In Anticipation of Anxiety

I have anxiety issues and one of them is my propensity to make things worse in my mind then they really will are or will be. I sometimes have to monitor group work sessions at my place of employment, and inevitably I start imagining the worst. What if I’m not prepared enough? What if they ask me something I should be able to answer? What if I look foolish trying to handle the material? What will they think of me as a professional? My mind starts racing, full of these anxious thoughts, and by meeting time I’m a mental mess. I decided I needed to put a stop to this anticipation anxiety. Treatments for anxiety are mostly about taking control of your thoughts, so I knew I had the power of control. What I started doing was focusing my mind on something else once I was prepared for the meeting. For example, I would work on another project I was interested in doing or was doing well. This served to bolster my mental confidence and provided a much needed distraction. With practice, I learned how to make myself quit thinking the worst.

Tags: anticipation, Anxiety, confidence, Mental Health, thinking, thoughts

Filed under: Anxiety