Worried About Something? Here ’ s Why You Should Stop Talking About It

If you have a big worry on your mind, you probably feel compelled to do something to try to resolve it as soon as possible. In my experience specializing in treating anxiety disorders, there are three main things people tend to gravitate towards when they are worried about something: analyzing it in their own head, talking to someone else to get their opinion/reassurance, and researching it online. All of these things can sometimes make us feel better in the short-term but really perpetuate the anxiety and cause more suffering in the long term. In this article, I’m going to focus on one of these behaviors: seeking opinions and reassurance from loved ones. The logic behind this behavior is simple and understandable: “I’m worried that something bad is going to happen and I’m not sure what to do. Because I’m unsure, I should see what my wife/husband/partner/mom/dad/friends/whoever think about it. Then I’ll have more information and opinions, and I’ll know what to think and what to do about this.”  Let’s say you’re worried about whether you’ll have enough money to pay the bills this year. You feel uncertain about it, so you go talk to your partner to get their opinion. You run it by them and they probably do what most people do when a loved one is worried about something: they offer reassurance. They go over all the logical reasons why you probably will have enough money to pay the bills and why you don’t ne...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Anxiety Communication Avoidance Catastrophizing Living With Uncertainty Reassurance Rumination worry Source Type: news