Summary of Chapter Two in The End of Worry: Why We Worry and How to Stop by Will Van der Hart and Rob Waller. Will is a pastor working in London and Rob is a Christian psychiatrist. Both are recovering worriers.
1. Bigger worries usually lie behind smaller worries. “Behind many apparently superficial worries lurk far more catastrophic threats and fears. Worriers very rarely get beyond the immediate worries to what lies behind them.”
2. The most common areas that people worry about are relationships, finances, work, and health.
3. A major part of recovery from problem worry is resisting the urge to run away from fear. ”Worriers need to stay with the threats they perceive long enough to realize they don’t actually pose a risk…Tackling avoidance is essential in overcoming worry problems.” (34).
4. Worrying increases the significance of threats, strengthens them, and increases their frequency.
5. God works and we work. Although God can instantly cure people of worry, in the vast majority of cases that we see, God works alongside our efforts and intentions.
6. There are two main types of worry. Working out the difference between useful (solvable) worry and problem (floating) worry is the key to success. Solvable worry has an underlying problem that responds to problem solving, whereas floating worry needs to be tackled in another way because there is no problem to solve.
7. Solvable worry.
“Solvable worry is typically about problems that are currently happening and have a solution that is required now or at some point in the near future. It is often a clearly understandable problem, one that we would all be anxious about. Solvable worry has concrete characteristics and is authentic in that the mind is seeking out a resolution to a problem that provokes appropriate anxiety. The litmus test for solvable worry is that, when shared with friends, they all begin offering sensible suggestions as to how the situation can be overcome.” (38-9)
“Solvable, normal worry is a useful catalyst for real action in response to a clear and present threat, and if we can channel it, it will make a difference.” (41)
8. Floating worry.
“Floating worry is not amenable to problem solving, because it is about problems that do not have answers, and when it comes to sharing them with friends, we generally shy away because we fear that they will think we are worrying about nothing. Floating worry is often oriented around problems that are less urgent and might or might not happen at some point in the future. The level of anxiety is usually less acute, and grumbles along in the background.” (40)
Here ”the worry issue lingers on, but there is absolutely no resolution. No action is taken other than worry.” (41)
The End of Worry: Why We Worry and How to Stop by Will Van der Hart and Rob Waller.