Anxiety

[savorie]

I'm a worrier. I worry about one thing or another every single day.

Frankly I wish I could snap my fingers and just STOP. Worrying interferes with my quality of life. And I value a high quality of life, so why do I fret so much?

It makes me tired.

Oh, and I would like to stop being in pain every day. That would be outstanding.

Comments

[anthologie]

I forget who said "worrying is praying for bad things to happen," but thinking of it that way helps.

That said, are you the one telling yourself you worry too much, or is someone else saying that?

I find that when I "worry," it's because I need to think through the bad stuff so it won't catch me by surprise when it happens. That said, it rarely ever happens, but I HAVE to do it because if I don't, I won't feel prepared. And for me, "feeling unprepared" is a much worse mental state than worrying is.

[savorie]

Other people have been telling me that for awhile, but I often defended it for similar "being prepared" reasons.

It's a lot more infrequent that I get actually fatigued from worry, and that's when I start to question the whole point of it.

[anthologie]

Eh, other people can stuff it. Just because I worry more than they would doesn't mean I "worry too much."

[savorie]

I'm guessing the subtle difference is situational advice vs. character judgment.

[savorie]

The difference can be defined by the speaker, to some extent.

"You worry too much" = judgment.

"I think you're worrying about this problem a little too much, because statistically it's just not likely to even come up" = consoling advice.

[savorie]

OH. I don't think so, as long as it's clearly in a supportive context. The phrase "you worry too much" on its own wouldn't sound so supportive.