Summary
- Avoid extreme thinking.
- Stop "rehearsing" negative thoughts.
- Use "thought" stoppage.
It's normal for stress levels to rise during or after a crisis. You can bring down your stress level by taking control of the way you react.
Manage stress levels with these tips
Avoid extreme thinking. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “Since the crisis, my life is going downhill,” you are practicing extreme thinking.
Extreme thinking is not only gloomy, but it also is inaccurate. Try replacing every extreme thought with something more realistic.
For instance, you could say: “This crisis is horrendous, but I will find ways to make my life better because of it.”
Stop “rehearsing” negative thoughts. Remember that the quickest way to bring on feelings of depression is to repeat the same negative thoughts over and over.
Imagine that every negative thought you repeat over and over is like using a shovel to dig yourself into a depressed mood. Instead, reflect on positive thoughts and ideas every day and use positive wording in conversations with others.
Use “thought stoppage.” If grim thoughts and images fill your mind, try wearing a rubber band around your wrist. When a thought you want to get out of your mind appears, flip the rubber band hard and say, “No!” Then focus on something more pleasant. After two or three days of doing this exercise, you should find that you are able to steer your thinking away from disturbing thoughts.
Emergency responders often use this technique in getting over a critical event that resulted in a grim scene they can’t forget. While this will not work on general stress or vague feelings of worry, it will help you to stop thinking about a specific thought or image that keeps playing in your mind.
Find “control buttons” to control stress levels
Place all of your worries into different “baskets.” Do not lump all of your problems—money worries, job concerns or marriage problems—into one giant basket. If you do, you will feel overwhelmed trying to deal with them all.
Manage your problems in bite-size pieces. Split each problem into small chunks. For example, if you have money worries, ask yourself: “How can I make one minor improvement in my finances every week for 10 straight weeks?”
Address the crisis, but keep boundaries around your personal life. You will want to do what you can to resolve the crisis.
However, resist linking too many personal problems and private thoughts to the crisis. In other words, don’t use the anxiety associated with the crisis as an excuse to neglect personal goals. Getting caught up in a crisis can help you avoid addressing important issues that you needed to deal with before this all came about. Focusing too much on the crisis will only hinder you from living productively.
Make all future decisions with caution instead of fear. Although you can learn from the ordeal you went through, don’t let fear of another crisis paralyze you. Learn, grow and press on.
Summary
- Avoid extreme thinking.
- Stop "rehearsing" negative thoughts.
- Use "thought" stoppage.
It's normal for stress levels to rise during or after a crisis. You can bring down your stress level by taking control of the way you react.
Manage stress levels with these tips
Avoid extreme thinking. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “Since the crisis, my life is going downhill,” you are practicing extreme thinking.
Extreme thinking is not only gloomy, but it also is inaccurate. Try replacing every extreme thought with something more realistic.
For instance, you could say: “This crisis is horrendous, but I will find ways to make my life better because of it.”
Stop “rehearsing” negative thoughts. Remember that the quickest way to bring on feelings of depression is to repeat the same negative thoughts over and over.
Imagine that every negative thought you repeat over and over is like using a shovel to dig yourself into a depressed mood. Instead, reflect on positive thoughts and ideas every day and use positive wording in conversations with others.
Use “thought stoppage.” If grim thoughts and images fill your mind, try wearing a rubber band around your wrist. When a thought you want to get out of your mind appears, flip the rubber band hard and say, “No!” Then focus on something more pleasant. After two or three days of doing this exercise, you should find that you are able to steer your thinking away from disturbing thoughts.
Emergency responders often use this technique in getting over a critical event that resulted in a grim scene they can’t forget. While this will not work on general stress or vague feelings of worry, it will help you to stop thinking about a specific thought or image that keeps playing in your mind.
Find “control buttons” to control stress levels
Place all of your worries into different “baskets.” Do not lump all of your problems—money worries, job concerns or marriage problems—into one giant basket. If you do, you will feel overwhelmed trying to deal with them all.
Manage your problems in bite-size pieces. Split each problem into small chunks. For example, if you have money worries, ask yourself: “How can I make one minor improvement in my finances every week for 10 straight weeks?”
Address the crisis, but keep boundaries around your personal life. You will want to do what you can to resolve the crisis.
However, resist linking too many personal problems and private thoughts to the crisis. In other words, don’t use the anxiety associated with the crisis as an excuse to neglect personal goals. Getting caught up in a crisis can help you avoid addressing important issues that you needed to deal with before this all came about. Focusing too much on the crisis will only hinder you from living productively.
Make all future decisions with caution instead of fear. Although you can learn from the ordeal you went through, don’t let fear of another crisis paralyze you. Learn, grow and press on.
Summary
- Avoid extreme thinking.
- Stop "rehearsing" negative thoughts.
- Use "thought" stoppage.
It's normal for stress levels to rise during or after a crisis. You can bring down your stress level by taking control of the way you react.
Manage stress levels with these tips
Avoid extreme thinking. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “Since the crisis, my life is going downhill,” you are practicing extreme thinking.
Extreme thinking is not only gloomy, but it also is inaccurate. Try replacing every extreme thought with something more realistic.
For instance, you could say: “This crisis is horrendous, but I will find ways to make my life better because of it.”
Stop “rehearsing” negative thoughts. Remember that the quickest way to bring on feelings of depression is to repeat the same negative thoughts over and over.
Imagine that every negative thought you repeat over and over is like using a shovel to dig yourself into a depressed mood. Instead, reflect on positive thoughts and ideas every day and use positive wording in conversations with others.
Use “thought stoppage.” If grim thoughts and images fill your mind, try wearing a rubber band around your wrist. When a thought you want to get out of your mind appears, flip the rubber band hard and say, “No!” Then focus on something more pleasant. After two or three days of doing this exercise, you should find that you are able to steer your thinking away from disturbing thoughts.
Emergency responders often use this technique in getting over a critical event that resulted in a grim scene they can’t forget. While this will not work on general stress or vague feelings of worry, it will help you to stop thinking about a specific thought or image that keeps playing in your mind.
Find “control buttons” to control stress levels
Place all of your worries into different “baskets.” Do not lump all of your problems—money worries, job concerns or marriage problems—into one giant basket. If you do, you will feel overwhelmed trying to deal with them all.
Manage your problems in bite-size pieces. Split each problem into small chunks. For example, if you have money worries, ask yourself: “How can I make one minor improvement in my finances every week for 10 straight weeks?”
Address the crisis, but keep boundaries around your personal life. You will want to do what you can to resolve the crisis.
However, resist linking too many personal problems and private thoughts to the crisis. In other words, don’t use the anxiety associated with the crisis as an excuse to neglect personal goals. Getting caught up in a crisis can help you avoid addressing important issues that you needed to deal with before this all came about. Focusing too much on the crisis will only hinder you from living productively.
Make all future decisions with caution instead of fear. Although you can learn from the ordeal you went through, don’t let fear of another crisis paralyze you. Learn, grow and press on.