in today's video we're going to be talking about
three different types of worry and how to distinguish between them
hi everyone worry is a universal experience we all worry from time to time about
various different topics but have you ever thought about the differences in the types of worry that
you have now i'm not talking about the content of the worry itself but more the nature of the worry
in today's video we're going to be talking about three different types of worry
to help you get a better understanding of your worry experience but before i get into
that just a couple of disclaimers to go over i'm a registered psychologist in the province
of british columbia canada and this video is for informational purposes only it is not intended as
a substitute or replacement for advice from your doctor or mental health professional now with
those things out of the way let's start talking about types of worry now people often think that
a worry is a worry is a worry the worry process is the same regardless of what we're worrying about
but this is not necessarily the case and we know that there are different
types of worry that people will experience and i'm going to be breaking this down into three worry
types the first worry type is something called a type 1 worry now type 1 worries are worries
about current or real problems a problem that is actually happening now that i'm worrying about so
for example i get my credit card bill in the mail and the credit card bill is for a thousand dollars
but i only have two hundred dollars in my bank account this is an actual problem because i
don't have enough money to pay that credit card bill as a result i may start worrying
about how i'm going to pay the credit card bill even though i don't have enough money to pay it
another example i get sidetracked at work the day before and i don't have enough time to complete
a project that's due today at noon this is an actual problem because i have to figure out a
way of getting this project done in time or my boss is going to be upset with me
so type 1 worries are about current real problems that exist in this moment that i'm worrying about
the second type of worry is something called type 2 worries now type 2 worries
are worries about future or potential problems problems that haven't happened
yet and problems that may never happen yet these are things that i still worry about
so for example let's take a look at that credit card bill example that i talked about earlier
i get my credit card bill in the mail and it's for a thousand dollars
i have eleven hundred dollars in my bank account and so i'm able to pay this credit card bill
however i might start thinking to myself that was a close one what if next month i don't have enough
money to pay my credit card bill now notice this isn't something that's actually happening it's not
a current problem that's actually occurring but it's a problem that i'm imagining might happen
in the future and if i start thinking that i might not be able to pay my credit card bill next month
that may lead me into a spiral of other worries like what if this is going to negatively affect
my credit rating and what if that means that i'm not going to be able to get a car loan which means
that i'm going to be limited in terms of where i can work and what i can do for work which means
that i'm not going to be able to get a good job or that no one will want to be with me because i
can't support a family and won't be able to get a mortgage because my credit rating is so bad
and i'll get lonely and depressed and end up losing my job and end up hopeless
none of this has actually happened none of these problems have actually occurred
and none of them may ever occur but i'm still worrying about them and spiraling into this
worst case scenario these are examples of type 2 worries the distinction between type
1 and type 2 worries is really important because it has key implications for how you
deal with the specific type of worry that you're worrying about essentially you're not going to
use the same worry management approach for dealing with an actual current real problem
versus a worry about something that hasn't happened and that may never happen
a key difference between type 1 and type 2 worries is that type 1 worries are generally under your
direct control whereas type 2 worries are not think about it if i'm worrying about an actual
current real problem there are some things that i can do to try and address the problem specifically
problem solving if i'm able to successfully problem solve the problem that i'm worrying about
i'm not going to be worrying about it anymore but can i use that same approach for type 2 worries
can i problem solve a problem that does not exist well the answer is obviously no what
happens if i try to solve a problem that doesn't currently exist i'm essentially just spinning my
wheels not doing anything not getting anywhere and just focusing on a worry about something
that may never happen so those are type 1 and type 2 worries now the third type of worry is something
we call a complex or mixed worry essentially it's a worry that has both type 1 and type 2 components
as part of the worry so usually in a mixed worry what happens is that it starts out as a type 1
worry and then in the process of spiraling what if worries spirals down into a type two worry
so this type of worry involves both worries about an actual current real problem that then leads
into future imagine problems that may never occur so let's talk about an example of a mixed worry
suppose i i own it a catering company and during the busiest time of the year i have several staff
members quit or call in sick i am completely swamped with work and can't stop worrying about
whether i'll be able to keep up with all of the current contracts that i have i'm also worrying
that this is going to result in me losing clients and ultimately my company going bankrupt because
i lost so many clients and wasn't able to ever get that business back so notice in
this example they're both type one and type two worries going on the type one worry part of it
is me being swamped with work because several staff members are unavailable and so the problem
is how do i figure out how i'm going to be able to do all the work for the contracts that i have
how am i going to fulfill all of those contracts this is an actual problem that's taking place
now the type two component of this worry relates to me eventually losing clients and my business
going bankrupt this is a scenario or problem that hasn't happened yet and may never happen
so now you might be wondering okay this makes sense i understand the difference
between type 1 and type 2 and mixed worries but what's the purpose of all of this information
how does this help well i find that one of the key benefits in being able to
categorize different types of worries is that this process can help you take you out of the
worries and think about what you're worrying about from a different perspective sometimes
just being aware that you're engaging in a type 2 worry can be enough to separate you from that
worry process recognizing that you're worrying about something that isn't happening and that may
never happen so what's the point in worrying about it it essentially becomes one of those things
in which it's a bridge that i'll cross when and if i ever have to however if i identify what i'm
worrying about as a type 1 worry that can help orient myself to what it is that i need to do
in that situation rather than worrying about this problem that's actually taking place i can start
to look for potential solutions to the problem and if i solve the problem i solve the worry
so i hope that gives you a better perspective better understanding on the different types of
worry and how to distinguish the different types of worry and why being able to distinguish between
different types of worry is important i'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas about this so
please leave me some comments in the comment section down below if you've been enjoying my
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thank you for making it all the way to the end of this video and i will see you in the next one