10 Ways to Reduce Anxiety... Part 1

1. Repeat your worry until you're bored silly. If you had a fear of elevators, you'd get rid of it if you rode in one a thousand times in a row. At first, you would be very anxious, then less so, and eventually it would have no effect (except to make you sick of riding in an elevator.) So take the troublesome thought that's nagging at you and say it over and over, silently, slowly, for 20 minutes. It's hard to keep your mind on a worry if you repeat it that many times. I call this the 'boredom cure' for obvious reasons, but it sure beats feeling overwhelmed by anxiety.

2. Make it worse. When you try to hard to control your anxieties, you only heighten them. Instead, exaggerate them and see what happens. For instance, if you fear that your mind will go blank during a presentation, fake it intentionally in the middle of your next one. Say, "Gee, what was I saying?" Notice how this makes no difference. It's nothing to worry about, right? I did this at a lecture once and no one raised an eyebrow. (Perhaps they weren't listening anyway.!)

Ed. note: these are by Robert L. Leahy, PhD and director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy in NY, NY.