American scientists have published a study which states that worrying can be helpful to you.
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.
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.
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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That’s such a true to life fact! According to my own experience, it’s much better to feel concerned rather than be reluctant. For example, it’s good when you worry about exams, this feeling makes you prepare for them, which, obviously extremely beneficial!
At some points anxiety is good. It makes us be more prepared for bad stuff. One day I forgot to lock the door and just went out, but anxious feeling was stuck in my body and my brain, so I came back. This helped me. Who knows, what would have happened if I hadn’t come back.
When I’m in trouble and became too nervous, I can barely think. I was so tired of this situation and somewhere in the Web I find a useful scheme for me: I write a problem, then two arrows – can I solve this problem or no, if I can – then I write down what I should do, if I can’t – then I must find someone who can help me or just ask God to help me. It really works!
Great to hear it from professionals! I have always felt that things that I worry about are done better as the result, paid far more attention than the things I’m not worried about at all. I’ve always thought it’s just my way to solve problems because I’m not able to cope with stress. Now it will be easier to encounter stressful situations, knowing that being concerned is a good thing! 🙂
The topic is interesting, but I dont think that anxiety or worrying can be useful. Here it is necessary to understand what kind of anxiety is at stake. Let’s say if your relatives are worried about you that’s good and that means that they think about you and they are not indifferent. But if it’s about that anxiety can motivate a person, then I will say rather on the contrary. Imagine the situation before the interview,It will rather hinder than help