COVID-19 concerns about sickness,
unemployment, death and overall uncertainty are causing major depression, anxiety
and toxic worry.
What is toxic worrying?
Worry is a natural emotion and in some
situations, it can help us be more productive. However, if you find yourself
excessively worrying over everything in your life, it can have a significant
negative impact on your health.
Toxic worrying can take over your day-to-day
life. If left untreated, it can also cause you to become ill. So, what exactly
is toxic worrying and how can it impact your life? Below, you’ll discover
everything you need to know.
How does it impact you?
You’ll worry excessively which in turn,
can lead to several health and well-being issues.
With normal worries, you’ll be aware of
them, but you’ll still manage to control the situation. With toxic worries,
it’s they replay over and over in a cycle. They are continuous and prevent
you from taking action to solve the problem.
So, toxic worrying is a type of worry
that you can’t control, and it often takes over your life.
Why does it happen?
There are a lot of things that can
contribute to toxic worrying.
Feeling insecure and vulnerable is one of the most common. The
more vulnerable you feel, the more you’ll worry about the things around you.
Similarly, if you feel like you don’t have control over a situation, it can
lead to a lot of distress, frustration and worry.
Of course, there is also the fact that
negativity breeds negativity. So, the more you worry, the bigger those worries
will become. Toxic worrying often starts out as healthy worry. Then, the more
you focus and concentrate on your worries, the bigger they start to become
until they eventually take over.
Toxic worrying can also be a sign of a
more severe anxiety disorder.
Finally, stress can play a major role in
worry. The more stressed you become, the worse your worries will be.
How can it impact your life?
The trouble with toxic worrying, is that
the longer the worry continues, the worse the side effects will be.
You’ll start to notice your physical
health is slowly deteriorating. Toxic worrying may lead to issues with
headaches, nausea, dizziness and stomach aches. Many people are unaware that
high levels of worry and stress can have a drastic impact on their physical
health. It reduces the effectiveness of the immune system, leading to other illnesses.
In addition to the above-named physical
symptoms, you may struggle to fall asleep, or you may have trouble staying
asleep. The minute you wake up you’ll also find your mind goes straight to
worry.
Fatigue is another common symptom. When
you spend so much time worrying, it starts to wear you out mentally. This can
leave you feeling constantly tired, particularly if you’re also having trouble
sleeping.
In extreme cases, toxic worrying can
cause you to avoid things while attempting to reduce the worry. When it starts to interfere with
your daily life, that’s when you need to look into how to manage it.
These are just some of the ways toxic
worrying can impact your life. The longer it is left untreated, the worse it
will become. Therefore, identifying the signs of toxic worry and taking steps
to combat the issue is crucial for your health and well-being.
My prayers are with you in these worrisome times. Thanks for stopping by.
