Christine,
I am a worrier, too, and here are some of the methods to deal with worry
that I've either heard about, read about, or tried:
1. Set aside a specific time per day (like 9:00-10:00 p.m., for
instance) where you will do nothing else except worry. For the rest of
the day, you must put aside your worries, reminding yourself that you may
deal with them only at the appointed time.
2. When you start to worry, say a mental "Stop!" and then switch to a
pleasanter thought.
3. Involve yourself in something that is entirely engrossing, so much so
that you cannot concentrate on anything else while you're doing it.
Meditation is excellent. (There's one meditation I saw where you
visualize yourself putting all of your worries into a huge balloon and
then letting it float off into the sky.) And I like working jigsaw
puzzles. It requires rapt attention. Or put your photos into albums.
Do anything that will require you to shift your focus. Get "The
Relaxation Response." I haven't read the book yet, but I've used the
technique. You breathe deeply in and out, slowly counting back from 10
and progressively relaxation every part of your body until you're
completely relaxed.
4. Pray. One poem I read was about someone complaining that God didn't
help him when he asked for help. God replies, "How could I? Whenever
you turned over the problem to me, you kept taking it back again." How
true.
5. Ask yourself, "What is the worst thing that could happen?" "Will
this be important 10 or 20 years from now?" "Is worrying about it going
to make the outcome any different?" I waste a lot of my energy worrying
about things. Remind yourself, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the
things I cannot change, accept the things I can, and the wisdom to know
the difference." Worry just drags you down further. Also, get a book
called "The Feeling Good Handbook." It explains distorted thinking like
tragedizing things, black & white thinking, projecting, personalization,
etc. There's a blank form in it that you can copy whereby you can
analyze your thoughts to discover what you own internal dialogue is and
whether or not you're giving yourself distorted messages. It's
excellent.
6. Write out your fears in a journal. In fact, make it a dialogue.
Pretend you are trying to comfort a friend who has these concerns. Write
out what each of you would say & responses you would give. I bet you'll
feel better when you're done.
7. I read in one book that a good way to stop the mental loop of
worrying is to get an answering machine tape and record your fears over
top of it. Then sit down and overload yourself w/your fears until you
are sick and tired of hearing them and you become less sensitized to
those fears, your reaction becomes less strong each time you're
confronted with your fears. Sort-of like people who are afraid to drive
across bridges and go ahead & do it anyway until they become less fearful
and more comfortable.
I'm on medicine for depression right now that also deals with my
obsessive worrying. It's called Luvox and it seems to help a great deal.
Of course, you may not have the worrying compulsion that I do. I think
exercising would help ease your worry, too. At least it would be a
productive way to work off some of the anxiety and stress.
I hope this doesn't sound too simplified. I don't mean it to be. These
are just some recommendations from another person struggling with the
same problem. I've wasted so much of my life worrying about things over
which I have no control. It's such a waste of energy and time. I will
pray that you find peace from your fears and anxieties and that
everything turns out well for you. But will you feel like you spent
your time wisely when you finally get your mammogram results, be they
good or bad? Will you feel you were good to yourself by allowing that
worry to take over your life? Would anything be different because you
spent so much time worrying about it? Fill yourself with peace. Don't
let this fear rob you of life and love of life. It is preying on you.
That is all it is doing. You may not have control over what life deals
you, but - as many have said on this forum - you have control over how
you react to it. That's pretty strong stuff.
-Jean
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