"I wish I hadn't spent so much of my life worrying" was one of the greatest regrets cited by elderly people looking back on their lives in a recent study.

Worrying can drain your motivation and trigger high anxiety that leads to actual illness, not to mention the steam of destructive side effects that fear and stress have on your mind and body over a long-term period.

But it is is also a catch 22 situation. The impact of constant fretting can be so toxic that the more you worry about getting sick, the more likely you are to actually get sick.

Rationally we know that worrying about credit card bills or what someone said to us at work will achieve nothing and the best way to be happy and healthy is to banish it altogether.

But just telling someone to stop worrying won't cut it. This is a highly compulsive and robust psychological mechanism that tears us away from the present moment and puts our minds into a particular setting that can quickly spiral beyond all logic. As Mark Twain pointed out, many of the troubles that haunt us don't actually end up happening.

Here are some practical and off-radar tactics to help take the power out of worrying, without consciously fighting against it. From boring your fears to inhaling citrus scents and changing your bedtime, these methods will work to distract you and give you back control of how and when you dwell on problems.

Unusual tactics and techniques to help you stop worrying