Dr LeCrone
03-30-2006, 11:46 AM
Do you find yourself worrying about something or someone almost all the time? If so, you may be a chronic worrier, and chronic worriers know about the misery of being tapped by their own fears.
Chronic worriers frequently have other problems associated with anxiety, such as difficulty in sleeping, overeating, withdrawal from other people in new situations and, most of all, a feeling of constant unrelenting dread. Dr. Barry Lubetkin, a New York psychologist, characterizes normal worries as akin to snapshots in a family album. Some of the photos may not be as pleasant or may be more disturbing than others, but they can be forgotten when you put the photo album away. Abnormal worries, on the other hand, are like upsetting movies that play on and on and can’t be turned off. They end up taking control of your life and dictate your entire perspective.
Chronic worriers frequently come from environments where chronic worry was the sum and substance that ruled the lives of those who taught them to how to think and feel. They black clouds of worry and anxiety hung over their heads at all times, pouring forth raindrops of fear, uncertainty and unhappiness. The occasional cloudless day was so infrequent that they were never able to incorporate feelings of optimism, positive self-regard or the belief that everything would eventually work out.
As chronic worriers “catastrophize” and “awfulize,” they tend to:
Imagine the worst.
See solutions to problems as having very few alternatives.
Believe that they are powerless to find solutions to their problems.
Rarely seek help from others or develop support systems in their lives.
Believe that they are never to be in control of their own destiny.
One of the many things my father taught me when I was growing up was to ask myself if my worries were supported by facts or were merely irrational beliefs.
One helpful method of approaching a worrisome situation is to ask yourself if you have ever encountered something similar and if so, how did you cope? The answer frequently is, “Well, I did OK,” or, “everything turned out all right.”
People who are only occasional worriers or healthy worriers seem to have the ability to recategorize or relabel things into those to worry about or to simply be concerned about or more simply they are able to take note of things to be concerned about and separate them from things they need to worry about.
Healthy worriers prioritize difficulties or problems into things that they can do something about, that they have the power to change vs. things that are beyond their realm of control and that they must put on the back burner, so to speak, as far as their expenditures of psychic energy is concerned.
A helpful strategy is to picture the worst case, to imagine the worst possible outcome of the situation. Then to ask yourself if you could survive. In most cases, you would answer yes, but realize that the worst is not likely to happen.
A final strategy and coping mechanism is to imagine yourself in a feared situation and that you are coping with or even enjoying it. This has worked well for those who have a fear of flying or of speaking before groups. Yes, students, this works in test situations where anxiety often interferes with performance.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1988
Chronic worriers frequently have other problems associated with anxiety, such as difficulty in sleeping, overeating, withdrawal from other people in new situations and, most of all, a feeling of constant unrelenting dread. Dr. Barry Lubetkin, a New York psychologist, characterizes normal worries as akin to snapshots in a family album. Some of the photos may not be as pleasant or may be more disturbing than others, but they can be forgotten when you put the photo album away. Abnormal worries, on the other hand, are like upsetting movies that play on and on and can’t be turned off. They end up taking control of your life and dictate your entire perspective.
Chronic worriers frequently come from environments where chronic worry was the sum and substance that ruled the lives of those who taught them to how to think and feel. They black clouds of worry and anxiety hung over their heads at all times, pouring forth raindrops of fear, uncertainty and unhappiness. The occasional cloudless day was so infrequent that they were never able to incorporate feelings of optimism, positive self-regard or the belief that everything would eventually work out.
As chronic worriers “catastrophize” and “awfulize,” they tend to:
Imagine the worst.
See solutions to problems as having very few alternatives.
Believe that they are powerless to find solutions to their problems.
Rarely seek help from others or develop support systems in their lives.
Believe that they are never to be in control of their own destiny.
One of the many things my father taught me when I was growing up was to ask myself if my worries were supported by facts or were merely irrational beliefs.
One helpful method of approaching a worrisome situation is to ask yourself if you have ever encountered something similar and if so, how did you cope? The answer frequently is, “Well, I did OK,” or, “everything turned out all right.”
People who are only occasional worriers or healthy worriers seem to have the ability to recategorize or relabel things into those to worry about or to simply be concerned about or more simply they are able to take note of things to be concerned about and separate them from things they need to worry about.
Healthy worriers prioritize difficulties or problems into things that they can do something about, that they have the power to change vs. things that are beyond their realm of control and that they must put on the back burner, so to speak, as far as their expenditures of psychic energy is concerned.
A helpful strategy is to picture the worst case, to imagine the worst possible outcome of the situation. Then to ask yourself if you could survive. In most cases, you would answer yes, but realize that the worst is not likely to happen.
A final strategy and coping mechanism is to imagine yourself in a feared situation and that you are coping with or even enjoying it. This has worked well for those who have a fear of flying or of speaking before groups. Yes, students, this works in test situations where anxiety often interferes with performance.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1988