Healing the Addicted Brain by Harold Urschel

Author:Harold Urschel [Urschel, Harold]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Health
ISBN: 9781402245268
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 10032244
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Incorporated
Published: 2009-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

• Keep a journal—Keeping a journal is an excellent tool for discover-

ing when and why your anxiety tends to arise. once you understand

what sets your anxiety off, you’ll be in a much better position to

defuse it or even prevent future bouts.

• Write in your journal several times a day—each morning, afternoon,

and evening, write down the time of day, the place, what you’re

doing, and your current thoughts and feelings. You may also want

to rate the intensity of your feelings from 0 to 10, with 10 being the

most intense. Make additional entries in the journal whenever you

feel anxious. over time, the journal should reveal certain patterns

that contribute to your anxiety.

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Dealing with Difficult Emotions 137

A

• ssess the control factor—When analyzing an anxiety-producing situ-

ation, ask yourself if it is something that you have control over. You

have some control, for example, over the anxiety you may be feeling

about your bills: you could budget your money more effectively, eat

out less often, get rid of your cell phone, or buy fewer clothes. But in

some situations you have no control. You may, for example, become

anxious when a person you’re attracted to doesn’t return your interest.

Then you just have to realize that you have no control over the other

person and that you must let it go. Trying to change the inevitable

will simply increase your anxiety and get you nowhere.

2. Challenge and change negative thinking.

Your thoughts affect your feelings. Your feelings, in turn, influence your

actions. This is especially true regarding anxiety. Your thoughts can cause

your anxiety levels to skyrocket, inflaming the urge to drink or use. or

they can calm you down considerably and help you stay on the sobriety

track. Therefore, recognizing your pro-addiction thoughts and changing

them to pro-recovery thoughts is an essential step in easing anxiety.

If anxiety is making you feel worried or fearful, you may be thinking,

“If I have a drink or a hit, I won’t feel so crummy anymore. Yeah, okay,

the relief will only be temporary, but any relief is better than none.” Use

the techniques you learned in Chapter Two to replace that pro-addiction

thought with health-enhancing ones such as these:

“U

• sing alcohol or drugs to relieve my anxiety is dangerous.”

“I can handle this feeling and I can disco

•

ver what is causing it.”

“I

• don’t have to tolerate this feeling; I can get control of the thoughts

that are causing it.”

“

• once I’ve managed my feelings of anxiety, I will feel stronger.”

“I

• can and will learn how to control my thoughts, feelings, be-

haviors, and beliefs so I won’t have to go through this prolonged

anxiety anymore.”

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138 Healing the Addicted Brain

Changing the thoughts that arise in response to anxiety will help you

control your anxiety.

3. Manage stress.

There are many strategies and techniques for releasing and reducing stress

and thereby lowering anxiety levels. Some of the most helpful include:

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