Tuesday, May 29, 2007

What is Worry?

Worry refers to negative self-talk that often distracts the mind from focusing on the problem at hand. Worrying is a lasting preoccupation with past or future bad events. A well accepted theory of anxiety suggests that anxiety consists of two components; worry and emotionality. Emotionality refers to physiological symptoms such as sweating, increased heart beat and raised blood pressure.

At times, worry can create emotional stress. One can find oneself thinking about past events that were depressing or anxiety-provoking at the time they happened. One can think about all kinds of future events that might happen and which would make one feel badly if they did.

This is how at times, for no obvious reason, one just can't stop thinking about such negative things. Every time when one think about those negative things, his/her body reacts just as if the event were actually happening or about to happen.

For example, when students become anxious during examination, they always think negative as they are going to fail, or when they will appear in exam, they will not remember the text or their teacher will get mad at them. This negative thinking do not let them focus on the exam as the speech areas of the brain that are needed to complete the examination questions, are being used for worrying.

Take another example, recall the last time someone criticized you or said something hurtful, or think about a friend acting in an unkind way towards you in the future. The more you think about these happening, the worse you feel. The amazing thing about thinking of such events is that they are not actually happening right now. They exist only in your mind. Yet how you feel right now is being influenced by something that no longer exists or does not yet exist.

Worry can also refer to a feeling of concern about someone else's condition. For instance, a mother may say "I'm worried" if her child doesn't show up at home when he was supposed to be there. The parents also worry about the performance of their children in examinations, for their career and also for their well being.

All these negative thinkings are very dangerous for health. More you think about these happenings, negative thoughts, you can make yourself depressed or anxious.

Facts about Anxiety and Worry

  • Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the world. Most of the people are facing Anxiety disorders nowadays.
  • People with an anxiety disorder are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than non-sufferers.
  • Women are twice as likely as men to be afflicted with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder.
  • Anxiety is the most common symptom of patients seeing a psychiatrist or a psychologist.

When you Worry too much

Many people while doing straight things, start thinking negatively and they start worrying. Most people will worry if an unpleasant event has just happened and it involved something or some very important to them. Suddenly loosing your money while travelling in a bus or train, having a hurtful argument with someone close to you or even at a work place e.g. with your boss, having an automobile accident, your child has not reached home in time, or making a mistake, will naturally result in your mind trying to cope with the feelings that those events aroused.

Similarly, you will probably worry if a highly probable unwanted event is coming your way. Your mind may try to work out how to avoid a bad outcome if:

  • You have to drive in very bad weather
  • A sudden large expense occurs due to some festival, marriage, education of your children or anything else
  • There is real evidence that your spouse is no longer as loving as he/she used to be
  • You are facing an important challenge at work or in your social life where poor performance on your part is a real possibility
  • Your children are appearing in an important examination
  • Your career is not going in right direction

So in general, worry is maadaptive if the things you worry about are not very likely to happen. Even for future bad events that are quite likely to happen, worry may not be useful and will simply cause additional disturbance. This is the case when you have done all the problem solving, you can do before the event and there is nothing more to do about it. Of course, it is natural for the mind to periodically be reminded about the upcoming event until it is over. But if you have done all you can reasonably do in preparation for it, to continue to allow yourself to constantly think about it merely causes more distress and interference with the rest of your life. So, although the worrying here may be natural, it is not helpful, and applying methods to reduce it, would be useful.

It is important to know that worrying is a habit. A habit is something that is repeatedly involuntarily. Habits are developed because you have practiced doing them so often that you just start doing them without being aware of it. It is better to leave this bad habit and one should think alway positive and should try to see the brighter side of the picture.

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