What if I’m laid off?
What if there’s a terrorist attack
in my town?
What if I flunk this test?
What if they don’t like me?
We’ve all heard such questions...
questions regarding our lives that dwell on the
worst-case scenario and haunt our minds like dank,
malevolent spirits. Questions that eventually rob us
of our joy, peace of mind and zest for life.
Questions we know as worry.
In a time where each day seems to
bring headline news that’s worse than the day
before, the presence of worry is understandable.
Terrorist attacks and job layoffs aside, just coping
in a fast-paced world with myriad demands on our
time and attention can be rich soil for the seeds of
worry.
We wonder how we can keep our kids
from falling prey to Internet pedophiles. We wonder
how we can avoid defaulting on our home-equity loan.
We wonder what we’ll do if our company follows the
Enron road and we lose our retirement funds. But
prolonged worry can be downright dangerous. It saps
us of our mental and physical health, all while
failing to solve a thing.
Worry’s cousin, stress, is our
body and mind’s reaction to the trials of daily
life, whereas worry is what we think will happen to
us. But the health consequences of the two are
similar. "Chronic worry is linked to a variety of
health problems," says Dr. Linda L. M. Worley,
associ- ate professor in the University of Arkansas
for Medical Sciences’ department of psychiatry and
behavioral sciences.
Worry leads to stress, which turns
on the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol.
These speed the heart up, increase the blood
pressure, tense the muscles, activate the immune
system and sometimes raise blood sugar. "All those
things are helpful if somebody’s chasing you" or if
you are in a life or death situation, Worley says.
"The problem in our society is, we sometimes don’t
let ourselves relax and have that tension subside."
So the chronic worrier is then at risk for such
diseases as diabetes, heart disease, high blood
pressure, atherosclerosis and, thanks to the
cortisol, a suppressed immune system. A high
cortisol level also increases abdominal fat and
makes it harder to lose weight. "And then people
turn to doing bad things to cope" such as substance
abuse, overeating and drinking, Worley adds. Chronic
worry can also can lead to memory problems,
depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.
SNOWBALL EFFECT The Web site of
the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Institute of
Maryland (anxietyandstress. com) describes worry as
"a special form of fear." " To create worry, humans
elongate fear with anticipation and memory, expand
it in imagination, and fuel it with emotion,
"according to the site. But experts agree that there
is such a thing as" healthy worry, "aka concern. For
instance, if a person’s doctor has told him that he
is at increased risk for a disease, concern is what
will lead him to do what he should to avoid
contracting it. And if a person is" worried" about
how he’ll do on a school examination, for instance,
he is likely to study, and he is likely to be keyed
up to do his best on the test. "So you really want
to have the right amount of anxiety," Worley says.
THOU SHALT NOT WORRY The
distinction between "good" and "bad" worry can be
seen in the doctrines of most religions, says Jay
McDaniel, chairman of the religion department at
Hendrix College at Conway. "[These] religions draw a
distinction between worrying about the future in a
compulsive way, and being naturally concerned with
the future in a noncompulsive way," McDaniel says.
"They help us find ways of being ‘centered’ in the
present moment, so that we live from trust rather
than fear. They give us confidence that, no matter
what happens, we will have the inner resources to
respond to what happens."
Which is why turning to religion
or spirituality is seen as one of the main refuges
for worriers. "More specifically, [they turn] to
practices such as scripture study and meditation,
church-going and daily prayer, as anchors for daily
life and moral compasses for a meaningful future,"
McDaniel says.
When discussing worry, Christians
often refer to Philippians 4:6-7: "Do not be anxious
about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests
to God...." But the trust and confidence people show
through religion doesn’t mean they will lead
"worry-free" lives, McDaniel says. "Even enlightened
Buddhists worry in normal, noncompulsive ways; so do
sincere Jews, Muslims and Christians," he says. "...
When they are true to the depths of their
traditions, they find that they are not controlled
or overwhelmed by worry."
Different religions have different
antidotes to unhealthy worry, McDaniel says. "Some
people believe that worry is unnecessary because
‘everything that happens is meant to happen.’ They
say that everything happens for a reason. They may
attribute this reason to ‘God’s will’ or to ‘karma.’
Other people believe that some things happen by
virtue of natural causes which have nothing to do
with God’s will or even with karma. They do not
believe that the future is pre-determined or
pre-known by God, but rather that, whatever happens,
God will provide resources to respond."
The latter view is called process
theology, which is endorsed by Christians, Jews and
some Muslims and Buddhists, McDaniel says. "It says
that even God is in process, along with the world,
and that we can add to the world’s beauty by
cooperating with God’s call to love. Healthy worry,
then, is worry that cooperates in this way. It is
worry rooted in love. Unhealthy worry is worry
rooted in fear. The key, in all religions, is to
replace fear-based worry with love-based concern,
and to act on the latter."
ALL IN YOUR HEAD Chronic worry can
also be caused by factors that call for such
remedies as medication, behavior modification and/or
therapy. These include medical conditions such as
hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, particularly in
women; dietary practices, such as drinking too much
coffee; abuse of stimulants such as cocaine or
methamphetamine; or attention deficit disorder,
Worley says. Worry also is a factor in a host of
psychological disorders, including panic disorder
(panic attacks), social phobia (a profound fear of
public speaking), obsessive compulsive disorder,
anorexia nervosa, somatization disorder (multiple
physical complaints, aches, etc., with no
discernible medical cause), hypochondriasis and post
traumatic stress disorder. Worry itself has been
classified as a disorder: generalized anxiety
disorder, or GAD, is defined as unfounded,
exaggerated worry, anxiety and tension that goes on
for six months or longer. Symptoms include
restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating,
irritability, muscle tension and sleep disturbance.
Treatments for worry-related disorders include such
prescription medications as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil
and Luvox.
Unfortunately, many people just
try to numb their reactions to these disorders by
abusing alcohol or illegal drugs, Worley says. "It’s
important to get treatment for that problem.
" You should think about anxiety
as a warning sign that you might be in danger. If
you feel it... find out what’s causing it. "If you
can’t figure that out, look at what you’re thinking.
If your thoughts are distorted," it’s time to talk
to somebody. "
Less-serious worriers will find
the world full of ways to combat their problem.
Anti-worry measures include spas, books and tapes
and various trinkets, such as stress balls and worry
beads.
Humor is another good way to
combat worry... something to which Bonnie S. Burns
will attest. Burns, of Phoenix, is president of The
Worry Club. Its Web site, theworryclub. com,
describes itself as a place" where someone else does
your worrying. "
A consultant and Web designer,
Burns says The Worry Club began during a time when
she found herself so stressed over job and personal
issues that she was unable to sleep or eat. A friend
suggested she build a Web site about worry." I was
always known as ‘ the CEO of The Worry Club, ’" she
says.
Burns and several friends serve
as the "professional worriers" of the fictional
club, allowing visitors to take a load off. The site
includes such features as stress-relief games; a
link to Worry University — "Home of the Fighting
Neurotics!" — a Worry Store; articles; recommended
books; and a link for people to e-mail their
worries.
But the best way to combat
worry may simply be to remember what is often quoted
by those who seek to help worriers break the habit:
Most of the things we worry about either don’t
happen, are things in the past that can’t be
changed, or are things that are simply beyond our
control. "The thing is, each individual has to know
what they can control," Burns says. "Most worry is
caused from issues we have, and many can be worked
on. But if all you do is worry and not look for
solutions, you are doomed. Worry weakens the soul,
and a worrier needs to find inner strength to fix
the problems and issues."