The Active Strategies: Worrying and Controlling
DSM-IV says that worrying means apprehensive expectation. It’s more than
that, as any worrier can tell you. Worrying is an almost magical attempt
to prevent bad things from happening by thinking of them in advance.
The idea is that whatever you think of is somehow less likely to occur. It’s not
just planning. That’s part of it, but there’s more, something almost spiritual,
as if heartfelt worry taps into the mysterious force that keeps cars on the
road and planes in the air.
Worrying is a full-time job. If anxious people let down their guard
for a minute, who knows what will come crawling in?
The Danger Is EverywhereExplosion
“Do you know anybody with a microscope?” Catherine asks,
clearly upset about something.
“A microscope?” her friend asks. “What do you want a
microscope for?”
“I read this article about dust mites,” Catherine says.
“They live in rugs and sheets and sofas and pillows and all over
the place. You actually breathe their droppings!”
“Come on, Catherine,” her friend says, almost laughing
but knowing better than to do so. “I’ve seen those articles. They
magnify these tiny little bugs and make them look like mon-
sters. They’re just trying to get you to buy some kind of expen-
sive vacuum cleaner.”
“But you breathe their droppings! You can be allergic. It’s
a major cause of asthma! You know how Adam was wheezing
last week.”
“He had a cold, Catherine! He’s not wheezing now, is he?”
“I thought I heard him last night. When he was asleep.”
Catherine’s friend works hard to keep from rolling her eyes.
“Did you ever think he might have been snoring?”
“Do you know where I can get a microscope?”Generalized anxiety is a mental disorder that can drive other people
crazy.
132 ❧Explosions into Fear