" But worry can also escalate so it's excessive, chronic, or both -- anything but healthful. It's a common thread running through many mental-health disorders. In depression, worry can take the form of guilt (worrying about having done something wrong) or distress about feeling incompetent. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is well-known for its intrusive, uncontrollable fears of contamination and losing control. Health anxiety is excessive worry about becoming sick. The extreme form is hypochondriasis, which often involves seeking unnecessary care for imagined illnesses."

" General anxiety disorder is an officially recognized psychiatric condition in which worry is the dominant feature. People with the disorder are tormented by worries about everything from daily events to interpersonal relationships to potential disasters that are completely out of their control. For them, it's as if worry has become an irresistible habit, says Steven Shearer, a psychologist at Baltimore's Franklin Square Hospital Center who has written about excessive worry."

" Excessive worry isn't always experienced as a mental-health problem. For some, it shows up as fatigue, headaches, stomachaches, and vague pain. When we feel threatened, the fight-or-flight response kicks in, and our bodies get ready: The heart starts pounding; blood flows to major muscles; hormones such as epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol flood the bloodstream. It is a strongly physical response. If a danger is immediate, or seems so, you can take action: You can jump out of the way of a speeding bus, notes Thomas Borkovec, a psychology professor at Penn State University (State College, Pennsylvania) and an expert on worry."

" But with worry, the focus is on the future ("I'm going to flunk that test," "I'm going to be fired," etc.), so there's no immediate way to deal with the threat. The only recourse is to try to think and plan your way out of trouble. "People go up into their heads to try to figure out the danger," notes Borkovec."

" Worry can become part of a vicious cycle. Worriers anticipate worry, and trying to suppress those thoughts can backfire and make the worry even stronger. In addition, worriers often dwell on future events that are not likely to happen. When low-probability
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