How much worse could it get?

[Guest atran]

Hello,

It is often the case that my posts remain without replies, in any forum. I'm not sure why. Anyway, I want to share some thoughts, one or two. I want to know whether anyone has had a similar experience, or impression.

Today during the day I had considerable uneasiness, which I could not really stand. But I wouldn't describe the experience as tremendous, since there had been worse cases. So, I had been thinking of a new way of attacking anxiety recently. I had been thinking of endurance, as opposed to resistance. When an unwelcome thought emerges, I naturally resist it, which is very tempting and may not be the right thing to do. Today, I managed to endure that uneasiness, instead of keep resisting it. During the process I felt very tense inside, perplexed, and worried. Nevertheless in the evening, the original troubling thoughts were no longer the same; their bad effect was reduced to the point of being ignorable, almost.

What do you think?

[PolarBear]

Hi atran.

I think I understand what you mean. You definitely do not want to resist the thoughts. That is giving the thoughts attention, which tends to make them worse in the future or stick around longer than they normally would. By enduring the thought I think you mean you put up with the thought, just let it be there. That's what you want to do. The thought comes, you do nothing to push it away or get rid of it. Instead, let the thought be and get onto doing something else, like watching TV, reading a book, going for a walk, washing the dishes, etc. By doing so, you teach yourself not to pay any attention to the thoughts.

[Guest atran]

Yes, by enduring I meant to let the thought (or feeling) just be.

However, these thoughts most often emerge as a result of the activities which I normally do or enjoy doing. Such as reading (and learning). That's why I have to become invulnerable to these thoughts. Shifting my perspective away from them would prevent me from doing what I regularly do.

[PolarBear]

Don't stop doing what you enjoy. In fact it's very important that you keep on doing those things, despite having the intrusive thoughts.