If you are more anxious in the evening than the rest of the day, it is probably because you are very prone to worry. According to one new study published in the journal Personality and Individual DifferencesTHE worry level will affect anxiety throughout the day, especially in people who are particularly prone to it.
While in people with little anxiety, this anxiety will decrease over the course of the day, it will on the contrary remain stable or high in very anxious people. Until then, it was not known how the propensity to worry could influence the experience of anxiety throughout the day. To study this, the researchers analyzed the propensity to worry in a sample of adults, asking them to answer a questionnaire about their anxiety morning, noon and night for a week. A technique regularly used by psychologists to measure emotions in real time.
“We found that anxiety levels decreased over the day for people with low or moderate anxiety, notes Dr. Rebecca Cox, lead author of the research. In contrast, we found that anxiety remained high and stable throughout the day in people with high anxiety..”
Worry can be an asset
“At healthy levels, worry can help us anticipate threats and prepare for the futurecontinues Rebecca Cox. Worry can become dangerous if its frequency or intensity is disproportionate to its source.“
“If I’m so worried about an upcoming test that I can’t concentrate on my studies or if I’m often worried about storms that I won’t leave my house, then the worry has become problematic.“, she finishes.
What solutions to manage anxiety?
If you’re anxious throughout the day and can’t let go, the study’s author provides a few tips :
- Seek a treatment. Anxiety disorders are “both common and treatable“, therapeutic help can therefore naturally be welcome.
- Change your way of life. A healthy lifestyle – including good quality sleep and physical activity – can have a positive effect on your mental health.
- Tolerate uncertainty. “Accepting and tolerating uncertainty can help us stop trying to control the future by worrying“, concludes the researcher.
Sources:
- “The effects of worry proneness on diurnal anxiety: an ecological momentary assessment approach”, Personality and Individual DifferencesJanuary 25, 2022
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- What is the “hangxiety”, which occurs the day after (too) alcoholic evenings?
- The best foods to avoid being overwhelmed by stress
