Strategies that DO NOT work
• “Try to be more positive.”
• “Everything will be okay.”
• “Just stop worrying Just stop worrying.”
(i.e., Don’t worry, be happy.)
• Thought stopping (Wegner, 1994)
• Avoidance & numbing
– Alcohol or drug use
– Di t ti & ti ti Distraction & procrastination
• Anxiolytics
• 77% of the chronically anxious can
improve with cognitive (thought) and
behavioral (action) strategies