The Insite - Relationships

R E L A T I O N S H I P S:
Worries

When people are stressed they sometimes have sleep problems and difficulty concentrating during the day. Your parents' divorce is a major life event. Being stressed and worried about your future is completely normal. But you also need take care of yourself, and that means getting the rest you need.

"I Can't Sleep!"

Are you unable to sleep because you're worrying about what's going on with your parents and how it effects you? Not getting the sleep you need makes you less able to cope with everything. Here's something you can do to help.

Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a warm, safe room with a large cabinet. This cabinet has lots of little drawers.

Think about each of your worries, and give each one a name. You can use serious names like "Will I have to move and go to another school?" or weird names like "Plasmo."

Take each worry and put it in a drawer. To do this you'll have to imagine what a "worry" looks like so you can imagine picking it up and putting it in a drawer.

Label the outside with the name of that worry and close the drawer.
When all of your worries are labeled and tucked away you can leave this imaginary room. Imagine yourself back in your own room, get into bed, in a nice warm cozy position, and go to sleep. If one of your worries sneaks into your room and wakes you up again, pick it up and take it back to the cabinet room and put it in its drawer. Close the drawer tightly, come back to your room, get into bed, and go back to sleep!
WARNING! Before you decide this exercise is stupid or crazy, try it! It just might help!

"I Worry During the Day."

If your worries interfere with your day so that you can't concentrate on school or anything else you might try this exercise.

Write the name of each of your worries on a tiny piece of paper.

Put each paper in a special "worry box. " A shoe box works.

Put the lid on the box and stash it in a safe place.
WARNING! Before you decide this exercise is also stupid or crazy, try it!
What do you have to lose, except your worries?

Need to Talk?

Many people find it helps to talk to someone outside the family about the difficulty and stress of their situation. Lots of family therapists, counselors, and mental health professionals specialize in the issues around divorce and family transitions. Sometimes the outside opinion and support they give can help you understand your unique situation and help you make choices that work best for you.

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

Got a question? Write to Hey, Terra!