I'm going to say that this technique works for me in some cases, depending on the item I am thinking about. To generalize, as I have used this technique for at least 2 years now, if it is something I cannot do anything about, have no control over, then this technique works, is very effective.
If , using your example, on Sunday I start to think about ways I can work on a work issue I'll be tackling that Monday or Tuesday, then I feel much better writing down my concerns and worries and ideas. Like if I am going into a meeting and am worrying about being prepared enough for example, it helps to act on the worry (make notes to self, etc..) than to stop the worry.
If the worry is about whether someone's plane is going to arrive on time, this is a perfect example, for me , of when thought stopping applies.
There are a number of CBT techniques that are commonly used to help people challenge worry including: thought records, thought stopping, worry time, challenging the value of worry, problem solving, experiments to increase intolerance of uncertainty and cognitive exposure. Let’s take a look at them one at a time:
Thought Stopping: Thought stopping is a technique that can be used to stop worry when it occurs.
For example, many people who work Monday to Friday start to worry about work (and all of their other problems) on…Sunday night. One worry seems to spiral out of control into worrying about everything. At such a time worrying typically doesn’t help people solve any problems. It just leads to a bad night’s sleep. At times when your worry seems like it is spinning out of control, you can try to use thought stopping to shock yourself out of the process. The basic idea is to startle yourself, so that you get out of the “worry loop” in your head. There are many different ways t do it but the basic idea is to imagine a big “Stop” sign in your mind and yell “Stop!” three times (If it is late at night or there are other people around, you may need to yell into your pillow or just imagine yelling the word). Believe it or not, some people this technique to be extremely helpful. Don’t knock it until you try it.
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