Stop Watching the Worry Channel

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Debra Burdick

Anxiety can feel overwhelming. It often makes us feel out of control and can lead to being anxious about being anxious. And the more we worry, the more we program and hard-wire our brain to worry.

We can change the channel from our worry channel to our calm/relaxed/happy channel. This is because we can deliberately choose what we want to think about.

Let’s do it. Pretend that the current content of your thoughts is the channel you are watching. For example, you might be watching your worry, angry, sad, or stressed channel. You can change the channel to a more pleasant channel and thereby change the contents of our thoughts. This aligns with the cognitive behavioral concept that what we think about affects our feelings and our behavior and vice versa. And that we can choose a thought that feels better.

Identify the thoughts and the channel you are currently watching.
Think about what you would put on your happy/peaceful/relaxed channel. Be specific.
Tune in to the content of your current thoughts.
Identify the thoughts as calm, happy, sad, worried, angry, etc. This is the channel you are currently watching.
If current thoughts feel bad or are negative, then imagine using the remote control to deliberately “change the channel” to your calm/happy/peaceful/relaxed channel and imagine you are watching what you already decided would be on that channel.
Use this process any time you have worry, or negative or unpleasant thoughts or feelings.
Do this repeatedly and you will gradually reprogram and re-wire you brain to a more relaxed, calm or happy automatic pattern instead of the negative pattern.

Here’s an example:

A 7-year-old girl was extremely anxious at school and often panicky. Her anxiety was impacting her ability to stay in school, and she was being teased relentlessly by her peers.

She decided she would like to have “dancing” on her happy/peace/relaxed channel as she loved to dance.

Every time she noticed she was anxious, she imagined that she was changing the channel in her mind from her “worry channel” to her “happy/peace/relaxed channel.”

Within a couple of weeks of starting this practice, her anxiety had almost disappeared! She was able to stay in school and her peers amazingly quit teasing her.

Try this technique and let me know how it works for you.

Debra Burdick, LCSW, also known as ‘The Brain Lady’, is an international expert on ADHD and Mindfulness. She is an award-winning, #1 best-selling author of: Mindfulness Skills Workbook, Mindfulness Skills for Kids and Teens, ADHD: Non-Medication Treatments and Skills for Children and Teens, Mindfulness for Teens with ADHD, Mindfulness for Kids with ADHD, Mindfulness Skills for Kids Card Deck, and Radical Self-Care When You Are Ill Card Deck. She is an international speaker and retired psychotherapist and neurotherapist, who has been helping all ages thrive for over 30 years.

I would love to hear your personal experiences with this topic.

3 comments

Hi, Deb. We’re second cousins through marriage! My daughter and I have a few areas of concern which could probably be helped by your techniques. I’d like to order a book.
Karin Thompson

Comment by Karin Thompson on at
Hi Karin,
Good to hear from you. You can order my Mindfulness Skills Workbook on amazon.com. Here’s a direct link. http://tinyurl.com/lupftkm Let me know how you like it.
Warmly,
Deb

Comment by Debra Burdick on at
Karin,
You can order my Mindfulness Skills for Kids and Teens Workbook at amazon.com, too. Here’s a direct link. http://tinyurl.com/kgjjcxk
Warmly,
Deb

Comment by Debra Burdick on at