Managing Worry

Managing
Worry:
Young
Person's
Fact Sheet
What is worry?
Worry is a normal emotion that everyone will feel
at some point in their lives. It usually involves
thinking that something negative is going to
happen. This can become a problem when it
interferes with everyday life. For example, it might
start to negatively impact our social life, academic
performance, sleep and mood. This is when we
might need some extra help.
The cycle
Our thoughts, feelings and behaviours (what we do) are all linked together and all have
an impact on each other. When we are feeling worried, we can get stuck in a cycle of
negative or unhelpful thoughts, feelings and behaviours. By using the strategies in this fact
sheet, you can break that cycle by making some changes to your thoughts and behaviours
so that you start to feel better.
Thoughts Wh
I haven't seen a t if I
te ? d o n 't
t i f I 'm l a my friends in
kn o w
w h a t to
W ha
W hat ages. s a y ?
if w e
get c h
l o st? so m u
I ha ve k to
e w or
What if I have hom
do.
no one to sit
Behaviours with?
Feelings
A void Upset
Seek si tu a t Anxiou
s Scared
ions Nervous
reassurance Struggle to
che S ha
sleep m a ch a d
kin
g
S to Overwhelme
Put things off Distract m Frustrated ating
yself H e a rt b e
Tired f a st
Follow the steps on the next pages to help break the cycle and manage your worry more
effectively.
Classify your worries
There are two types of worries: hypothetical worries and practical worries. It's important
to know the difference because we can deal with them in different ways.
hypothetical worries practical worries

Hypothetical worries are worries that we Practical worries are usually worries
don't currently have control over and can't about a current situation that we can do
do anything about. These can be something about. It can be easy to put
overwhelming and tiring. these worries off or try to ignore them all
together. However, if we don't do
t? something about practical worries, they
if I g e t lo s Wh
W hat at i can pile up and make us feel
f it overwhelmed.
ra i
n s?
e
What if the bus is d o n 't h a v I ha ve
I e t o l o ts o f
late? g h ti m exams
en o u com ing
W ha y up
t if I g do m
w orr et w o r k
l ie d ? home I have to do a
if I fe e
W hat presentation
n th e
ti r e d i I ha ve n
't seen m ng
m orni
ng? What if the frie nd s y
' v e b e e n e a ti
in a g e I y
teacher asks me
t s o f u n h e a l th
lo
a question? food
Worry diary
Keeping a worry diary can help you become more aware of your worries and what type
of worry they are.
How Hypothetical
Situation Worry worried I or Practical
feel (0-100) worry?
Worry Time
Worry time gives you time each day to address all of your worries. The more you use
worry time, the less your worries will impact you throughout the day.
Plan your worry time

It's important to plan in your worry time for the same time each day.This should be a time
where you can focus on the worries and not be distracted. Start with a maximum of half an
hour each day. As you use worry time more and more, you may notice that you eventually
need less than half an hour each day because you get better at dealing with your worries.
Catch the worries

As you notice worries during the day, catch them so that you can come back to them later at
worry time. You can do this by writing them down, drawing a picture or making a sound
recording. You could use a diary, sticky notes, your phone or any other way you can think
of to catch the worries as they happen.
Refocus your attention

Once you have caught the worry, it's important to focus on something different. Pay
attention to whatever it is you're doing at that moment OR do something totally
different. You can also refocus by using 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (see below for more info on this).
Worry time
Use worry time to go back and address all of the worries you have caught that day. For
each worry decide whether it is a practical worry or hypothetical worry.
For practical worries, use problem solving.
For hypothetical worries, let the worries go. You can do this by ripping up, scribbling
out, deleting or scrumpling up and throwing away the worry.
Some worries might not even be worries anymore! For these, you will learn that a lot of
worries may seem big at the time but later they will seem much smaller and
manageable.
Let's Do It
My worry time will be at (time):
It will last for (number of minutes):
I will do it with (will anyone help?):
I will catch my worries by (what will you use?):
Top Tip
To refocus your attention, try to take deep breaths and think: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Notice 5 things you can see, 4
things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. This gives you
chance to calm down before focusing on a current or new task.
Problem Solving
If you're struggling with a practical worry, use this step by step guide which
helps to break the problem down and solve it in a more manageable way.
Practical worries can feel overwhelming and it's easy to put them off.
However, it's much better in the long run to solve the problem now rather
than later.
Step 1 Write down your problem in 1 or 2 sentences.
Step 2 Write down all the ideas you can think of to solve the problem (no
matter what they are!).
Step 3 Make a table and write down ALL of the good things and ALL of the
not so good things you can think of for each of your ideas.
Good things
Not so good things
Idea 1
Idea 2
Step 4 Choose one idea that looks like it could work (if you struggle, see
which one has the most good things). Ask yourself, is my idea
realistic? If it isn't, choose a different idea.
Step 5 Make a plan! Write down the answers to these questions to create
your plan of action!
1) What will you do?
2)When will you do it?
3)How will you do it?
4)Who will you do it with?
5) Could there be any difficulties? If so, what could you do to
overcome these?
Step 6 DO IT!
After you've given your idea a go, review it.

Answer the following questions to help you reflect on how it went.
Was it helpful?
Did you achieve what you wanted to?
If not, could you do something differently/change something next time?
Did you achieve anything (no matter how small) towards solving your problem? Even
tiny steps forward are big achievements.
What did you learn?
The Worry Tree
The Worry Tree can help break down worry management into simple steps. Start at the
top and follow it down to find out the best strategy to use.
notice the worry
catch it for later

(e.g. write it down, draw a picture, make a note on your phone)
worry time
(what type of worry is it?)
hypothetical practical
let the worry go problem solving

(e.g. scribble it out, throw (e.g. use problem solving guide
it away, rip it up) to find a solution)
refocus your attention

Tops tips for managing worry
These tips can help you feel calmer so you're better able to manage
your worries. But, REMEMBER, don't use these as a way to avoid or
put off doing something about your worries as this makes them even
more difficult in the long run.
Create a worry box
Tell someone about your worries
Go to a yoga class
Download a mindfulness app
Meditate
Spend time with family or friends
Draw or create something
Go for a walk or jog
Take a relaxing bath
Or, create your own list!
@WeHeartCBT www.weheartcbt.com
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Managing

hypothetical worries practical worries

Plan your worry time

Catch the worries

Refocus your attention

It will last for (number of minutes):

I will do it with (will anyone help?):

I will catch my worries by (what will you use?):

Step 1 Write down your problem in 1 or 2 sentences.

After you've given your idea a go, review it.

notice the worry

catch it for later

let the worry go problem solving

refocus your attention

Create a worry box

Tell someone about your worries

Download a mindfulness app

Spend time with family or friends

Draw or create something

Go for a walk or jog

Take a relaxing bath

Or, create your own list!

created with www.canva.com

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