We all have unhelpful thoughts every now and then, for me these thoughts come to the surface during a period of anxiety. Thinking back to when I first started struggling with anxiety, almost two years ago, I see so much progress, but I also see how different I have become. This being said, I still have rough moments when I feel like I am back at square one, and the leading force is unhelpful thoughts.
“Everyone is tired of your problems”
This keeps me from talking to my friends about the feelings that I am experiencing during anxiety. Sometimes I feel as though I take over conversations with people when I feel anxious.
“Your boyfriend probably doesn’t want to be with you”
“He is just with you because he feels sorry for you” Even though my boyfriend has never ever even uttered these words, this is a thought that is immediately in my mind on bad days. He is the person that I talk these things out with most times and because I tend to demonize my anxious feeling I assume he does the same.
“Just get over it”
Even though I would love to just get over my anxiety, it is not that easy. This thought it just unhelpful.
“Why can’t you just be normal”
Anxiety does not make you not normal. I always find myself wishing that I could cope with things like a “normal” person, but in reality everyone copes in different ways and there is not one “normal” way of doing this.
These thoughts are things that I have to attack head on if I want to change them. I actively try to reduce the amount of unhelpful, untrue thoughts that I am thinking. These thoughts are not true and anyone in your life can tell your anxiety is pushing them onto you. I get a lot of help from my friends and family as well as redirecting my anxiety into other projects, like working out.