Worry (eBook)

How Much of a Worrier Are You? A Self-Assessment QuizWe are, perhaps, uniquely among the earth's creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still. --Lewis Thomas Everyone is a worrier some of the time. But are you an excessive worrier? How can you get a handle on how much worry is normal and how much is too much? How do you know when to get help? You need to look at how you worry. Are you a mild, moderate, or severe worrier? We don't have instruments to make these measurements, so we offer some guidelines here. While we do not have a meter to measure worry, nonetheless people can rate themselves in terms of the intensity of their worrying as compared to that of their peers. In order to quantify how much you worry and find out how severe a worrier you are, I suggest that you take the following quiz. In response to each of the questions, give yourself 0 points if your answer is 'rarely or not at all,' 1 point if your answer is 'sometimes,' 2 points if your answer is 'often,' and 3 points if your answer is 'almost every day.' The questions that are starred () at the end (numbers 46-50) represent major risk factors for becoming an excessive worrier. Each of these questions should be answered simply 'yes' or 'no.' Give yourself 3 points for each 'yes' and 0 points for each 'no.' Answer all the other questions on the 0, 1, 2, or 3 scale just described. ____1. Do you wish you worried less? ____2. Do worries pop into your mind and take over your thinking, like annoying little gnats? ____3. Do you find something to worry about even when you know everything is OK? ____4. How much did you worry as a child? ____5. Do others comment on how much you worry? ____6. Does your spouse (or person closest to you) tell you that you worry too much? ____7. Do you find that worry clouds your judgment? ____8. Do you tarnish good times with worry? ____9. Do you dwell upon a time or times you were unfairly sued, slandered, unexpectedly fired, downsized, or otherwise victimized by injustice? ____10. Do you worry that good friends will turn on you? ____11. Do you think about death and get frightened? ____12. Do you worry about your health in a way that you know, or others have told you, is excessive or irrational? ____13. How often do you worry about money? ____14. Do you know or do other people tell you that most of your worries are irrational? ____15. Do you become immobilized by worry? ____16. Are you more concerned than you wish you were with what others think of you? ____17. Do you develop physical symptoms in response to stress? ____18. Do you tend to brood over possible danger rather than doing something about it? ____19. Do you drink or use other drugs when you get worried? ____20. Do you find yourself unable to make use of reassurance when you worry? ____21. Do you ruminate, i.e., go over the same worry again and again? ____22. In the midst of success do you find yourself feeling apprehensive, wondering what will go wrong? ____23. When you are alone, is some degree of fear your resting state? ____24. Do you feel that it is dangerous, almost like tempting fate, to feel confident and secure? ____25. Are you inhibited and/or shy? ____26. How much do you procrastinate? ____27. Are you plagued by a feeling that nothing can work out well? ____28. How often do you feel that something bad is 'about to happen'? ____29. Do your daydreams tend to be...