Transcripts

Holly Hazlett-Stevens:
It's important to realize that whenever you're worrying about something it's just your spin on things. It's just your prediction about what will happen.

Psychologist, Holly Hazlett-Stevens, author of the book, Women Who Worry Too Much, says worry is our attempt to make the future more certain. And in a way we sort of convince ourselves that worry really helps.

And what I mean by that is, often when we worry about something, that thing often doesn't end up happening. So, instead of learning that; "oh, I shouldn't have bothered to worry about that thing in the first place." We actually feel that maybe our worry prevented that bad thing from happening. Or maybe we need to worry in order to prevent the next thing.

Worry can become a habit and habits are hard to break. But Holly has some strategies to help you when you worry too much.

One thing I suggest people do, as they catch themselves worrying throughout the day; see if you can postpone your worry to a worry period that you've set up later in the day. And then you can focus your attention back on the present moment. So, it's a little bit different than just saying, "Oh don't worry, be happy." Cause that really never works. But instead what I'm suggesting is that they have a period of time that they've carved out. Maybe when they get home from work or later on in the day when they can sit down and really look at their worries objectively.

For transcripts or to subscribe to our free online newsletter, visit our website; somethingyoushouldknow.net. I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.