What is worry
Worry (or its diagnostic name Generalised Anxiety Disorder) is characterised as persistent and excessive worry about lots of different things that impact on day to day life. We all worry to some degree, but it becomes problematic when its impacts on our ability to function and focus on others things that are important to us in our life.
Symptoms may include:
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Mind constantly racing
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Difficulty sleeping
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Feeling restless, irritable or finding it difficult to concentrate (perhaps because you are worrying)
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Getting tired easily (Worrying is exhausting isn't it)
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Feeling tense
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stomach issues
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Palpitations
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Feeling lightheaded or dizzy
What causes us to worry?
Many factors can contribute to developing us to more or excessive including:
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Family history: Growing up in a household where people around us worry as a way of coping.
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Stressful life events: If we have grown up in a household that was unsettling, chaotic, not knowing what's going to happen next, we develop an anxiety around uncertainty and may use worry as a way of coping.
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Current life events: Job stress, too many demands, struggling to pay our bills can all make us worry more.
What maintains worry?
As a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist I find that many things can maintain worry and understanding this can be really beneficially not only for the therapy but longer term for the individual. These include;
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Feeling unable to tolerate uncertainty.
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Over preparing, seeking reassurance or avoiding to cope. It stops us finding out if the feared outcome will come true and communicates to the brain that your not safe or you cant trust your decision making unless you use these behaviours to cope.
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Beliefs that worry stops bad things from happening, helps you to prepare or solve problems. Whilst sometimes this may be true (worrying may come up with solutions sometimes) its really thinking about whether this is true all of the time and whether that bad things didn't happen because you worried about or for some other reason. Even so, excessively worrying about it is unlikely to change the outcome or be beneficial.
As someone who grew up being a 'worrier' I can tell you that you can learn to be more in control of your worry. It is not part of your personality, its a coping response for difficult feelings that you may have. Making sense of that through Cognitive Behavioural therapy can really help understand this pattern and how to manage it. I offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Bournville Birmingham UK. You can contact me via this website to discuss whether I can offer the support you are looking for.
