Comment by prometheus76
1 year ago
I hope this doesn't sound overly simplistic, but it has changed my life. I have struggled with anxiety and depression for most of my life. A couple of years ago, a therapist said, "Have you tried thinking of something else?" when I was explaining running through anxiety-inducing scenarios in my head.
So now when something that causes anxiety or dread starts to show up in my head, I immediately say "I don't want to think about that" and I say a little prayer. Sometimes, I keep repeating the prayer to keep my mind occupied on something besides dread.
I have joked that this is my "Bottle it up" approach to my mental health, which people usually assume is a self-deprecating joke, but there's actually a lot of truth in it. Being able to control when to mentally address these tough situations if a real skill, and is not simply ignoring the problem outright. I'm glad you shared this experience.
Yeah it felt like a revelation when someone said "you can control your thoughts" basically. I was like, "Really? Is it really that easy?" and it takes some practice but yes, you don't have to just let your brain run around thinking about whatever it wants. You can say "no". It really helps me to have a specific prayer I say instead so that my mind doesn't just jump to some other dreadful scenario.
The other most impactful thing I've done for my anxiety was uninstalling all news apps from my phone. I check the headlines one time in the morning to satiate my curiosity then I don't look at the news at all.
In theravada buddhism, this is called applying the faculty of wise attention. We have zero control over our thoughts, but we have control over the object of our attention (and it improves with practice).
When unpleasant thoughts arise, the (canonical Buddhist) strategy is to move your attention to something (anything!) else.
Using mantra (prayer) or force of will ("I close my attention to this thought") are both applications of the technique.