Last Updated on September 12, 2022

Spending too much time worrying may mean something’s wrong. 

So if you asked this question: “Why do I worry so much?”, it’s best to find a solution right away.

We’ll talk about the causes of worrying in this post. This way, you can understand what’s causing you to worry and find a solution to it.

Why do I worry so much?

Worrying too much can take its toll on you — on yourself, personal relationships, and professional obligations. It sucks the life out of you, and it does the same to the people who can see you worrying excessively. 

So as soon as you can, you need to do something about it.

There are two ways to play this out:

• Seek help from a professional. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other medical specialists can help you get to the root cause of the problem.

An advantage of approaching professionals for help? With their expertise, they can help you look into the problem closely. With them by your side, you can learn causes you haven’t suspected before.

• Hold off from seeking professional help. You can discover the causes of too much worrying on your own beforehand.

An advantage of this is it lets you be true to yourself. If you’re uncomfortable around someone else, this method is for you.

If you can’t identify the cause of your worry on your own, that’s the time you consult with a professional. You may be uncomfortable. 

However, recognize it’s a method to help you treat your excessive worrying.

Why do I worry so much? 15 causes

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Identifying the cause of your worry is a crucial step to eliminate the urge to worry too much.

Here are the common causes:

Professional treatment is necessary

1. Anxiety disorder

You worry too much because you may have an anxiety disorder. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, you may be one of the 6.8 million adults who have GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder).

Questions to ask yourself to check if you’re suffering from GAD:

• “Do I worry so much about family, health, money, and other things?”
• “Do I find it challenging to control my worries?”
• “Have I worried about getting through the day for over six months?”

If you think you have GAD, approach a medical professional. Tell them about your situation and listen to their suggested treatment options.

2. Mental disorder

If an anxiety disorder is off the list of causes, don’t rule out mental health issues just yet. The challenging aspect of this is the difficulty involved in identifying a mental health issue on your own.

You can’t always tell if you have problematic thinking. What you should do is to bring in someone else before you seek professional help.

Notably, ask a trustworthy friend to help you. Tell them to be honest with you and disclose anything they find irrational with your thinking.

3. Underlying medical illness

Suffering from an underlying medical condition is a cause of too much worrying. Cardiovascular diseases and obesity are examples of these conditions.

They cause your blood pressure to rise. And they’re behind the palpitations, panic attacks, and other undesirable behavior.

To deal with this, you need the help of your doctor. Let them know how you want to get rid of excessive worrying.

4. Personal problems

Everybody deals with personal problems — children and adults. It’s normal.

Children can worry about their toys, or when they’ll watch their favorite cartoons. 

Meanwhile, adults can worry about the things mentioned earlier (family, health, and money). They can also worry about finances and work. 

Wondering why some people don’t worry too much despite having problems?

They deal with their problems as they go!

So if your problems are causing your worries, manage your problems before they overwhelm you.

5. Trauma

Do you have trust issues? Were you abandoned as a child? Were you found in a shelter and under the care of bad parental figures?

If you experienced an event that still negatively affects you, you need to do something about your way of thinking. Otherwise, your excess worrying won’t go away.

For one, you can turn to CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) to help you readjust your thinking.

Related: What Triggers Overthinking?

Because of inadequate physical exercise

6. Excess energy

Do you have excess energy yet you don’t know where to invest that energy? Then you’re in trouble.

For the record, having too much energy is not necessarily a bad thing. With excess energy, you can get so many things done.

However, it’s included in this list because it means you have enough — more than enough — energy to worry.

You need to let it out of your system. 

A way to eliminate excess energy is to pursue hobbies.

For example, try something new. You can go canyoneering or wakeboarding.

7. Excess thoughts

The same goes with having too many thoughts. Having excess thoughts is also not necessarily a bad thing.

However, it messes with your focus. It causes confusion.

And it causes you to worry too much. Having excess thoughts causes you to think about worries that may not even exist.

Getting rid of excess thoughts isn’t easy. However, it’s doable.

You can consult with a specialist. You should also do your best to focus on a single task.

8. Stress

Stress means anything you demand from your body and/or brain. When you’re stressed, you’re unrelaxed and your subconscious wants to exit that state.

It causes you to worry because it depletes your energy and keeps you from thinking clearly. It also leads to problems with your physical health and keeps you from performing at your peak.

To eliminate stress, always take breaks.

For example, go on a 30-minute break for every hour of work.

9. Stress build-up 

Sometimes, you can’t avoid stress.

However, you can prevent it from getting too much.

So here’s what you should do:

• Regularly power walk – About 30 minutes of walking fast replenishes your energy level. It also makes you think about present situations, instead of your worries.
• Regularly go on a vacation – A retreat will occupy you. It will refresh your perspective, too.
• Regularly read a book – Studies show that reading a book reduces stress by 68%. It’s also one of the quickest stress relief methods.

Solutions are in your hands

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10. Personality

Always have a negative comment waiting? Wishing to laugh at other people’s failures? Seeing the worst out of every situation?

If you answered “YES” to at least one question above, your personality seems problematic.

Good thing is, you can do something about it. As soon as you notice negativity in your thoughts, change them right away. 

Changing your personality takes time and patience. However, if you put in the work, you’ll reap its rewards.

11. Procrastination

If you’re a smooth procrastinator, you may think you always have nothing to worry about. While you put off tasks for later, you always attend to them. 

However, delaying tasks causes you to worry because you’re subconsciously scheduling time to panic. The tricky part is you may not know it.

It’s worse if your procrastination becomes a habit. Getting used to this practice can play out terribly for you come 10 or 20 years down the road. What if you’re not as skilled in procrastination anymore?

So here’s a simple solution: Don’t procrastinate.

12. Bottled resentment

Keeping your feelings to yourself can be harmful. If you bottle them up, they’ll snowball and you need to throw them at something. Otherwise, they’ll explode on you.

So if you have ill feelings, you need to express them. You can write them down. If not, you can talk to your parents, friends, and other reliable peers. 

13. Medication

Taking medications can help ease pain and whatever illness you’re suffering. Anti-anxiety medications like Xanax and Valium, for example, calm you down.

However, without proper supervision, using medications leads to drug abuse. And it does more harm than good.

It messes with your mind and causes paranoia. If you’re heavily medicated, you have the urge to worry even when there’s nothing to worry about.

So whenever you can, supervise your use of medications. Ask your doctor for help, too.

14. Alcohol

Too much alcohol is bad for you. When you drink excessively, you’re putting your physical and mental health at risk.

It’s terrible for your body. For one, it weakens the immune cells in your liver and other vital organs.

It also screws up the way you think. Because of alcohol, you have the courage to do regrettable things. Because of alcohol, your ability to make sound judgments is questionable.

It’s also like taking medications. Like medications, alcohol can also ease your suffering. However, you need to keep it moderate.

The recommendation: One bottle for women and two bottles for men.

15. Not worrying at all

You also need to accept you will worry. As much as you want to stay calm, sometimes worrying is unavoidable.

As stated earlier, among the causes of worries are anxiety and mental disorders, underlying medical illnesses, personal problems, and trauma. Dealing with these causes is difficult. And the situation is more difficult considering you also want to eliminate the problem of excessive worrying.

To make the problem less difficult, be a step ahead. And you can do so by scheduling a time to worry. Acknowledge your worries and simply think about them.

For example, you can spend 30 minutes on Saturdays for your worries. During this time, remind yourself to just worry and not think about other matters.

This effective approach gets your worries out of your system.

It also helps you feel superior. It makes you feel confident and reassures you’re in control. For your worries to avoid overwhelming you, it’s important to understand you have power over them.

Final thoughts

Worrying is not wrong. However, too much worrying deprives you of happy moments.

If you focus on your worries, you’re likely to miss the things that matter more.

And no amount of worrying can fix your problem.So don’t worry too much. Stop asking yourself: “Why do I worry so much?”. Instead, just be happy.