Overcoming Depersonalization and Feelings of Unreality by David Anthony

Author:David, Anthony [David, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781472105745
Publisher: Constable Robinson
Published: 2012-09-11T04:00:00+00:00

Worry, anxiety and DPAFU

We’re now going to look at the anxiety and worry associated with DPAFU. These worries can be specific, for example worrying about what caused the DPAFU in the first place or what the end result might be. Or the worries may be more general, for example worrying about your future or the state of the world. Of course, you might also worry about your thoughts and worries. Whatever your concerns, we hope the following pages will help.

This section is only a brief, DPAFU-focused overview of the vast amount of literature on worry and anxiety currently available. If you feel that your anxiety is not specifically related to DPAFU, you may benefit from a self-help guide aimed specifically at managing panic and anxiety. We recommend some of these in the section on further reading at the end of the book. Also have a look at Chapter 7 for other techniques that can be helpful. These include problem-solving skills to help you deal more effectively with decision-making and relaxation and mindfulness techniques.

One of the key ways of managing anxiety is to become aware of what exactly it is that you are worried about. What are the thoughts that go round and round in your head? Are they about the same subject? Psychologists call these repetitive, intrusive and unwanted thoughts ruminations. People often find themselves going over and over the same worries because they believe that eventually they’ll be able to work them through. But going over and over the same thoughts often leaves you feeling as if you’re going to drive yourself mad. Worrying can actually be very unhelpful. Often people worry about things that have happened in the past or dwell on what might have happened if things had been done differently. But of course the past can’t be changed by worrying about it.

People also worry about how to prevent bad things happening in the future. Sometimes it’s helpful to separate out your worries about the past from your anxieties about the future; it’s part of trying to be clear about what’s behind your feelings of anxiety or uneasiness. Events that have happened in the past can’t be changed, as we’ve said, and going over and over them in your mind often leads to further feelings of anxiety and low mood. Clearly this is not a helpful strategy. Likewise when we go over all of the things that could possibly happen to us in the future, we often feel increased anxiety and stress. Again the aim here is to adopt a more balanced viewpoint. Ask yourself how likely it is that something bad will happen, and be careful that you are not using emotional reasoning (one of the cognitive errors) to justify how you feel. Imagine that you believed very strongly that the most likely thing to happen when you left the house that day was that you would be abducted by aliens! It’s not likely that many of us would choose to leave the house – no

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