“that the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change, but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent,” says a Chinese Proverb. We all worry from time to time but PsychAlive and the Bible quote below show it is perhaps more harmful than what we worry about. 

And the Bible says: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

For many of us, worry can feel like an uncontrollable force streaming through our lives. We devote a great deal of time to our worries, either fretting over them or trying desperately to avoid them. Both pursuits take a lot of energy. Because of their distracting nature, our worries often feel like they’re driving us. The truth is, we have more power than we think. We can change our relationship to our worries and learn how to stop worrying.

A University of Liverpool study of more than 30,000 people recently revealed that while trauma in a person’s life is the number one cause of stress, how people think about this trauma is just as relevant to how much stress they experience. As head researcher Peter Kinderman put it, “Whilst we can’t change a person’s family history or their life experiences, it is possible to help a person to change the way they think and to teach them positive coping strategies that can mitigate and reduce stress levels.”

Why some of us can’t stop worrying

A 2016 review in Biological Psychology shed new light on why some of us are more inclined to get caught up in our worries than others. It explains that people who worry pathologically have an attention bias and are more likely to detect threats and engage in a “’what if …?’ thinking style.”

They have a tendency to perceive the world as more dangerous and suffer from more negative moods.

Basically, they tend to view the same circumstances in a more negative light, weighing bad outcomes over good and convincing themselves that their worries are useful.

People who worry less have an easier time focusing on positive outcomes and letting their worries go when they no longer feel they serve them. This research further suggests that if we can change our relationship to our worries and train ourselves in a new way of thinking about them, we can teach ourselves how to stop worrying so much.

The following methods have been suggested for stopping worrying.

The God factor

For people who have good relationship with God by obeying him and doing His will, the best method is to pass over the problems or challenges causing us to worry to Him in prayers with the faith that He will provide  solutions as implied in the above quote.

Distract yourself

Getting off the hamster wheel of worry may mean seeking distraction. “Thinking about the idea of stopping worrying when you’ve had enough of it, rather than when the worrying is somehow ‘finished’ or ‘complete,’ could be beneficial,” wrote Dr. Christian Jarrett, author of Personology.  For example, studies suggest that focused distraction is a good strategy for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder to stop their cycle of unwanted thoughts. Give yourself permission to do something else. Take a walk. Call a friend. Watch a funny TV show. Play with your kid or your pet. Look for something positive or enjoyable to help lift your spirits and occupy your mind.

Set aside a worry time

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Naturally, we can’t always run away from our worries. Some psychologists warn that simply trying to stop the thoughts isn’t a real solution and can lead to more stress. The idea behind how to stop worrying so much isn’t to avoid our concerns altogether, but to take a kinder approach and give ourselves permission to stop obsessing. One technique that may be helpful is to set aside a specific time when we’re allowed to worry.

By the time we do get around to our worries, we may even find that they no longer seem so intense. Or, perhaps, we can make a plan for a solution to a specific problem. After the time is up, we can let ourselves off the hook and return to living more in the moment.

Evict your Inner Critic

Part of changing our relationship to our worries means quieting an inner voice we all possess that perpetuates our anxiety by warning us about everything that could go wrong. Our “critical inner voice”” is like an internalized coach, an enemy that evaluates, undermines, and criticizes us but that also fosters paranoid, suspicious attitudes toward the world around us. That voice has to be evicted.

Avoid isolation

Our anxiety can lead us to seek isolation, but isolation can also perpetuate our anxiety. It’s important to seek social support when we feel worried. Finding someone we can talk to, so we don’t feel alone and lost in our heads can offer us real relief. We shouldn’t be ashamed to look to our friends to provide a welcome perspective or even help guide us to the support we need.

Our friends also tend to provide a welcome distraction. When we’re alone, we’re more likely to ruminate in negative thoughts and fall down one of the rabbit holes our critical inner voice is putting forth. Unless crowds are a cause for our anxiety, we can also simply go out in public, perhaps to a pretty park, a museum, or a mall. We should choose a place we enjoy, where we can be around other people. We can even set aside time to volunteer or take a class to learn a new hobby. These activities remind us that there’s a whole world waiting for us outside of our worries.

Write your worries down

Some people find writing to be a powerful tool in learning how to stop worrying. Writing helps declutter the mind and reduce stress. Studies have shown that writing about emotions may help relieve stress and trauma. One study even found that writing about their worries prior to an exam actually boosted students’ performance. If writing offers comfort or eases anxiety, we can make it a practice to help us get through moments of stress.

Get the rest you need

A study shows that people who go to sleep later or for shorter durations tend to experience more repetitive negative thinking. Shorter sleep duration was associated with more rumination, while delayed sleep timing was associated with more obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Getting a good night’s sleep is beneficial for myriad mental and physical reasons. The fact that it can reduce the amount we worry is reason enough to make it a real priority.

Get outdoors

We tend to experience nature with our senses, drinking in sights, sounds and smells, feeling the earth on our feet and the breeze on our face.  This presence of mind can offer us respite from worrying. “As our mind unclutters, we tend to feel more active and alive,” wrote Firestone. “Plus, when we’re outside, we naturally tend to move more, which releases endorphins and further boosts our mood and energy level.”

Exercise

Most of us know that exercise is good for our mental and physical health. Researchers have concluded that “adults who engage in regular physical activity experience fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms.” Exercise feels good and improves our mood because of its neurological effects. Movement offers a unique and natural way to boost our mood.