Chronic worry is very common in our current times marked by stress and pressure. Find out here what it can do to your health.
Chronic worry is a very common condition today, almost always marked by stress and pressure. It is one more component of anxiety, a symptom that, without becoming pathological in most cases, causes great physical and emotional exhaustion on a daily basis.
They feel like mental storms, like bottomless pits we fall into daily. Where we cannot stop thinking about certain things that have not happened or that are simply part of our past.
These situations, where the mind is dedicated to suffering or obsessing over certain things, clearly weaken our productivity and, in essence, our quality of life.
Also, it is important to consider that worry as a means of coping with problems is not always helpful. The reason? When we worry excessively, negativism and helplessness appear. Therefore, we stop being useful to ourselves by not focusing on more practical strategies.
Furthermore, we must not neglect an essential detail either: chronic worry has a high cost to our health. Let’s see below some of its effects and how to deal with them with more effective strategies.
1. Muscle tension from chronic worry.
We have all experienced it at one time or another. Arrive late in the day and notice the muscles of the neck and jaw much more rigid and painfully tensed.
Most of the time we are not aware of the large number of biological reactions that excessive worry triggers, which, as we have already pointed out, is another component of anxiety.
When we worry excessively throughout the day, our brain begins to release cortisol, the stress hormone, into the blood. What cortisol does is prepare us for flight or fight.
The brain in turn sends much of our energy and blood circulation to the muscles to help us react. These processes generate muscle and joint tension, as well as headaches, stomach pain, dizziness.
What can we do to reduce muscle tension?
We know that the source of this muscle tension and overload is chronic worry. The strategy, therefore, would begin by working those obsessive and intrusive thoughts.
However, to reduce the impact of the side effects of anxiety, worry and the daily burden of stress, we can certainly put some strategy into practice.
The exercises of short duration but high intensity can help. We need to release energy, channel it, tire the body to calm the mind. We will choose those exercises that best suit our personal characteristics.
We must bear in mind, for example, that if we have a contracture, the ideal will be to be more careful. Sit- ups, treadmill walks, or even Zumba dancing can be very cathartic.
2. Tiredness and chronic worry.
It occurs in most of the cases: mental storms, tangles of our worries and that anxiety that we do not know how to manage ends up impacting on our body.
The mind consumes all our energy. She eats away at our spirits and even the desire to carry out much of our daily responsibilities.
Little by little we fall captive of that vicious and exhausting circle that causes chronic worry, where physical fatigue also makes us prisoners.
What can we do to reduce the impact of fatigue?
A positive way to deal with chronic worry is by applying what is known as ” programmed worry.” It’s about the following:
- Set a time throughout the day to dedicate yourself to finding a solution to those concerns.
- When a disruptive thought appears, say to yourself “this is not the time to empower yourself, I will think about that when I finish work and in front of a paper.”
- Every concern must serve a purpose, to find a solution. If the concern has no solution then there is no point in investing time in it.
- Likewise, it is important that we never take that “programmed worry” to bed, that is, we will never go to bed with a worry in mind.
3. Chronic worry weakens our immune system.
Worrying about a project, about an interview, about that operation that we have shortly is something natural and understandable. Now, the real problem arises when worry sets in. When it appears in our day to day to occupy each of our thoughts.
- If, in addition, these musings and internal reflections are always negative, all this has a direct impact on our health.
- Not only does your blood cortisol level rise, your adrenaline also spikes.
- Our entire body is in a “state of alert” because the brain interprets that there is a risk to react to.
- All biological resources and energy go to the muscles and the brain. Thus, other systems such as our immunity are completely neglected.
- Therefore, we stop being able to react so effectively to viruses and bacteria. Hence, we are more sensitive to infections, colds, allergies.
What can we do to take care of our immune system?
Do not leave the worry you feel today for tomorrow. Do not allow the ball to get bigger, do not procrastinate what today could have a solution.
- When you suffer times of stress and anxiety, try to take care of your diet with fresh and natural products. Avoid, above all, pre-cooked food rich in saturated fat.
- It favors your socialization, sharing your worries with other people, staying with friends will allow us to weaken the focus of our anxieties. Play down what you are obsessed with or that you only see in a negative way.
- Exercise in a natural environment for at least half an hour a day. Get oxygen, activate your circulation, remove tension from your muscles, free your mind.
To conclude, as we have seen, chronic worry can be approached in many different ways. Find those strategies that best suit you and start channeling your anxiety to enjoy a better quality of life.