The Consequences of Snackin’ on Worries

“No one ever sank under the burden of today. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than one can bear.”
-George MacDonald

Three words. GET. THIS. BOOK. If you’re reading this, then I guarantee it deserves a place on your nightstand for a while. You read it through once and after that you can almost pick it up anywhere and find a helpful message. This book isn’t for therapists or clinicians, it is written in laymen’s terms and there’s nothing confusing about it. It’s upfront, informative, and instantly actionable! 

As a mental health therapist for children and teens, one thing I learned quickly is that majority of my anxious clients were also extremely bright. Think about it, being intellectually advanced WOULD make someone super anxious because they’re able to plan and understand things FAR beyond what they can emotionally manage! Anxious kids tend to be the smartest kids. 

According to the back of the book, “Allison Edwards guides you through the mental and emotional process of where your child’s fears come from and why they are so hard to move past. Edwards focuses on how to parent a child who is both smart and anxious…” This book has two parts. The first is educational and informative. Helping the reader understand their child (or themselves) just a little bit better. Part two is comprised of 15 tools that anyone can use and it’s broken down simply so that parents can easily implement the tool with their children. Today, I want to review one of the tools I’ve been using a lot in sessions lately and posting about over on my business instagram.

 

Tool #12: Brain Plate

For any tool that I recommend parents use with their children, I always have them participate and use it first! So, take a second and draw a big circle (aka, a “plate”) on a piece of paper. Now, take several minutes and try to think back to all the food you’ve eaten in the past week and draw it in however you want. Below, you can see my drawing, which was only about 4 days worth of food because I couldn’t remember everything!

Now, ask yourself these questions… If you ate all this food in one day, how would your body feel? How would your brain feel? Where would you energy levels be at? Would you be interacting with people the same way? Would it effect your ability to do work or participate in extra curricular activities?

Exactly. You’d feel groggy, tired, and full. You wouldn’t want to leave the house or get up off the couch. You’d struggle to stay focused in conversations with others. Working out? Sports practice? Forget about it! You’d be feeling far too sick to keep your body moving. 

So then, why do we do this with our worries?

We worry about things that are happening days, weeks, sometimes even months from now. I see sophomores in high school for therapy and they’ll already mention how worried they are about going away to college. We do this all the time, as if “snacking on the worry” will make it any better.