Relax - Do Not Worry

Worry and fear are emotions that often reduce our ability to enjoy life and participate as fully as we would like. Worry can negatively influence our outlook on life, it can hold you back from achieving your full potential and can impact on your realationships and interaction others.

Worry is concern or fear about something that might happen in the future. Worrying is not always negative behaviour - there are positive as well as negative aspects to worry.

--------------- Positive -----------------------

-:- Motives us
-:- Reminds us of past errors
-:- Helps us to to anticipate problems
-:- Encourages us to plan
-:- Encourages us to develop skills

--------------- Negative -----------------------

-:- Wastes valuable time
-:- Makes us dwell on past failures
-:- Leads us to being stuck in problems
-:- Exaggerates difficulties
-:- Erodes confidence

Some people will be more prone to worry than others.

This is due to:

-:- Personality factors
-:- External locus of control
-:- Irrational thinking
-:- Lack of confidence
-:- Low self-esteem
-:- Lack of skils
-:- Key influnces in our lives
-:- Tendency to make comparisons

Continual worry can lead to stress responces. While some stress in our lives is both nomal and necessary, excessive stress is not. Stress symptoms generally fall into four categories - emotional, physical, behavioural and thought. It is important to be able to recognise the symptoms of stress in yourself and to think about ways to minimise your stress response.

Emotional Physical
-:- Irritable -:- Sleep problems
-:- Anxious -:- Headaches/General aches
-:- Depressed -:- Stomach discomfort

Behavioural Thought