You may see it as a normal part of life, something that everyone does every day. You may see it as a part or your personality that could never change or something that you’ve just always done.
But the truth is that worrying can actually be damaging your life in a multitude of ways. We’re going to talk about some of them.
To begin, studies show that excessive worrying can have a significant impact on your health and wellness. It can lead to both physical and mental health concerns, such as digestive issues, heart problems and impaired sleep.
Chronic worrying tends to go hand in hand with increased stress and anxiety and can increase your risk for heart attack, stroke or elevated blood pressure. Excessive worrying can also trigger the onset of insomnia, migraines, severe fatigue or gastrointestinal issues such as irritable bowel syndrome.
Prolonged stress due to worrying can also lead to increased cortisol secretion (aka the stress hormone) and suppressed immune system function, making you more vulnerable to illness or infections.
Elevated cortisol can bring along a host of uncomfortable symptoms. These include irregular periods, low libido, lack of focus, brain fog or weight gain (especially around the midsection).
From a mental health perspective, chronic worrying can increase your risk for substance misuse (such as drugs or alcohol) as you try to cope with the symptoms of excessive worrying and stress. When excessive worrying takes over your life, this can lead you to feel isolated, and you may even withdraw from some interpersonal relationships.
Secondly, when we worry, it takes us out of the present moment and puts us into other hypothetical scenarios that we typically fear. I think we all can agree that the majority of the things we worry about never end up even happening. Yet, we often spend countless hours conjuring up imaginary circumstances that cause us to worry.
Your brain does not know the difference between something that has really happened and something that we are just worried about happening. It processes real and imagined scenarios in the same way. So when we worry about something incessantly, our brain can think it is really happening, and we start to act in ways that support that.
Research also shows that those who worry tend to overestimate the occurrence likelihood of negative events and magnify the potential threat while underestimating their ability to cope with difficult situations.
Additionally, when we spend too much time worrying, it can
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Studies show that excessive worrying … can lead to both physical and mental health concerns, such as digestive issues, heart problems and impaired sleep.
” distract us from our goals or prevent us from working toward our goals to begin with. Regardless of the goals you currently have, if you spend excessive time worrying, this can delay you from reaching them by distracting you and taking your attention away from those goals.
Chronic worrying can also make you question your selfworth or capabilities more than normal, preventing you from having the confidence to start something new in the first place.
This is where self-talk becomes a huge factor. Recognizing the negative, worried and fear-based self-talk in your head, and working to rewire those beliefs into more beneficial ones, can dramatically improve your life. This can look like stopping yourself whenever you start worrying and shifting your thoughts to something else. Doing this consistently can be a little challenging at first; but over time, you’ll see how much better and more confident you feel. This will all help you with staying focused on achieving your goals.
The other thing that is imperative to mention as we discuss worrying is that most of the things we worry about are completely outside of our control. If we spend hours worrying about things outside of our control, we can be shaving time off of our own lifespan for no reason at all and without ever being able to impact what it is that we’re worrying about. Remind yourself of this as often as necessary.
Conversely, if the thing you’re worrying about is something you can do something about, then do that thing. It will help you so much to do something rather than just sitting there worrying. The thoughts you think are totally within your control, so you can train your mind to direct your attention away from whatever it is that you continue to worry about.
Easier said than done, sure. But it is absolutely worthwhile to work on it. Your life depends on it; your happiness is waiting on it.
Tips to combat worrying
There are several habits that can reduce the effects of worrying, such as regular exercise, meditation or breathwork. These things can help to distract your mind and reduce stress and anxiety on a physiological level.
It is also helpful to retrain your brain away from chronic worrying and to remind yourself that most of things you worry about never end up happening in the first place.
You can also bring yourself back to the present moment, and out of the worrying space in your mind, by finding something in your immediate environment to focus on and feel grateful for.
Other things that can help with chronic worrying are getting routine massages, doing yoga on a regular basis or performing certain relaxation or distraction techniques on yourself.
Emotional Freedom Technique tapping is a relaxation technique that is simple to do. It involves tapping specific areas on your body while simultaneously focusing on negative emotions like stress or anxiety due to worrying.
Distraction techniques can include things like going for a walk outside, listening to upbeat music that you enjoy, spending time doing a hobby that you love or journaling.
Lastly, if you feel as though excessive worrying has taken over your life, or that you are not able to overcome it on your own, consulting a therapist can be a life-changing decision. Therapy has helped millions regain control over their life and find happiness once again.
You don’t have to be controlled by your worrying mind forever. You can start implementing changes like these into your lifestyle and find true peace and happiness.
