Bill
23-06-09, 02:52
My mother sometimes gives me cakes etc which have just gone past their best before dates. This isn't a problem for me but my wife is very rigid because of her illness. She believes that if something is even just a minute past midnight beyond it's best before date that the food must have gone off so she will refuse to eat it! I just feel that means all the more for me!!!:D However, if she then tried to eat it, she is convinced it will make her sick so then when she does feel sick, she firmly believes it was due to the food because it must have gone off! She doesn't realise that she feels sick purely because of the "worry" because she convinced herself the food had gone off therefore she Would be sick.
To get round this, I often tear the date off foods which I know are perfectly safe (naughty a!:whistles: ) and just tell her a little white lie so that she will eat something I know she will like. When I do this, she ends up enjoying the food and doesn't even think about whether the food was ok to eat or not. Of course she doesn't get sick which then convinces her the date must have been ok.
Well....I was thinking about this tonight and how we make "ourselves" ill through worry but blame our ill feelings on something else and end up looking for a magic cure.
For instance, experiencing our first panic attack is like knowing we've eaten something that will make us sick. The next time we attempt to go out, we've convinced ourselves we'll be eating something past it's best before date again so we Will feel sick again. However, if we convinced ourselves going out is "safe to eat", we don't cause our own panics by worrying about them happening.
I can remember when I used to feel afraid of going in shops because I Knew I'd have a panic attack but these days I go into shops without even thinking about panics. I just go in thinking about whatever it is I need to buy.
Whether it's panics or frightening thoughts, they're all brought on by a reason or reasons we often don't recognise such as stress in our working lives or past bad experiences. All these things act like eating something past it's best before date because they all cause "Worry" and worry is often what causes our main problems. After all, what is anxiety? - Severe Worry!:hugs:
So how do we control "worry"? My tips would be...
Don't dwell.
Don't look back.
Keep moving forward.
Try to forget or ignore the past as just bad memories.
Don't focus on frightening thoughts.
Focus on enjoyable things or things to look forward to.
Keep the mind occupied with complicated issues that need solving.
Do whatever technique you find helps you to Relax!
Plan your days so that you don't have time to sit and Worry!
Fill your spare time with hobbies.
Get involved in conversations.
Make lists before shopping to keep the mind focused.
Don't stay in bed or sit in a chair dwelling on how ill you're feeling.
Keep your mind/body active with things you enjoy doing.
Focus on relaxing each muscle to make your body go limp.
Learn how to distract your mind away from thinking "internally" about your feelings.
Focus on things around you.
Don't read stories or watch programmes about issues you can't do anything about that you Know will make you worry.
Don't try to resist frightening thoughts.
Let frightening thoughts "pass through you" like thinking about a cream cake!
You remember worry beads? Try having an item on you to fiddle with...(Don't be rude!!!:whistles: ) I mean a pen, a mobile etc. Try doodling on a piece of paper or even take up art!
Make something out of paper - origami - when you're bored!
Write notes, a short story, poems or even create a diary.
Play a game on a mobile, pc etc.
Lastly, there's a song by Simon and Garfunkel called "America"...listen to the lyrics because all they describe can keep the mind distracted away from worrying thoughts.......
"Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOhdSCYskHM:hugs:
To get round this, I often tear the date off foods which I know are perfectly safe (naughty a!:whistles: ) and just tell her a little white lie so that she will eat something I know she will like. When I do this, she ends up enjoying the food and doesn't even think about whether the food was ok to eat or not. Of course she doesn't get sick which then convinces her the date must have been ok.
Well....I was thinking about this tonight and how we make "ourselves" ill through worry but blame our ill feelings on something else and end up looking for a magic cure.
For instance, experiencing our first panic attack is like knowing we've eaten something that will make us sick. The next time we attempt to go out, we've convinced ourselves we'll be eating something past it's best before date again so we Will feel sick again. However, if we convinced ourselves going out is "safe to eat", we don't cause our own panics by worrying about them happening.
I can remember when I used to feel afraid of going in shops because I Knew I'd have a panic attack but these days I go into shops without even thinking about panics. I just go in thinking about whatever it is I need to buy.
Whether it's panics or frightening thoughts, they're all brought on by a reason or reasons we often don't recognise such as stress in our working lives or past bad experiences. All these things act like eating something past it's best before date because they all cause "Worry" and worry is often what causes our main problems. After all, what is anxiety? - Severe Worry!:hugs:
So how do we control "worry"? My tips would be...
Don't dwell.
Don't look back.
Keep moving forward.
Try to forget or ignore the past as just bad memories.
Don't focus on frightening thoughts.
Focus on enjoyable things or things to look forward to.
Keep the mind occupied with complicated issues that need solving.
Do whatever technique you find helps you to Relax!
Plan your days so that you don't have time to sit and Worry!
Fill your spare time with hobbies.
Get involved in conversations.
Make lists before shopping to keep the mind focused.
Don't stay in bed or sit in a chair dwelling on how ill you're feeling.
Keep your mind/body active with things you enjoy doing.
Focus on relaxing each muscle to make your body go limp.
Learn how to distract your mind away from thinking "internally" about your feelings.
Focus on things around you.
Don't read stories or watch programmes about issues you can't do anything about that you Know will make you worry.
Don't try to resist frightening thoughts.
Let frightening thoughts "pass through you" like thinking about a cream cake!
You remember worry beads? Try having an item on you to fiddle with...(Don't be rude!!!:whistles: ) I mean a pen, a mobile etc. Try doodling on a piece of paper or even take up art!
Make something out of paper - origami - when you're bored!
Write notes, a short story, poems or even create a diary.
Play a game on a mobile, pc etc.
Lastly, there's a song by Simon and Garfunkel called "America"...listen to the lyrics because all they describe can keep the mind distracted away from worrying thoughts.......
"Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces......."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOhdSCYskHM:hugs: