Don't worry about your anxiety

My anxiety used to be terrible. The high levels of stress caused a depression so bad that I literally wanted to die. Overtime I begin to turn my focus on the things I was worrying about. Instead of trying to cure myself of anxiety, I sought to cure myself of the troublesome thoughts. And I've found that one of the main things a person with an anxiety disorder worries about is the anxiety itself. Ask an anxious person what the symptoms of anxiety are, and they will more than likely have a long, detailed list. Anxiety should never be worried about, anxiety is NOT the problem. Anxiety is a symptom of a problem, it is not the problem itself. In reality, anxiety is a very useful tool; it is a powerful alerting mechanism.

Anxiety alerts us that there is a problem. Without experiencing anxiety, we would go a long time without being aware that anything is wrong (why treating the symptom is counterproductive in the long run). Like people that are unable to experience pain, they end up constantly hurting themselves more than a usual person because they don't have the "woah, something is wrong!" alert to protect them. The problem is worrying, and our anxiety is trying to tell us that. This is why awareness is key to overcoming anxiety. It is very important to be aware of the thoughts we are thinking. When we become aware of the thoughts we are thinking, and label them as thoughts, our experience of reality becomes much more realistic. After a thought is properly labeled, we then are able to dissect the thought, and determine if the thought has any usefulness. A thought should only be encouraged if it is useful. A useless worry—like worrying about anything that is "out of our hands"—is completely pointless. The only outcome of worrying about useless thoughts will be stress. If we stress ourselves out, we harm our ability to deal with the things we can control. If you notice a worrying thought, go through the following steps...

1. Become aware that what you are experiencing is a thought, and label it as a "thought". 
2. Tell yourself that the thought is just a thought, no matter how real experiencing it seemed. Reality is found in the senses, not in our thoughts. The past and future are not real, just thoughts, and thoughts need to be properly labeled.
3. Ask yourself if you can realistically do anything about the worrying thought in reality. If nothing can be done about the perceived problem, then try make yourself to understand this by making an effort to accept it. 
4. Bring your focus back to the senses, to reality. Typically the scariest things we experience in life are our own thoughts. Daydreams (or dayterrors) are the primary source of anxiety for most people. To tell yourself that "it is just a dream" (or as I said earlier, a 'thought'), takes the emotional sting out of it.    

I believe awareness and a realistic worldview is the key to overcoming anxiety. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment. Also, I'm going to be putting in a new chat room very soon.