Anxiety and Obsessive Thoughts

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An example of this happened to me when I was battling with panic attacks.  I had picked up a prescription at the pharmacy and realized that they had made a mistake.  It wasn’t anything really that dangerous but rather they had made an error in recording the quantity on the official receipt and consequently undercharged me. 

I guess my upbringing as an honest person played a part here and for whatever reason I started obsessing.  Well I called the pharmacy and the pharmacist was not helpful.  This of course made me more anxious.  The pharmacist did not view the mistake as a big deal.  In retrospect it was not really a huge deal, but at the time in my anxious state, little things were getting to me.

I convey this example to you because I want to make the point that often anxiety sufferers may be worried over things that others may not see as a big deal at all.  In other words, if this applies to you, you are not alone.

Moreover I want to point out that while this tendency can be a typical ritual for an anxiety sufferer it can be utilized to your advantage.

What I mean to suggest is that rather than focusing on the “negatives” you can make a list of all the “positives”.  What I mean by “positives” is the positive things you are doing in your life to improve your anxiety, which hopefully by now includes some of the suggestions made in this newsletter, but really it can refer to anything you are doing that benefits your anxiety or overall wellness.  

You can even make a list of things you are doing that benefit others and/or benefit the greater good, some examples might include recycling (doing what you can for the planet), perhaps the fact that you are being more conscientious about the electricity you use, it could be the charitable donations you make – no matter what the size - or just plainly how considerate you are of your overall actions in your day-to-day life.

The more you focus on all the “positives” the more you can relax.

This might sound like a simplistic suggestion but believe me it can work wonders.  Your list of “positives” might be an ongoing list that you can continually build on more and more over time.  But focusing on all the positive details in your life, might seem to be quite minor at first, but ultimately it can be a great launching pad towards happiness.  I would suggest that this could become a positive ritual that you perform on a regular basis.

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