Healthy living
Mind matters
Can you stop worrying?
Anxiety can make you feel sick, stop you sleeping and increase your risk of infection but worrying never helps any situation
"Worry is characterised by the question 'What if?'", says Dr Gillian Butler, clinical psychologist at Oxford's Warneford Hospital.
"It is about the risk or threat of something bad happening in the future and whether you could cope if it did. It can also be rather vague. Just a sense that something might go wrong, and not being sure what to do to prevent it."
Psychiatrist Professor Brice Pitt says "Some people are born worriers and to a certain extent once a worrier always a worrier. It may be genetic".
Dr Butler believes experiences in early life may also be a factor. "People who worry a lot have been shown to find uncertainty especially hard to tolerate.
"There is also evidence to suggest that as children many adult worriers were genuinely in situations that threatened to overwhelm their abilities to cope at the time - for example looking after an alcoholic parent, being left in charge of young siblings, sick parents, lack of protection, that kind of thing.
"It's no wonder they learned to worry: to think ahead about what might go wrong, and about how they might deal with it, with an anxious sort of feeling that they might not be able to do so."
Some experts attribute temperamental characteristics such as being introverted, cautious and shy in response to new, situations, events or people to a tendency to anxiety and/or depression.
Others point to brain chemicals and nerve messengers as the culprits. It's been found that certain amounts of these chemicals, which are secreted in response to stress, are common in people who are anxious and/or depressed.
Symptoms
Whatever the causes, worriers will fret about anything and everything: finances, health, relationships, jobs - even when everything is going smoothly.
"In some cases people misinterpret these symptoms as physical illness, for example they think that palpitations are a heart attack and end up in the emergency department," says Professor Pitt.
Prolonged worry can also reduce immunity making you more prone to minor ailments such as coughs and colds.
Psychological symptoms
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Tiredness
- Poor concentration
Physical symptoms
- Dry mouth
- Sweating
- Muscle tension
- Faintness
- Indigestion
- Nausea
- Diarrhoea
- Stomach ache
- Other aches and pains
- Palpitations
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.