Posts

Showing posts from April, 2021

Compulsive Worry

Worry is common and normal – most people worry sometimes. In other words, they anticipate what could go wrong, imagine a range of possible negative scenarios, speculate “What if...” in every possible variety. But most people usually snap out of it after a while (at least until the next time...) Worrying is not pleasant, and most people could probably benefit from doing less of it, but it doesn’t destroy their lives. Other people, however, develop a major worry problem – they become compulsive worriers. Autistic people, in particular, often seem to be vulnerable to this tendency, perhaps for reasons connected both to the innate nature of the autistic mind (intense/rapid thinking, detailed perceptiveness, high pattern-recognition, emotional sensitivity, etc) and to learning experiences that tend to foster a worry-focused attitude to life (extra levels of struggle with mainstream life challenges, being bullied, pressure to conform, confusion & uncertainty, etc). Worry becomes