How to Work Through Worry

Worrying can impact our mental health at work significantly, and has been the subject of sage advice for centuries.

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” - Jesus
“Don’t worry, be happy.” - Bob Marley
“Worry is the stomach’s worst poison.” - Swedish Chemist Alfred Nobel
“I’m way too fine to be this stressed, yeah,” - Lizzo

According to the Quran, “mankind was created anxious.” Therein lies the catch-22. Despite the adage to ‘don’t worry, be happy,’ it can feel next to impossible to simply stop worrying.

Inspirational quotes about improving your mental health by simply ‘not worrying’ are easy to find, but much more difficult to put into practise.

Can you control worrying by simply choosing not to worry? And if so, how?

In this blog we will explain in simple terms what worry is, how you can control worrying, and how you can work and live your life despite having things to worry about.

**Artist credit:** Sarah Andersen, **Sarah’s Scribbles**

What is worry?

In psychology, worry has been described as ‘a chain of thoughts and images, negatively affect-laden and relatively uncontrollable.’ Affect-laden means full of emotion.

In simple terms, ‘worry’ describes thoughts about possible future events that cause us to feel uneasy.

Worrying thoughts tend to take over our attention once they are initiated.

Worrying involves problem-solving, and can even be helpful. For example, worrying about our health can cause us to implement health-benefitting behaviours such as improving our diet or exercising. Worrying about whether or not the state pension will be enough for us to live on when we are older can prompt us to check our finances and save for retirement.

When we worry, we engage our brains to start problem-solving our way out of worrying.

However, being that worry is based in reality, our brains may find possible negative outcomes, and this sends us down the path of further worrying.

One worried thought leads to another worried thought, which is why researchers call this a ‘chain.’

The good news is, although difficult, it is possible to break the chain of worried thoughts and stop or control worrying.

What is the difference between Worry and Anxiety?

Worry tends to be based on reality. For example, worrying about interest rate rises or the cost of groceries. Often, our worries centre around problems that we do not have complete control over.

Anxiety typically revolves around catastrophic thinking, for example, ‘no one ever likes me’ (social anxiety) vs ‘I can’t really afford to go out and socialise right now,’ (money worries).

A worry is centred around a specific possible future event, and the worry ends when the problem goes away. Anxiety is a chronic sense of fear or dread that is not centred around a specific concern and can continue to cause us unease for the foreseeable future.

**Artist credit:** Nick Seluk, **The Awkward Yeti**
The above comic describes anxiety. Worry would be: ‘I can’t afford the fuel to drive to this interview, but if I take public transport, I am more likely to be late.’

What impact does worry have on our health?

Worrying is a form of trying to protect ourselves against a future threat and for that reason worry can unleash the ‘flight or fight response.’ Our cortisol (stress-hormone) increases, our heart races and our blood rushes to our vital organs.

This hyper-vigilance can disrupt our sleep, and also cause us to reach for unhelpful coping mechanisms in an attempt to self-soothe.

**Artist credit:** Nick Seluk, **The Awkward Yeti**

We may be more likely to drink alcohol, eat fatty, sugary or caffeinated food and drinks as a pick-me-up.

If our worries are centred around problems that cause us to feel shame, such as relationship or money worries then we may withdraw from social contact.

Worry can lead to stress, which if it becomes chronic can increase inflammation, blood pressure and the risk of cardiac events and other diseases.

Beware of the worry path

Repeated thoughts create neural pathways. This is how visualisation and goal setting works in sports and performance psychology. An elite runner, training for a race, may spend part of their training time visualising how they will tense and move their muscles for optimal acceleration the moment they hear the starting gun. To lay down the optimal number of neural pathways, they will visualise the scene in detail and repeat the visualisation over and over again.

Our brains are as capable of laying down unhelpful neural pathways as they are capable of laying down helpful neural pathways.

Repeated worrying - running through the same thought patterns over and over - will lay down neural pathways and the more worn those pathways are, the more likely it is that our initial worried thoughts will send us down a ‘worry chain’.

**Artist credit:** Owlturd aka **Shen Comix**

To break the pattern and create a new, more helpful thought chain, start by being mindful of your thoughts. Notice when you have a worried thought, and that leads you to another worried thought.

Next time you notice the worried thought, break the chain by turning your attention to something else. With enough repetition, you will succeed in creating a new pathway.

Our brains are endlessly capable of learning - this is called neuroplasticity - and means that you always have the power to change your thoughts.

How can I be productive when I’m worried?

Stress and rumination can cause us to lose focus and impact our performance at work. This in turn can lead to even more worries.

If you are worried about money, but being worried is causing you to perform poorly at work which in turn makes you more worried about money, what can you do?

Worrying can become a vicious cycle where we have a problem we can’t seem to stop ourselves worrying about, but the stress caused by worrying and the impact that has on our thinking processes and our mental and physical health can make the problems that we are worried about worse, or even give us more problems to worry about!

Seven tools to tackle worrying

Exercise

In the immediate term, exercise can increase production of our brains’ natural feel-good chemicals; endorphins, serotonin and dopamine.

Moving our bodies can also help us to get out of our heads. When we are focusing on executing a movement such as following along in a zumba class, moderating our breath when we run, or correcting our stroke when we swim, it is difficult to think about our worries at the same time.

In the long term, exercise improves sleep quality and can help to improve our memory, attention and focus and help to prevent neurological diseases. Exercise can even improve neuroplasticity. (see here for links to research on exercise and brain health).

‘Exercise’ does not need to be a brutal HIIT session, marathon training or a heavy weight session. Simply moving your body in whatever way that you are able will help. That could mean a gentle walk, floating in the sea, sitting down and moving your arms to music, a dance class, gentle stretching, ten minutes with a hula hoop or a set of body weight squats while you wait for the kettle to boil. Don’t let worry about your fitness level put you off basic human movement to whatever degree you are able right now.

**Artist credit:** Another one by Nick Seluk, **The Awkward Yeti**

Talk to someone about your worries

‘A worry shared is a worry halved.’

Research by AgeUK showed the truth in this old proverb. The researchers found that about 3 in 10 adults share their worries, and of those, 36% feel brighter as a result. About a quarter of respondents felt immediate relief when they shared their problem, and 8% found that their problem went away entirely.

If you do choose to share your worries, use caution when you choose who to speak to. Remember the ‘worry pathway.’ It may be best to share your worries with someone who tends to have a positive outlook. Check with them first too before sharing, to make sure they are in a place right now where they can listen.

Identify your problem, and seek advice

Worries are rooted in reality, and often revolve around problems that we do not have complete control over.

We can make a dent in our worries by making a dent in our problems.

Identify your problem (try writing it down), and begin taking steps to address it.

For example, if you are worried about debt, contact your lender or an independent advisor to find out your options for debt consolidation or payment breaks. Make a list of things you could do that could alleviate financial pressure and how you could begin to put those things into action.

Worry and stress can cloud our judgement, so it’s very possible that a fresh set of eyes and an expert opinion could help us to find a solution to our problem and reduce or eliminate worry.

Move on to another thought chain

You can’t simply stop thinking a thought. That’s not how our brains work. But, you can choose to focus your attention on something else.

Rather than telling yourself to ‘stop worrying,’ instead try to concentrate on something else.

This could be remembering a time that you were relaxed in the past, for example, conjuring the image of a walk in nature or the feeling of being relaxed while swimming.

It could be focusing on remembering the lyrics to your favourite song or the ingredients of an apple pie.

The more that you gravitate your attention away from ‘worry thoughts,’ the weaker that cognitive pathway will become and the easier it will be, in time, to ‘not worry’ (see the section on ‘the worry path’ for more info.

**Artist credit:** **Charles M. Schulz**, Charlie Brown, Peanuts

Change your cues

Remember that worrying is made up of a chain of worried thoughts that once initiated, is difficult to stop.

Thoughts are triggered by cues.

For example, we may glance at the clock and see that it is 5pm and start thinking about dinner. We may hear a song that immediately makes us think of our final year of high school (Green Day, Good Riddance/Time of your Life anyone?)

Try to identify any cues that trigger your worry chains. Perhaps looking at your mortgage app is a trigger for concern about interest rates. Maybe glancing at the fuel price signs outside petrol stations starts a chain of concern about the cost of living. If you tend to worry in bed, then brushing your teeth or scrolling the news on your phone in bed could be a trigger.

**Artist Credit:** **Gemma Correll** - check out her book, ‘the Worrier’s Guide to Life’ **here**

You could try two things to break these triggers.

1 - avoidance, or scheduling. Don’t open your mortgage app, and take a different route that avoids the petrol station, or make a conscious effort not to look. Or, pick a limited time where you allow yourself to experience that trigger.

2. create a new pathway for that trigger. Do you head straight down the worry chain while you’re getting ready for bed? Put some headphones in, listen to your favourite songs, and sing the lyrics in your head during this time.

Investigate and take up any benefits offered by your employer

Many employers offer Employee Assistance Programs which can include anything from simply someone to talk to, to structured sessions with mental health professionals, GPs and even legal advice.

Often-times these programs are poorly sign-posted and may be simply a faded A4 poster on the lunch room wall or tucked away on the staff intranet.

If your organisation has a union, they may provide mortgage advice, legal help, access to free will services or signposting to organisations that help to organise and consolidate debt.

It’s worth speaking to your HR department to find out what your company offers and take advantage of any help available.

Mindfulness

Worrying is rooted in the future, and mindfulness is rooted in the present.

By staying mindfully aware of the present moment, we can avoid worrying about the future.

Mindfulness is free, simple, can take place anywhere and in whatever time frame we have available, and it really works.

Start by simply noticing the steady in and out of your breath, the rise and fall of your chest, the way that the air feels as it brushes your skin. Notice any sounds that are around you without judgment.

At first, you may only manage to be mindful for 5 or 10 seconds at a time. That’s okay. Try to work your way up to 1 minute, and then 5 minutes. Try to practise mindfulness daily, and over time, you will get better at living in the present rather than thinking about the future.

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Contact us for Psychosocial Risk Assessments, Burnout Recovery Coaching, and virtual or in-house workshops to support mental health in the workplace and reduce the impact of stress, worrying and other psychosocial hazards at work.

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**Artist credit:** **Maureen ‘Marzi’ Wilson**, from the book ‘Kind of Coping,’ which you can purchase **here**.

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