Listening to Our Worries

"My 15-year-old granddaughter visited me recently, and on the day she was scheduled to fly home, I became concerned about her tight connection between planes. I checked flight status and saw that her first flight was running more than two hours late, which meant she would miss her connection, with no other flights available that day. Fortunately, we found a seat on an earlier flight and she made it home."

"My focus on my granddaughter's trip home fits a general definition of worry: concentrated thought and associated anxiety about potentially unpleasant or threatening outcomes. I always worry about tight connections, and in a few instances, this worry has allowed me to avoid considerable inconvenience, although with most trips over the years, worry has been unnecessary. But is it an unhealthy drain on my psychic resources, or is it helpful?"

Moderate, focused worry can prompt planning and problem-solving that prevents practical problems. Extreme, generalized worry leads to catastrophizing, inaction, depression, and poorer physical health. Psychotherapist Andrea Wachter distinguishes 'spinning' worry — repetitive, unresolving rumination — from 'solving' worry that targets actionable steps. There is an inverted-U relationship where low worry is insufficient motivation, moderate worry is adaptive, and excessive worry is harmful. Worry can also increase awareness of problems, provide an emotional buffer for hardship, and enhance empathy. Personal examples show how targeted concern about a tight flight connection led to successful prevention of a missed connection.

Read at Psychology Today