What is worry and what leads to toxic worry and GAD in people?
I believe that worry is excessive thinking about something or someone coupled with a creative use of your imagination.
People with GAD spend a lot of time and energy worrying. Typically, it is over-use of the imagination about something or someone to the point where it begins to have a physical effect on our bodies. It can lead to:
- lack of sleep
- lack of concentration and focus
- lack of a sense of reality
- normal reasoning impairment
- lack of energy
- tiredness and irritability
- feeling nauseous
- palpitations
- panic attacks
Charles Tebbetts went into detail in his book entitled 'Self Hypnosis and other Mind Expanding Techniques'. He said, 'chronic fear keeps the body in a constant state of emergency alert and causes abnormal physiological functioning. Anxiety is sickness of the mind which invariably results in sickness of the body'. He went on to add, 'anxiety is often having a habit of exaggerating the possibility of danger which is out of proportion to its probability. To constantly worry about scenarios that may happen is atypical. People who tend not to worry accept risks for what they are, possible, but remote. Excessive worriers literally worry themselves sick, treating each possibility as a probability'.
Abnormal fears can result from past experiences and this can, in some cases, develop into phobias. When we are faced with danger, the human response is instinctively 'fight or flight', that is to stay and fight the oppressor or to run away as fast as you can from the danger. It is only afterwards that emotions begin to be associated with the event and it is then that we begin to use our imagination to create 'what ifs'. This can ultimately lead to emotions being attached and fully associated with the original event whereby even a thought of the original event can trigger the physical symptoms we felt shortly after the frightening behaviour.
The Russian scientist Pavlov, experimented with dogs to discover conditioned responses and learned behaviour. He conditioned dogs to salivate to a bell by presenting hungry dogs with meat whilst at the same time ringing the bell. After completing this a number of times the dogs were conditioned to salivate at the sound of the bell. This trait is also prevalent in humans in that we are conditioned from birth and develop through learned behaviour. We sometimes only require a trigger to begin to feel and experience physical symptoms within our bodies. This can be a mere thought or thoughts, a smell, touch, taste, sight or even a sound.
The mind is an extremely powerful tool and it can be very creative. We only have to think about the dream we had last night, for example, to recognise that whilst we are in the dream it felt as true as reality and it can summon physical reactions within ourselves.
So, learned behaviours; many are learned as conditioned responses to what we were exposed to in childhood. If you had parents that were excessive worriers there is a high probability that you will have developed into a worrier as an adult.
Sidney Rosen in his book entitled 'My Voice Will Go With You - The Teaching Tales of Milton H Erickson' quotes from Erickson in the Pablum™teaching tale - Pablum™ is a bland soft cereal for infants:
"When a six month old baby who is being fed Pablum™ looks at its mother's face and the mother is thinking. "that horrible stuff - it just stinks' the baby reads the headlines on the mother's face and spits it out. All you have to do is watch small children study mother's face or father's face. They know just when to stop short of receiving a rebuke. They know just how many times to ask for sweets or candy and get it. No matter how many 'no's' they receive. They know when the 'no' is very weak, and an urgent request for sweets or candy yields a 'yes'". Sidney Rosen goes on to explain that Erickson is pointing out how much we are influenced by our parents' attitudes and tastes at a time when we are in no position to test them for ourselves. This type of influence is instrumental not only in determining our habits, values, and tastes, but also, unfortunately, in our adoption of parents' fears, prejudices and phobias. So learned behaviours and conditioning for human beings begins from birth even before we learn to speak.
Excessive worry can also cause the following physical symptoms:
- a state of incomplete digestion
- high blood pressure
- rapid pulse
- general disruptions of the vital bodily functions
We can learn to switch off our mind and choose our thoughts. It is possible to take control and think only the thoughts we want to think.
As Ormond McGill stated, "Controlling the mind is a behaviour habit.
Let your mind think what it wants to think. Think your own chosen thoughts, not what others tell you to think. Discipline your mind to make you make your mind up about what is best for you.
Make your mind think what it wants to think. Thoughts are energy therefore you use up a lot of energy, especially thinking negative thoughts, so control it. Make it think what you want.
Make your mind stop thinking when you want it to stop thinking, just as you do when you go to sleep.
Become a witness to your thoughts. Watch them as on a movie screen so you almost detach yourself from them. Pick and choose which ones to use".
Hypnosis and meditation are excellent processes to use to help you to do this. Hypnosis, particularly, can help you gain better control over your thoughts and to find and develop new learned behaviours to replace the old behaviours that no longer serve you.
Begin to make that positive transformation today for a more fulfilled and happier life.
Until next time..... Maria.
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