American scientists have published a study which states that worrying can be helpful to you.

Author: Adilia S.

Why worrying is good for you

We all used to hear that uneasy feelings can be rather destructive for health. The recent research by Kate Sweeny, a professor at the university of California, argues that anxiety is, actually, not so bad.

It has motivational advantages and functions as an emotional buffer. The feeling of anxiety enables people to stop bad things from happening.

It helps people to cope with stressful events in life, heal from depression and take actions that avert a disease, Science Daily reports.

Moreover, people who tend to get worried show better results in school and work, look for more information in tricky situations and make decisions to solve the problem.

How it motivates

As it has been mentioned, worrying has a huge motivational force, which makes people take preventive measures. It can be compared with a seatbelt—if you are concerned about your safety you use it.

For example,

• Those Americans who are nervous about getting skin cancer, use sunscreen regularly.
• Women who are afraid of breast cancer take measures to avoid it—do a mammogram, examine their breasts on their own.

It should be noted that those ladies who show a moderate sense of concern gets screened for cancer more regularly than those who show greater amounts of anxiety or do not care at all.

It seems that excessive worry rather paralyzes a person than let him do something.

The professor points out 3 reasons why being anxious works as a motivator:

• The feeling of anxiety alarms us that the situation is difficult and some actions are needed.
• Worrying about the cause of stress keeps the problem in the zone of visibility and pushes a person into action.
• An uneasy feeling of agitation sensitizes people to find ways to get rid of it.
  

  Worrying allows us to get ready for changes in life, whatever they are.

How it serves as a buffer

Waiting for some important things to happen people tend to prepare themselves for the worst and plan their actions in advance.

When people expect the worst, they build a pessimistic forecast to reduce the feeling of disappointment, which as a result multiplies the pleasure in the case of good news.

The state of expectation for the worst serves as a kind of emotional buffer, says Professor Sweeny.

It’s good for you to be a little anxious.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, excessive anxiety is detrimental to health.

However, moderate worrying is good for you. It is definitely better to worry a little than not to care at all.

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