Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 1
Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)◦ Chronic, excessive, difficult to control worry
accompanied by a variety of physical and cognitive symptoms◦ 5% of the population will experience GAD at some
point in their life; 3% in any given year (5100 people on the North Shore at this moment)
Low Worry
HighWorry
GAD
Worriers
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 2
A thought process – a collection of thoughts or doubts which occur together
Related to future negative events Accompanied by anxiety Worry and anxiety are NOT the same
thing
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 3
Trigger
What if?
Worry
Anxiety
What if?What if?
What if?What if?
What if?
Demoralization/Exhaustion
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 4
The more tired or demoralized, the easier it is to come up with “What if” questions.
Not recognizing worry Ineffective worry management
techniques (e.g., keeping yourself really busy)
The role of uncertainty
Trigger
What if?
Worry
Anxiety
Demoralization/Exhaustion
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Like a psychological allergy A lens through which the world is
viewed
Negative Outcome
Neutral Outcome
Positive Outcome
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 5
Intolerant of
Uncertainty
Uncertainty in the World
Avoiding doing certain things, finding imaginary obstacles or “reasons” not to do certain things, procrastinating.
Wanting to do everything yourself, not delegating tasks to other people
Only partially committing to a relationship, job or a project
Doing too many things at once
Looking for a lot of information before proceeding to do something
Second guessing decisions that have already been made
Reassurance seeking Double checking things Overprotecting others
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 6
Decreased confidence Decreased efficiency Perfectionism Interpersonal difficulties and conflict Passive in relationships Little spontaneity in life Control “freak”
Trigger
What if?
Worry
Anxiety
Demoralization/Exhaustion
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Beliefs About Worry
5000 km
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 7
Worrying helps find solutions to problems
Worrying motivates to get things done Worry prepares me for the worst and
protects me from negative emotions Worry can prevent negative outcomes Worry is a positive personality
characteristic
Problems can be a big worry trigger People who tend to worry a lot do not
tend to engage in problem-solving to deal with problems.
This is NOT due to a lack or problem solving skills.
Due to Negative Problem Orientation (NPO)
I hate problems I shouldn’t have problems Other people don’t have problems the
way I do I’m no good at solving problems My problems aren’t going to work out Problems are bad/threatening
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 8
Emotional Consequences◦ Frustrated◦ Nervous/Anxious
Mental Consequences◦ Problems are unfair and threatening◦ More outcomes to worry about
Behavioral Consequences◦ Avoid problems◦ Procrastinate problem-solving
ProblemCRISIS
Trigger
What if?
Worry
Anxiety
Demoralization/Exhaustion
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Beliefs About Worry
Ineffective Problem Solving
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 9
People can also worry about problems that don’t exist.
Negative scenario-building related to all sorts of awful, worst-case scenarios
Tend to be associated with a person’s greatest fears and scariest thoughts
Because of the scary and upsetting nature of these thoughts, the natural response is to try and suppress or avoid thinking about the worries
Person tries to push thoughts out of their head◦ Think about something else, distract self
with activity, alcohol/drugs
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 10
The more you try not to think about something,
the more you think about it!
Trigger
What if?
Worry
Anxiety
Demoralization/Exhaustion
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Beliefs About Worry
Ineffective Problem SolvingCognitive Avoidance
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 11
Trigger
What if?
Worry
Anxiety
Demoralization/Exhaustion
IU
IU
IU IU
IU IU
IU
IU
IU IU IU
IU
Beliefs About Worry
Ineffective Problem SolvingCognitive Avoidance
Life Events
Mood State
EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY◦ Take “risks”◦ Don’t procrastinate◦ Speak your mind◦ Do new things◦ Go with the flow more often without having to
know exactly what is going to happen◦ “If I were more tolerant of uncertainty, what
would I do in this situation?”◦ Be ok with “wait and see”
Worrying doesn’t solve problems, motivate you, make you a better person, prevent bad things from happening or prepares you for anything.
Recognize problems early on, normalize problems and look for the opportunities (not threat)
Think through your worries
Don't Worry Be Happy? Understanding the Nature of Worry and Anxiety
Provided Courtesy of Dr. Rami Nader, R.Psych. (www.raminader.com) 12
raminader.com/gad_resources.htm nssac.ca/resources_adult.html anxietybc.com/resources/generalized.
php Slides available for 2 weeks at
www.nssac.ca
When to Worry About Worry: Understanding Anxiety in Kids◦ February 12 - Larson Elementary School◦ April 15 - Sutherland Church
Getting a Good Night’s Sleep◦ March 2 – Lynn Valley Town Centre
Making Sense of Adolescence: How to Maintain a Strong Relationship with Your Teenager◦ April 23 – Carson Graham Secondary School◦ June 24 – Sutherland Church
Can Anything Be Done? Understanding Depression and How to Overcome It ◦ May 28 – Capilano Library