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How to Stop Worrying Worryin g about about Worryin Worrying g Sir Winst Sir Winst on Chur Churchi chillll,, who batt led plenty plenty o f dem demons ons , once s aid, “When “When I loo k back back on all these worries, I rem remem ember ber the st ory o f the o ld man man who said on his deathbed deathbed that he had a lot lot of tro ubl uble e in his his lif lif e, mos mos t o f wh whic ich h had never happene d. d.”” Unf ort unately that advice advice wouldn’t wouldn’t have been able able to s to p me me f rom praying praying rosary after rosary when I was in fourth grade to avert going to hell, nor does it quiet t he annoying noise and chatt er inside my my brain brain to day in in any given giv en hour. But the f act t hat a great leader batt led the worry war war does provide me me so me conso lation. It doesn’t matter matt er whether you are a chronic chronic worrier worrier witho witho ut an o f f ic icial ial diagnos diagn os is or bat tling severe obs ess iv ive-co e-co mpulsiv pulsive e disorder (OCD (OCD), ), a neurobehavioral neurobehavi oral disorder that inv involves olves repetitive unwanted unwanted tho ughts and rituals. T he steps t o o verc vercome ome f aulty beli belief ef s and develop develop healthy healthy patt erns of thinkin thinking g are the same. Worrying about f aci Worrying acing ng the inferno as a 10-year-o ld and and f rett ing about whether or not I’ll I’ll provide provide enough income to keep my kid kids s in private private s choo l st em ems s f rom the s am ame e brain abnormal abnormality ity that Jef f rey M. M. Schw Schwartz artz , M. M.D. describes describe s in his boo k, Brain Lock. Lock. When we worry, worry, the use o f energy is consist ently higher higher than normal in the orbital cortex, the underside of the f ront of the brain. It’s working overtime, overtime, heating up, whic which h is exactly what what is the PET s cans sho w. Too Too many “what if’s ” and your your o rbital cort cort ex as sho wn in in a PE PET s can will will light light up in beautif ul neon co lors, lilike ke the walls walls of my daughter’s bedroom. However, with repeated cognitive-behavioral cognitive-behavioral exerc exercises, ises, you can coo l itit do wn and and return your PET scan to the bo ring black black and and white. white. In their bo ok, The OCD Workbook, Workbook, Bruce M. Hym Hyman, an, Ph.D. Ph.D., and Cherry Pedrick, Pedrick, RN, explain t he ABCDs ABCDs o f f aulty beliefs. It’s a four-step cycle of insanity:
A = Activity Event and a nd Intrusive In trusive Thou T hought, ght, Image or Urge. (What if I didn’t lock the door? What if I upset her? I know I upset her.) B = Faulty Belief About About the th e Intrusive Thoug ht. (If I don’t say the rosary, I’m going to hell. If I made a mistake in my presentation, I will get fired.) C = Emotional Consequ ences: Anxiety ences: Anxiety , Doubt, and Worry. (I am a horrible person person for upsetting her. I keep making mistakes … I will never be able to keep a job. I hate myself.) D = Neutralizing Ritual or Avoidance. Avoidance. (I need to say the rosary to insure I’m not going to hell. I should avoid my friend who I upset and my boss so that he can’t tell me I’m fired.) fired.)
T hos e might might seem extreme extreme f or t he casual worrier worrier,, but the s ma mallll seed o f anxi anxiety ety does n’t st ay small small f or lo ng in a perso n with with an o verac veractive tive orbital cort ex. Hyma Hy man n and Pedric Pedrick k also cat alog so me typical cognitive errors o f worriers and perso ns with OCD: OCD:
Overestimating risk, harm, and danger Overcont Over cont rol and perf ectionism Catastrophizing Black Bl ack-and-and- whi white te o r all-o all-o r-no thing thinking thinking Persistent doubting Magical thinking Superst Sup erst itious thinki thinking ng Into leran lerance ce of uncertainty Over-responsibility Pessimistic bias What-if thinki thinking ng Into leran lerance ce of anxi anxiety ety Extrao Ex trao rdina rdinary ry cause cause and eff ect One of the best approaches approaches t o manag anage e a case of the worries worries and/or and/or OCD is the f our-s tep self -t rea reatmen tmentt method by Schwartz, explained in Brain Lock, Lock, Step 1: Relabel. In this s tep yo u squeeze a bit o f distance between the tho ught and you. By By relabeli relabeling ng the bugger as “MOT “MOT ” (my (my obs essive tho ught) or s omething like like that , you you t ake back back cont rol and prevent prevent yourself f rom being being tricked tricked by the mess age. Bec Because ause I’ve I’ve always always s uf f ered f rom OCD, OCD, I remind remind myself myself that the ilillogical logical tho ught abo ut whi which ch I’m I’m f rett ing is my ill illness ness talkin talking, g, that I’m not actuall actually y going insane. Step 2: Reattribute. Here is is wher where e you rem remem ember ber the PE PET T scan t hat wo uld look like your brain. By cons cons ideri idering ng that colorf ul picture, picture, you t ake the problem f rom your emotio nal center center t o your physiolo gic gical al being. being. T his helps me me imme immensely nsely because I f eel less less att ached to it and less a f ail ailure ure f or being able to t am ame e and keep keep it under contro l. Just like arthritis t hat is f lari laring ng up, I consider my poo poo r, o verw verworked orked o rbital cortex, and I put put s ome ice on it and remember remember to be gentle with with myself myself . Ste p 3: Ref Ref ocus ocus.. If it’s at all poss ibl ible, e, turn your att ention t o s ome ot her activity activity that can distract yo u f rom the anxiety. anxiety. Sc Schwar hwartz tz says: “By “By ref using to take t he obs ess ions and co mpulsions at f ace value— value—by by keeping keeping in in mind mind that t hey are not not what they say they are, that t hey are are f alse mess mess ages—you can learn learn to ignore or t o wo rk around them by ref ocusing your attent ion on anot her behavi behavior or and doing so mething usef ul and positive.” positive.” Ste p 4: Revalue. Revalue. T his involves involves calling calling out t he unwanted unwanted tho ughts and giving giving yourself a pep talk on why you you want t o do everything every thing you can to f ree yourself f rom the prison o f obs essive thinking. thinking. You are basically basically deval devaluing uing the worryin worry ing g as so on as it tries to intru intrude. de.
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Last reviewed: By reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 1 Apr 2013 Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
APA Ref ere nce APA Borchard, T. (2013). How to Stop Worrying about Worrying. Psych Central . Retrieved on o n April 17, 2013, f ro rom m http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/04/03/how-to-stop-worrying-about-worrying/
