Benefits of Worrying. Image Source: Huffington Post

Benefits of Worrying

Worrying has never been a positive verb. It brings with all sort of negative references, from stress to grief to imagining the worst possible outcome for whatever situation is causing the worry. But worrying doesn’t have to be a bad thing. There have been studies that have shown benefits of worrying.

You may have thought constantly worrying about the things was the wrong way to go about life and believed everything is going wrong. We’ve all been there: gripped by intense emotional urging characterized by feelings of worry and a diffuse, but a strong sense of being vulnerable to awaiting harm. But science proved it wrong.

You would probably think worrying has nothing to do with your IQ, but in fact, worrying actually is a sign of intelligence.

Researchers at Ontario’s Lakehead University, led by Alexander Penney, surveyed 126 undergraduate students about their feelings in regards to anxiety, depression, and worry. They were presented with various statements to estimate just how much they worried about situations they’d already experienced and events they would most likely, eventually, experience.

Then, researchers ranked the responses on the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Students who ranked high on the verbal intelligence scale tended to worry more often. High verbal intelligence is basically the “Analyzing Intel” skill, or people who worry 24/7.

Penney explained people who are verbally intelligent have the capacity to replay past events and think of future possibilities to a greater extent. On the other hand, people being strong in terms of non-verbal intelligence were considered better at analyzing events happening in real time. This is what leads to the dwelling that causes anxiety and makes you worry.

So, without any further ado, let’s get started.


Benefits of Worrying


Understand the Outcomes of Actions

People who worry are extremely and naturally well aware of the implications of their actions. They know how things will unfold, which explains why their minds are completely consumed by their anxiety. If you worry about bad things now, you won’t be so upset if the bad thing actually happens.

You’ll be able to prepare yourself for the catastrophes.

Attentive to Details

Worriers are meticulous; they’re never comfortable. It leaves in dilemmas. They aren’t rushing through anything and always make double-checking anything they do a top priority.

Worrying ensures you to double check anything you do, and more likely you’ll be able to fix it. When you’re constantly worrying, you will never leave a task unfinished. In fact, you’ll go above and beyond to ensure every piece of work is your best work.

Worry is Motivating

Moderate worry helps us get stuff done. On the other hand, chronic worry— worrying all the time about things big and small can be really bad for you, both mentally and physically.

A little worry can lead to constructive, thoughtful self-evaluation and action, shows research from Stanford University. The study team found that worrying in some students was predictive of better test scores. As for the results, while all of these potential side-effects of a little worrying are interesting.

Helps to Plan for the Future

Things that didn’t work out in the past may be replaying in our minds. But it does leave a huge impact in our life. You’ll learn the most from the error of their ways.

Anyone who’s reflected enough on a past problem knows the exact way to construct his or her future. Whoever said worrying was problematic certainly has never thought about it in a way where learning from past problems may help plan a better future. This might be a benefit of worrying.

Positive Influence

Most people throw caution to the wind, but this isn’t the case when it comes to you. The safe one of the group is the one who always keeps everyone else grounded, and always remains realistic of the prospects in any given situation.

No one even bothers to worry because they know you’ve got it covered. Everyone in your life knows your views and respect them.

So these were some of the benefits of worrying. Do you want to share some other benefits of worrying? Has worrying really been helpful to you? Do let us know in the comments section below.