist and I love using CBT!