Should You Be Worried about Your Worry?

You might typically experience worry in daily life when you expect something negative to happen, or think of something as threatening to you. Sometimes, you may worry about the fact that you are worried. This in fact can actually fuel your worry even further! This is why it is essential to realise that worry is a normal - and often instinctive - response to possibly threatening events.

Worry might not always be a bad thing - in fact, it might play an important role in helping you pay attention to the task at hand and take the precautions necessary to protect yourself. For instance, if you are worried about an upcoming work presentation, you are likely to prepare in advance so you can do well in it. This means that worry can actually help you perform in certain situations. At the same time, though, if worry becomes excessive, it can hamper your ability to tackle the problem or focus clearly.

Moreover, when you worry, you worry about something specific - for example, your worry may be about your health, family, money or work. When the threat is resolved or dealt with, your worry subsides. For example, when your presentation is over, your worry also subsides. This also means that worry tends to be brief and temporary.

Excessive worry, on the other hand, can manifest itself in the form of verbal thoughts, mental images, as well as physical symptoms like fatigue, sleep disturbances, restlessness, pain, nausea and palpitations. Your body responds to danger through a host of changes, such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, tightening of muscles, and heightened arousal. These changes, over time, can cause greater distress and may interfere with your daily functioning.

Excessive worry tends to be more vague, which means that the matter of concern is more generic, and the root cause might be hard to pin down. Because excessive worry is not related to a specific concern, it tends to linger and persist. These concerns tend to be more unrealistic and unlikely, or may not be considered a threat by others in a similar situation (like worrying about physical health in the absence of any symptoms).

To be able to differentiate between worry and excessive worry, you need to understand the effects your worry has on you.

If you feel that your worry does not allow you to take up challenges or enjoy your life, or if you experience some of the above-mentioned characteristics of excessive worry, you can always reach out to a trained professional who is equipped to help you.