on worry

i'm reading a couple recent articles on treating anxiety. specifically Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which is persistent anxiety (with other qualifiers) for a period of 6 months or more.

i'm reading about this because, honestly, i am awful here as a counselor. more than any other area this is one where i want to chime in with a resounding, "i KNOW!"

here are some things i've learned:

the very best therapies for anxiety only work about half of the time.

among the half who find therapy effective, many relapse.

so, less than half of anxiety sufferers who receive therapy are helped long term.

yipes.

but, i did like this idea proposed by one researcher:

An ‘‘intolerance of uncertainty’’ is the core cause of uncontrollable worrying (Dugas et al. 1998). He demonstrated that chronically anxious patients preferred to experience negative outcomes, rather than face uncertainty about future threats, thus creating an illusion of certainty and predictability.

that seems so ineffective... who would do that?? 

... 

*hand raise*