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Your mind is constantly working. Sometimes it races,
sometimes it slows, but it rarely stops. Even when you’re sleeping, the wheels
are turning. You may be worrying about work, your relationships, your finances,
or simply how you’re going to juggle the hundred and one things on your plate.
Whatever the source of your worry or distress, you clearly aren’t going to
relax until you stop — or at least slow — this mental mayhem.
Consider
Matt’s stressful night: Matt is in bed at 11:30, ready and determined to go to
sleep. But he well knows that isn’t going to happen. His thinking is just starting
to rev up. He’s worried about his job and what he’ll do if that rumored layoff
comes through. His credit cards, although not maxed out, are getting there. His
relationship with Jenna is losing some steam. Maybe they should take a break
for a while. He thinks about yesterday, when his friend Mark told him he wasn’t
being a good friend and wasn’t spending enough time with him. Doesn’t Mark
understand how busy he is? He remembers his bad decision to buy this apartment.
“Don’t really love it. Costing me a fortune! Not worth it! How can I sell it in
this market?”
Matt’s worries
are real. But if he continues to ruminate and obsess, he won’t fall asleep
until next week. It’s not only the nights when his thinking starts to spin. The
days are just as bad. He wishes he didn’t have these problems, but it seems his
mind races like this even when the problems change. He desperately wants his
brain to shut off or at least slow down. Why do all his worries and anxieties
keep spiraling in his mind? “Where,” he asks, “is the off switch?”
Five signs that your mind is stressed
Below are some
of the more common signs that indicate that your mind is working overtime. See
how many of the following describe you.
1.
Your
mind seems to be racing.
2.
You find controlling your thoughts difficult
3.
You’re
worried, irritable, or upset
4.
You’re
preoccupied more often and find concentrating more difficult.
5.
You find it difficult to fall asleep or fall
back asleep once awake.
Copyright © Allen Elkin Phd – Originally appeared in Stress Management for Dummies 2nd edition by Allen Elkin
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