Nagging Worries and Racing Thoughts

Being diagnosed with a serious illness, particularly one that is life threatening is almost always accompanied by anxiety and worry. Lots of questions fly through your head. Will I survive this? What happens next? Can I endure the treatments? How will my family be affected? And on and on and on…

Fortunately for most of us, the worry begins to diminish as answers to the many questions become available. Sometimes that comes in the form of information from the treatment team, sometimes from reading, or maybe just talking to others who have gone through the same experiences. Sometimes those answers come from simply living through what was once an unknown experience. No matter how the questions are answered, knowing is usually better than not knowing.

Unfortunately, not all questions get quick or easy answers. Those that linger on can really wreck havoc with your emotional wellbeing and may crop up at times that are very disruptive to your day. Typically, anxiety and worry are held to a minimum when we are busy. If you have ever had problems with anxiety you know that if your mind is focused on a task or activity that the worry and anxiety are usually much better. Whether you are watching a movie, doing chores, busy at your job, or in conversation with a friend, the nervousness and troubling thoughts are usually much better.

In fact, you may be able to go for hours at a time without any really disruptive thoughts or panicky feelings. But we all know what happens in the quiet moments when no one is around, when work is over and you are on the long car ride home, or when you are lying quietly in bed with no TV or music playing. It is during those times when we no longer have to maintain some focus or concentration that the scary thoughts can begin to race around in our head like racers at a NASCAR event.

Sometimes it seems like a flurry of random unrelated thoughts and at others it’s one or two troublesome ideas or questions that simply lap around the track in your head in a seemingly endless fashion. No matter what form they take, these nagging worries and racing thoughts can lead to sleeplessness, diminished appetite, irritability, and inability to concentrate on important matters.

Next week I will discuss how to tackle these worries and anxieties using techniques that can help you change your thinking, decrease the physical discomfort, and improve your control over these difficulties.