What is Worry?

Worry is a self-talk which is often used to help us solve or manage our problems. Everyone experiences worry when faced with uncertain or difficult situations. Worrying can be very helpful, as it can make us put plans into action to solve our problems and help us become more responsible for issues which we may need to solve.

However, worrying can sometimes become excessive and overwhelming and can start to affect our wellbeing. It can sometimes become disproportionate to a situation and as a result, our ability to cope with challenges can decrease.

There are two different types of worry that we should be aware of:

• Practical Worry – This is the worry we can do something about
• Hypothetical Worry – This is the worry that we have no control over and usually starts with “what if”

What Can We Do About It?

1. Learn The difference between the types of worries
2. Write your worries down on a notepad
3. Categorise them into practical or hypothetical worries
4. Follow steps below depending on which category it falls into

Practical Worry = Problem Solving

When we can do something about a worry, the best thing to do is plan how to solve the problem. It may take several steps, but having a clear step by step strategy can be really helpful to resolving a problem. There may also be different solutions to the problem that you could consider, so it can be good to have some space to think about what solution is best at this particular moment and how we can action this. We should then agree a set day and time to action our plan.

Hypothetical Worry = Worry Time

Try having 20 minutes each day to allow yourself to just worry about things you cannot control. By having a set time each day, we are practicing the skill of postponing our worry to a set time so we have more time for others things that are going on. This allows you to gain more control over the worry and in the long term allows us to start to let the worries go.