Born Worrier

Is there such a thing as a “born worrier?”

Yes! The tendency to ruminate on anxiety-provoking thoughts seems to be an inherited characteristic. However, it isn’t the “worry gene” that keeps adults busy anticipating disasters.

“As a little kid, I used to worry a lot about whether my parents would die, even though I never knew anyone who died! In elementary school, I used to worry about my marks, and in high school I obsessed about whether people liked me. But it wasn’t until I got older that I became a serious worrier, and once I had kids, my worrying got out of control.”

In general, we get better at what we do. “Practice makes perfect.” Worrying is the perfected skill of imagining unpleasant outcomes. If a loved one is 15 minutes late, surely he or she must be lying unconscious in a ditch somewhere.