Worrying About Being Worried: A Dead End Maze

Today is the yesterday that so distressed us. Also that which terrified us so much and which has never happened. However, how to convince the mind that it is not worth going to these extremes? It is impossible, because in the end one even gets to worry about being worried and almost without realizing it we get trapped in an infinite loop, in a labyrinth with no way out.

A Swedish proverb says that worry puts a fearsome long shadow on everything. Everything scares and exhausts us and although we need this anticipatory state to face the complications of day to day, it is not good to reach these extreme situations. It’s like blood pressure: we need certain levels to live, but too much can put our health at risk.

However, we do not always succeed. Because a good part of us are veritable factories of walking concern. We carry the weight of the world on our shoulders and we are not aware of the psychological vulnerability that this entails. Generalized anxiety disorders, for example, have these types of triggers behind them.

Therefore, let us know more information about it.

Worrying about being worried: a distressing vicious cycle

The American psychiatrist William Samuel Sadler once defined worry in a very simple and accurate way: it is a form of fear. This dimension can take infinite forms and although each one of us is concerned about some things and not others, the mental and cerebral state that it generates is the same.

Little by little, the brain amygdala takes over and intensifies that state of alertness and anguish. What it does is, so to speak, “hijack” the most rational area. That area of ​​the brain located in the prefrontal regions and where our capacities for reflection, logical and rational analysis are orchestrated loses strength. Worrying about being worried makes up that borderline state that acts almost like a spasm; something one cannot avoid.

The brain, permeated by that constant pumping of adrenaline and cortisol, cannot relax and the feedback of anxiety and fear is constant. Thus, understanding a little more the internal mechanics of this exhausting process can help us to have a more accurate vision of what the states of concern suppose.

Worrying about being worried why do I do it?

Adrian Wells is Professor of Clinical and Experimental Psychopathology at the University of Manchester. Something that points us in his book

Likewise, there is another remarkable factor: we focus our concern on irrelevant aspects. And we do it because insecurities, fears, uncertainties grip us… What if the way my boss has looked at me is because he doesn’t like the project presented and thinks about firing me? What if in the end that flight is canceled and I can’t make it to the meeting on time? 

There comes a point in our existence that “being concerned” is our usual state, but at the same time we are c onscientes that it is not good to live like that . Using the metaphor of blood pressure again: we know that a high level can be very dangerous and hence, that one begins to worry about being worried every day at every moment. Can something happen to me if I continue like this?

Generalized anxiety disorder and uncontrollable worry

Worry sometimes begins with a negative possibility, with ideas like ” what if this happens, what if that happens?”   They are like seeds that open and dig their roots in the depths of our mind, spreading unstoppably. When worry becomes constant and takes the form of a pattern, another concern arises: worrying about being worried.

What effect can this psychological state have? Studies, such as those carried out in the department of psychology at the University of Milano (Italy) by Dr. Eraldo Paulesu, indicate the following:

• Constant worry states are a feature of generalized anxiety disorders.
• Maintaining this mental activation for months (or years), that constant rumination and negative brooding has an impact on the brain.
• The areas that most show this overactivation are the regions of the anterior cingulate and the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex. 
• Dysregulation of these areas and neural circuits is what keeps people with generalized anxiety disorder from being able to stop worrying.

How to “tame” my worries?

Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist at New York University, tells us that people on average do not know how to worry in a healthy way. We take everything to the extreme and what is worse we give truth to catastrophic events that further intensify the vicious cycle of worry.

Now … how do we control these situations? In reality, it is not enough to tell the mind “stop worrying, that which distresses you is not going to happen.” The mind doesn’t work like that. Changing their patterns and schemes is very difficult when we have been thinking that way for a long time.

However, it is always appropriate to keep a few ideas in mind:

• Identify your concerns and keep a record of them. Analyze them and become aware of their message: is it useful, does it make you feel good? Is it worth giving truth? If not, flip it over, create a helpful thought.

• Choose a period a day to worry about, 15 or 30 minutes is enough.
• Come up with strategies that allow you to deal with those concerns. Don’t let that worry linger for days.

Last but not least, we must take into account a detail. Worrying about being worried is a common feature of anxiety disorders. In these cases, the most appropriate thing is to request expert help, let’s keep it in mind.