Apprehensive worry involves worrying about the future, and it typically consists of focusing on worst-case scenarios. You see it all play out in your head: how making a necessary comment to your boss then somehow leads to you losing your job; how a routine medical investigation then means you are facing a horrible health outcome; how going for a job interview will result in rejection and humiliation; how spending time with your friends will somehow lead to everyone hating you. When you’re facing something that makes you a little anxious, it’s easy for your thoughts to take you to the worst-case scenarios, which will make you a lot anxious. And then you go over and over all the bad things that could happen, so the anxiety sticks around far longer than what is helpful. Continue reading “Managing worry about the future”