Do you consider yourself a worrier ?

When it’s natural

We worry about a lot of things at different times; worry is just a figment of our imagination because of the fear of future uncertainties. Worry is natural to an extent when we worry about our close one’s well being, when they are away from us, worrying about work related issues, worry about our finances, worry about being late and worry about someone’s health. The list runs long but these are natural human emotions and they highlight that we are focusing on the problems and uncertainties attached to their outcome, some worry is considered positive and even constructive because it helps us to take up the issue seriously. Ask students who are approaching exams; worrying about their results makes them work harder.

When it becomes a menace?

The worry here takes a form of long standing and persistent anxiety, restlessness and irrational fears of something terrible happening. There was this one patient who used to worry extensively of her safety, she didn’t open the gates of her house thinking someone will enter and kill her, she became socially isolated as after following news of rape incidents she thought something similar would happen to her if she ventured out of the house. Her continuous obsession of fears turned towards her family members, where she used to fear the worst about their well being whenever they went outside, her family couldn’t understand her irrational behavior and started ignoring her which worsened her situation further.

The psychological explanation

In psychology terms, these unwarranted fears are mostly due to extreme levels of anxiety and further are categorized as an anticipating disorder where the concerned individual cannot help but worry and fear the worst. All these terms are a part of GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder). It is important to pursue people suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder to seek treatment and counseling because this problem if left ignored and over looked impacts the mental and emotional well being of the person suffering immensely. It cannot be certain that causes of Generalized Anxiety Disorder are because of psychiatric reasons they can also be because of certain serious health conditions like lack of calcium, low blood sugar, and effect of a medicine or more alarmingly due to a heart problem.Therefore an experienced psychiatrist is needed to give you or suggest the best treatment possible for you.

Legal and Illegal drugs

Many people suffering from anxiety or Generalized Anxiety Disorder resort to medicating their own selves, it should be noted that medicines related to these disorders (GAD and anxiety) are highly addictive and should only be taken through a psychiatrist’s advice or otherwise they can cause serious dependency and further worsening of the concerned person’s health. Some people also resort to drinking alcohol or consuming drugs (especially marijuana) to attain relief from their problems without realizing these substances further damage the stability of the mind, because their mental health is not stable enough to withstand the effects of alcohol or marijuana.

P.S- consult a doctor, don’t try and become one.