Still, patients often approach worry with mixed feelings. It is both solution and problem, asset and liability, a coping strategy and a curse. The disadvantages of worry, however, were more vivid. The more time she invested in her worries, the more real they became. One way out of this puzzle is to reframe worry.
People can find a myriad of ways to worry about worrying too much.
They can even worry about worrying about worrying. But people typically don't worry about problem-solving too much. Furthermore, if patients' structure problem-solving, they can put worry to constructive use. Patients record a worrisome thought. They can list evidence that supports it, and can rate the degree of influence they have over it, the probability of its occurrence, and the likelihood they can cope with it.