How to Put Boundaries Around Worry

Give up Worry by Recognizing it as a Bad Habit

By Leslie Sokol, Ph.D. and Marci G. Fox, Ph.D.

Worry is made up of nagging, persistent thoughts that circle around in your head. It is “what if” statements, worst-case scenarios, and awful predictions. The act of worrying is an obsessive, habitual behavior—and one that you can give up. But before you can give it up, you must accept that the act of worrying serves no purpose. Worrying is stealing your energy, fatiguing your muscles and body, exacerbating your aches and pains, increasing your vulnerability to stress and infection, distracting you from the present, interfering with your sleep, inappropriately increasing or decreasing your appetite, and keeping you from more pleasurable or important tasks. It is time to recognize the act of worry serves no purpose and has become a bad habit. Here are 9 tips to help you put up boundaries around your worry.

Leslie Sokol, PhD, director of education and one of the principal instructors with the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and Marci G. Fox, PhD, a senior faculty member in the Beck Institute's training program, are coauthors of the newly released cognitive therapy-based book Think Confident, Be Confident: A Four-Step Program to Eliminate Doubt and Achieve Lifelong Self-Esteem. They are both licensed psychologists, experts in cognitive therapy, and highly acclaimed national and international speakers.