The Worry Control Workbook

CHAPTER 8
Controlling Worries About
Health and Safety Issues

cont.

Working Closely with a Specialist: There are numerous health care professionals and counselors who work specifically with people who are trying to give up addictions or change poor health habits. They can advise you on the strategies and treatments that would work best for you. They can also provide you with the support that is needed to accomplish this difficult task. They have often dealt with a similar issue in their own lives. Your health insurance company or health management organization may be willing to refer you to such a specialist and cover some or all of the costs.

· Self-Help Books: Self-help books can guide you through the process of breaking addictive habits. The resource list in the appendix includes some of them.

· Visualization Exercises: Visualization exercises like those described in Chapter 11, Focusing Your Attention Away From Your Worries, or in the book Visualization for Change (Fanning, P. New Harbinger Publications, Oakland, CA: 1994) are very effective aids in helping you get rid of bad habits. The following examples can serve as a guide in developing your own visualization sequences. Use your creative senses to develop an exercise that will work for you.

Pat Fanning describes a visualization exercise that you could use if you want to lose weight and develop healthy eating habits. It begins by lying down and making yourself comfortable. You then imagine yourself going through the day in great detail, enjoying the way your body looks at the desired weight, wearing attractive new, smaller clothes, making healthy food choices, savoring the tastes of these foods, enjoying exercising, and walking with yourself through the times when you are tempted to eat the wrong foods or overeat. You could do parts of this visualization at different times of the day to help you get through difficult times.

Visualization exercises to help you give up smoking can be repeated frequently during the day. Fanning says the nonsmoking visualization needs three elements. They are 1) an example of successfully getting your needs met without smoking -- like noticing how good the food tastes and smells; 2) an image of yourself as a healthy nonsmoker; and 3) an aversive image of smoking as unpleasant -- like the smell of cigarette smoke making you queasy.

· Make a list of the reasons you engage in this habit like:
I eat:
to feel happy
to nurture myself
because I like the taste of food
to relieve stress
Make your own list of reasons why you engage in this habit.
"I _________________(habit) in order to:"
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Making this list will guide you in thinking of other things you could do that meet the same need but are not bad for you, and may even be good for you. Then make a list of things you could do instead of smoking, eating, drinking, gambling, etc. For example, instead of grabbing something unhealthy to eat, you could:
· call a friend and have a chat
· write a card to someone you care about
· go for a walk
· take a few deep breaths
· write about the feelings in your diary
· work on a knitting project
· weed in the garden
· make yourself some tea
· read a book
List some things you could do instead of __________________ (bad habit)
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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· Taking "baby steps": Getting rid of a bad habit that has persisted for years, perhaps most of your life, can feel like a daunting task. Because it seems so overwhelming, the tendency is to put it off until just the right time-when you're not so busy, when you've gotten the house cleaned, when you've finished writing your doctoral thesis, after the kids are all through college. Actually there is no better time to do it than right now. The sooner you meet your goal, whether it is losing sixty pounds, gaining fifteen pounds, giving up alcohol, or avoiding gambling, the sooner you will be enjoying a renewed sense of health and well-being.

I weighed twenty pounds more than I needed to. This extra weight was making it difficult to recover from a chronic muscular pain condition. I set reasonable monthly goals for myself -- four pounds a month or one pound a week. When I met my monthly goal, I bought myself a piece of clothing as a treat -- a silly pair of socks or an attractive scarf. When I met my goal of twenty pounds, I bought a soft Polartec jacket that I had been coveting. The greatest reward has been diminished chronic pain. I can now cross country ski, bicycle, and hike, all activities I was afraid I would have to give up.

· Hypnosis: Study participants reported that they had let go of bad habits by seeing a trained hypnotist or through self hypnosis.

If seeing a trained hypnotist feels right to you, get recommendations from others who have used the services of a hypnotist. Make sure the hypnotist is specially trained.

There are many self-help books that teach you how to guide yourself into a trance and then repeat powerful statements that will create positive changes in the way you think and the things you do. I recommend Hypnosis for Change (Hadley, J. And Staudacher, C. (1996) Oakland CA: New Harbinger Publications.

A man in the study had been smoking since he was in his teens. Now, in his late thirties, he was acutely aware of the effects this habit was having on every aspect of his life. His skin was dry and taut. His teeth had yellowed. He was noticing some shortness of breath. His clothes smelled of cigarette smoke and he noticed yellow stains around the ceiling in his apartment. He decided to go to a hypnotist. The hypnotist discussed with him why he smoked, what need it filled in his life and why he wanted to let go of it. Then the hypnotist led him into a hypnotic state of which he has no memory. That was seven years ago. He has had no desire for a cigarette since that time.

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