Worry And GAD: From Real Worries To Hypothetical Worries

We can often feel the worrying touch of life on our shoulders, whether that worry is real or imagined, and for the most part, that’s fine. But too much worry can be a sign of a deeper issue. Let’s explore this issue together in my article.

 

Disclosure: This article contains links to my Unwanted Life Shop. Read my full disclosure here.

 

 

What Is Worry?

 

There’s a common phrase in the English language that goes like, “Cheer up, it might never happen“. If you’re British, you’ve probably heard this phrase a lot growing up. However, as Mathews (1990) rightly points out, worry and anxiety serve an important cognitive function, otherwise we wouldn’t have these psychological states and emotions. That’s because worry, doubt, and anxiety are a normal part of life (HelpGuide.org).

 

So what exactly is worry? I pretend I hear you ask. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it’s a form of mental distress or agitation caused by concern for something impending or something anticipated. The Cambridge Dictionary, which defines worry as thinking about problems or unpleasant things that could happen which might make you unhappy or frightened, adds support to this definition.

 

Simply put, worry exists to anticipate possible future danger (Mathews, 1990), and for the most part, that can be fine, until it isn’t. As Mark Twain supposedly said, “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened”, and that’s the crux of the problem. Worrying about things we didn’t need to worry about causes us anxiety and stress, reducing our quality of life.

 

We often let ourselves get carried away with our worries because we see it as a way of coping with our uncertain futures so we can avoid negative outcomes (Borkovec, 1985). But the problem is, those negative outcomes might have never happened with our worrying. Because the worrying did not affect the outcome.

 

 

The Two Main Types Of Worry

 

Practical worry

A certain level of worry helps us avoid making mistakes and helps us be prepared. If you have an exam coming up, a little worry will help you stay on top of your studying. Got a bill coming? A little worry will help you make sure you don’t overspend so you can pay off that bill (HelpGuide.org).

 

This kind of practical worry can be useful because it can help us avoid making mistakes and poor choices, and it can also activate our problem-solving skills (Steps2Wellbeing). We often use our problem-solving skills so instinctively that we don’t notice we’re using them. We just get on with it.

 

However, even this practical kind of worry will become a problem if it becomes excessive, persistent, and uncontrollable (HelpGuide.org). If you’re worrying about every little thing, even if this might be considered practical in isolated cases, then this might have progressed to a psychological disorder, like generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

 

Hypothetical worry

This is where we get to hypothetical worries, where our practical worrying has got out of hand and we’re now trapped in a, “What if…?” and worst-case scenarios mindset (HelpGuide.org). Have you found yourself frequently asking yourself questions like, “What if I’m late?”, “What if they think I’m boring?”, “What if I say something wrong?”, or “What if I don’t finish my project on time?”?

 

For example, you could be stuck in traffic and worrying about being late. There’s nothing you can do about the traffic, yet you worry about what people will think if you’re late. But then the traffic starts moving and you get there on time. As Steps2Wellbeing would ask, at what point would this kind of worry become a practical worry? How does it help you to worry about something you can’t change? Or does it only harm you to get stuck in this kind of worry?

 

Another potential factor in creating unnecessary hypothetical worries is the interpretative bias. According to Mathews (1990), ambiguous cues can be interpreted as being a threat to us because of the interpretative bias. The selection bias can then compound this, whereby we favour the more threatening interpretation. Simply put, where there might be many potential outcomes, we find ourselves focusing on the negative, if not the worst, possible outcomes. When the reality is, those outcomes are very unlikely. Just to add another bias to the mix, this is the cognitive bias known as focusing on the negative and assuming the worst.

 

For example, someone who is prone to health anxiety might see an unknown body ache as meaning something like cancer, rather than maybe pulling a muscle without realising it.

 

 

The Problem With Worry

 

Although worrying is perfectly normal, constant worrying is problematic, can lead to negative thinking (HelpGuide.org), and can cause the development of negative or maladaptive core beliefs. This can have several issues, with the more extreme being self-medicating with substance misuse.

 

Because constant worry can lead to the development of negative or maladaptive core beliefs, this will have a detrimental effect on how we view the world and ourselves. We’re at a greater risk of seeing everything in a more negative light if we have developed a more negative mindset. Our self-esteem won’t escape this either.

 

 

What Is GAD?

 

Anxiety and worry are common to many psychological disorders, but in GAD, chronic worrying is a primary diagnostic criterion (Mathews, 1990; and Hirsch and Mathews, 2012). So if you’re experiencing frequent unrealistic and excessive amounts of worry and anxiety about things in your life, then this might be an indication of GAD (Mathews, 1990).

 

Although this was based on the DSM III-R at the time of writing in 1990, this is the same in the DSM-V-TR. Adding that if you’re experiencing this kind of anxiety and worry for more days than not for at least six months, then this would be a strong indicator of GAD (NICE).

 

 

Overcoming Worry

 

Worry time

One way to gain control over your worrying is to try to confine it to a specific worry time. This is a time you’ll set aside to go work through your worries, decide if they’re practical or hypothetical, and how reasonable they are to focus on. This can be a good journaling exercise, because writing it down can be a great way to free your mind from focusing on it, using the journaling as a brain dump.

 

Challenge thoughts

Challenging your unwanted thoughts is a simple way to try to wrestle back control of your mind. The two main approaches for doing this are putting your thoughts on trial and reframing, both of which I’ve written articles on and have worksheets and workbooks for.

 

Challenge cognitive biases

Cognitive biases add to our worrying (Hirsch and Mathews, 2012), which can be worse when our mental health is poor, meaning they’re more likely to affect us. To find out more about cognitive biases, check out my article on the 10 ways distorted thoughts can tank your mental health by clicking here, and consider purchasing my cognitive biases workbook which you can find at my shop here.

 

Control

Ask yourself the following simple question: Is the worry something within your control (HelpGuide.org)? For example, if you’ve already finished your exam and handed it in, how does it benefit you to worry about your results? After all, worrying won’t change the outcome of those results.

 

Talk to someone

One good way to cut worry off at the knees is to talk to someone. That can be talking to someone you know, just to get a second opinion or just to vent. Another option is to talk to someone who can remove any ambiguity.

 

For example, if you’re told at work that there are going to be changes, but you don’t know what those changes are, then you might think that layoffs might be on the table. One way to get ahead of the worry and anxiety this causes would be to talk to your manager to get an idea of what these changes will be.

 

Outcomes

Instead of being fixated on the negative outcomes that drive your worry, be objective and consider all the possible outcomes. Then consider which is more likely. This is something I’ve done with several of my clients, who have found this approach very useful in challenging their worries and developing a more logical and realistic mindset for those worries.

 

 

My Worry Workbook

 

The workbook is split into three sections, each with its own step-by-step guide. I created my ‘Worry Workbook’ with easy-to-follow steps so anyone could use it to challenge their worries. The workbook is designed to help you learn how to navigate and overcome your worries, so you can learn to live a less anxious and stressful life.

 

 

You can find my workbook in my shop by clicking here.

 

 

Summary

 

Worry is an annoying part of life, but it can also be useful. If we don’t let it dominate our lives. Luckily, several strategies can be used to manage worrying and to overcome unnecessary worrying. Challenging your thoughts is not only a good strategy for tackling worries, but can be useful in overcoming anxiety and depression. So don’t let worry dictate your life, and try one of the strategies outlined in this article. Also, why not try my Worry Workbook?

 

As always, leave your feedback in the comments section below. Also, please share your experiences with worry in the comments section below. Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with my blog, you can sign up for my newsletter below. Alternatively, click the red bell icon in the bottom right corner to get push notifications for new articles.

 

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References

 

Borkovec, T. D. (1985). Worry: A potentially valuable concept. Behaviour research and therapy, 23(4), 481-482. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/download/48310258/0005-7967_2885_2990178-020160825-18891-7wkyqb.pdf.

Hirsch, C. R., & Mathews, A. (2012). A cognitive model of pathological worry. Behaviour research and therapy, 50(10), 636-646. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796712001076.

Mathews, A. (1990). Why worry? The cognitive function of anxiety. Behaviour research and therapy, 28(6), 455-468. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0005796790901323 and https://www.academia.edu/download/11808191/why_worry_the_cognitive_function_of_anxiety.pdf.