Write a worry script
Write out the outcome you fear in vivid detail, and read it until it loses its charge.
Only for everyday worries about the future. It isn't for memories of things that happened to you, or for trauma: that needs a therapist. If writing it becomes overwhelming, stop.
In the 1980s and 90s, the psychologist Thomas Borkovec studied people who worried all day long. He noticed something surprising: worry is mostly words, not pictures. Worriers talk to themselves about what might go wrong, but rarely let themselves fully imagine it.
Talking in words, it turned out, dampens the body's alarm. So worry can work as a kind of avoidance: it feels like facing the problem, but it keeps the full fear at arm's length. Because the fear is never fully faced, it never fades.
Facing the picture instead
Building on this, Michelle Craske and David Barlow developed worry exposure. You write the feared outcome as a short story: first person, present tense, with real details and the feelings that come with it. Then you read it, once a day for a few minutes, until it starts to feel less charged, even a bit boring.
It feels backwards, and the first read can be hard. But a fear you can look at directly tends to lose its grip.
Your script ends with: "...but it probably won't happen, so it's fine." What would you change?
Write your script
Pick an everyday worry that keeps coming back. Write it as if it's happening now, and stay with it to the end.
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Echoes in other traditions
- Stoicism
Premeditatio malorum: Seneca rehearsed misfortunes in advance, so they would lose their power to shock.
- ACT
Willingness: making room for a fear, rather than spending your energy keeping it away.
Finish the lesson
Answer the question above to complete the lesson.