
The Anxiety Antidote.
So the bad news is that Anxiety feeds off negative thoughts. The good news is that, yes, you’ve
guessed it – the converse is true, positive thoughts will diminish your Anxiety.
Ask yourself
“What has been good?”
Come up with a list as long as you can. When you hit a wall and can’t think of anymore then
this is where the real work begins, the heavy lifting – keep going! I have already discussed
how when we think we create and forge neural pathways. When you are struggling to come
up with more positives and are having to think you are forging those pathways. The more you
try at this the more your Anxiety will diminish because that positive thought resides in a
different part of your brain – away from the primitive anxious response and this is where we
all want to be.
Creating your “What has been good” list is like a gym workout for your brain. Each thought is
like a rep. Which reps get you most gains from the gym? Those last ones where you have to
push and have to struggle...
OK. Me first.
1. The magnolia tree is coming in to bloom in the garden. It’s beautiful
2. I am blessed with two amazing daughters who make me proud.
3. Arsenal are still top of the League. Their football has been the best for years.
4. I have a lovely cup of tea by my side.
5. My family, and myself, are all in good health.
6. Meg, my dog, is sleeping soundly and will always accept a cuddle.
7. I am grateful for the range of clients I have and how they engage with therapy.
8. The days are getting longer and brighter...
9. I am enjoying working out in the gym more than ever.
10. I am looking forward to going on holiday in a month’s time.
The more you do that the easier it is. The less you do that the harder it is.
Don’t allow yourself to get side-tracked by negatives and problems. Depending on your
personality you may find yourself doing that. This is not to say those problems don’t exist.
They most certainly do. But what you are going to do is pick out the positives in your life.
Do this as often as you can. The results of this shift can be amazing.
These positives can be big things, say your current health, or relatively small things, a really
nice cup of tea. It doesn’t matter, they all fire that positive part of your brain. Once you start
paying attention to these, more follow and they become easier to unearth. Acknowledging
good things in your life is a very powerful antidote to Anxiety.
Please don’t misunderstand me. Thinking of these positives will not magic Anxiety away, it
will not disappear overnight. Of course not. The more you practice this, and it really is a
practice, the more your anxiety will diminish and reduce. Trust me. I see this happen every
week with my clients.
I have one particular client who recently lost her Mum. She is understandably in deep grief.
Even when in this deep grief we were able to pick out wonderful positives – memories of her
mother, the service, her support love and care for her father and on and on and on. So the
invitation to be positive is just that and can be done at whatever point you are in your life.
And here is the most powerful thing – we choose what we think...not the other way around.
Our patterns of thought are not something that just happen to us, with us as passive vessels,
although we may find it comforting to think and believe that. Let me be really clear. We do
not choose the life events – they happen to us regardless, but we choose our responses.
You will choose too!
Practical Steps.
• Make a list of positives whenever you can. At least once a day. You can write them
down or simply recite in your head.
• Make sure you actually do the above. This is a powerful antidote to Anxiety.
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