Addicted to Worrying
Posted by
angela p.
I come from a long line of worriers but am trying to break the habit. I figure my mother worries enough for both of us. Obviously, I'm not alone. Often worriers are perfectionists that fear they won't be able to live up to their expectations and they sabotage their efforts. When anticipating a deadline they replace regular work on a project with worrying and procrastination. Going through school, I often waited until the last night before starting a project and I remember thinking "wow this is interesting, too bad I didn't start studying earlier so I could spend more time learning."
Some people don't feel like they're alive unless they have at least one thing to worry about. People try to control their lives and situations but ultimately this is impossible. The problem is that when someone expects bad results often they get just what they expect. When things turn out well can we attribute it to all the worrying? I don't think so.
The November '07 issue of Self Magazine has a long article / essay by Stephanie Olgoff points out that "anxiety that prevents a person from relishing life even when things are going swimmingly is a genuine problem"
"Worriers hope to gain a feeling of sureness," says Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D., author of The Worry Cure (Three Rivers Press). "They want to avoid disappointment or staunch a problem before it gets out of control."
A study in Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy found that fully 85 percent of the things we worry about never occur.
People are addicted to worrying, it gets the adrenaline pumping and provides a distraction to dealing with real emotion and the randomness of life.
I'm fairly certain that when we're on our death beds we're not going to wish that we worried more. If worrying was productive I'd be a millionaire a few times over.
Addicted to Worrying
Posted by angela p.
I come from a long line of worriers but am trying to break the habit. I figure my mother worries enough for both of us. Obviously, I'm not alone. Often worriers are perfectionists that fear they won't be able to live up to their expectations and they sabotage their efforts. When anticipating a deadline they replace regular work on a project with worrying and procrastination. Going through school, I often waited until the last night before starting a project and I remember thinking "wow this is interesting, too bad I didn't start studying earlier so I could spend more time learning."
Some people don't feel like they're alive unless they have at least one thing to worry about. People try to control their lives and situations but ultimately this is impossible. The problem is that when someone expects bad results often they get just what they expect. When things turn out well can we attribute it to all the worrying? I don't think so.
The November '07 issue of Self Magazine has a long article / essay by Stephanie Olgoff points out that "anxiety that prevents a person from relishing life even when things are going swimmingly is a genuine problem"
"Worriers hope to gain a feeling of sureness," says Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D., author of The Worry Cure (Three Rivers Press). "They want to avoid disappointment or staunch a problem before it gets out of control."
A study in Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy found that fully 85 percent of the things we worry about never occur.
People are addicted to worrying, it gets the adrenaline pumping and provides a distraction to dealing with real emotion and the randomness of life.
I'm fairly certain that when we're on our death beds we're not going to wish that we worried more. If worrying was productive I'd be a millionaire a few times over.