Three blocking behaviours that make you anxious
Recognising behaviours that contribute to mental anxiety and stress is the first step in curing yourself of this discomfort. The are three obsessive behaviours, and you may not indulge in all three, but any of them have the power to make your life less happy than it should be. These stresses in your life might have originally been able to be controlled or alleviated by indulging in hobbies or interests such as sports photography but you might find that your life is overtaking you. So what are these behaviours?
Obsessed negativity is the first, and it is relatively easy to self-diagnose. People with obsessed negativity tend to be generally negative about things that happen in their life. Sometimes it’s just one area, such as work, but it can pervade your entire life, from your family and friends, your personal image, places you go, situations you encounter, politics and more.
Perhaps you find yourself saying things to yourself like “I can’t do this!” or “No one understands!” or “Nothing ever works!”, for example. This may be completely subconscious for you, but essentially you have what’s known as a “sour grapes” attitude, and it inhibits you knowing what it’s like to view life through a positive lens and enjoy the beauty in yourself and people around you! The same world looks much different with a more positive attitude.
Obsessive perfectionism is another trap that people can fall into – everything has to be perfect, done in a certain way, to a certain standard. You might find yourself saying that you have to ‘do things right’ or you feel a sense of failure. This constant expectation to achieve almost impossibly high standards will drive your anxiety higher, and you may not even realize it. In fact, it could be contributing to a general feeling of being up-tight.
The third is obsessive analysis – being overly obsessed with minute details and being afraid that if you don’t understand the process that things won’t go right. You might look over a procedure over and over again, rehashing it in your brain, becoming anxious that you don’t have full control if you don’t have full knowledge.
An excess of analysis robs you of time to enjoy your life. You’re caught up in a loop and you need to break free by reassuring yourself that all is well and undertaking activities that take your mind off it. Understand that not doing the analysis will not compromise your life.
Don’t go rushing off to find a psychological consultant. If you already suspect you are participating in blocking behaviours, the first step is to consult your friends and family to get any feedback from them. It will help them if you explain what the blocking behaviour types are so that they can give you a critique based specifically on those things (as opposed to trivialities such as your dress sense!
The truth may hurt, so be prepared for this. You will gain valuable insights into your personality, and your friends and family may be extremely supportive of your efforts to change and improve your life.
Secondly, keeping a diary of what you do and how it makes you feel can help identify the activities that cause blocking behaviours. Once you start to see patterns you can make changes to break those destructive activities down and replace them with positive activities.
Other activities that can alleviate stress include playing online racing games and watching drag racing – whatever distracts you from your current situation is good. It doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘relaxing’, but should be enjoyable.
Author: Dave Thoroughgood
This author has published 4 articles so far. More info about the author is coming soon.