If you are reading this, chances are that you have been anxious at least once before. Experiencing anxiety is totally normal and it is what makes us human. It means that our fight-or-flight responses are normal. An evolutionist would say that, back then, our ancestors had to be well-alert all the time to hunt for food and avoid danger. However, at this modern age, anxiety is more often born from the feelings of worry or fear. To draw closer relevance, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the common anxieties are related to retrenchment, income, disease-contraction and so on. Anxiety is hence defined by researchers as the response to potential threat regardless of possibilities of its occurrence. However, it is when that response lingers in the body for too long that it is considered a problem.
Throughout the centuries, scholars and researchers alike have been trying to understand anxiety by developing various theories, with hopes that they can help to treat clinical disorders like generalized anxiety disorder or social anxiety disorder. In this article factors to anxiety shall be discussed using the four components of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Model (IUM): intolerance of uncertainty, negative problem orientation, positive beliefs about worry, and cognitive avoidance.
Intolerance of uncertainty
As the main feature of the model, intolerance of uncertainty has been claimed by researchers as being a personality trait that leads to anxiety where one tends to have a wide range of beliefs pertaining uncertainty. The collection of those beliefs would then give rise to the thought that the probable negative future event is unacceptable, regardless of the chances of the event happening, hence causing the person to feel anxious. An instance of the belief is that a clear answer is necessary for one to function properly and the absence of a clear answer is upsetting and stressful. Some might also believe strongly that the future event is detrimental, so it must be avoided and cannot be tolerated. Without doubt, uncertainty is not something one can avoid every time; therefore, everyday situations can be very difficult to be managed by those with low uncertainty tolerance. Furthermore, in a study, it was found that patients with generalized anxiety disorder tend to have higher uncertainty intolerance than patients of other kinds of disorder.
Positive beliefs about worry
Claimed to be the manifestation of uncertainty intolerance, this component is based on the notion that individuals experiencing anxiety may have unrealistic beliefs on the benefits of anxiety and worry. For example, some people might believe that worrying helps them to be motivated to take action, helps them to solve problems and gives them the emotional preparation should a negative event happens. Moreover, some anxious people may also think that being anxious or worried about someone or something means that they are a caring, empathetic or compassionate person. A reason for such positive belief is due to those beliefs being reinforced positively or negatively. Positive reinforcement happens when a good outcome occurs due to or because of the anxiety and worry, like being able to come up with an answer or take a right action. This would then lead the person to think that anxiety and worry would give them positive outcomes. Negative reinforcement happens when no bad outcomes happened during or after the anxiety and worry. This would cause the person to think that being anxious or worried allows them to avoid a bad situation.
Negative problem orientation
This component is defined as disruptive cognitive process towards perceived problems. In simpler terms, it means that people have a negative outlook towards their problematic situations. Hence, those that are easily anxious or worrisome tend to think that problems are threatening or too huge to be solved. In a related note, such individuals may also start to doubt their problem-solving abilities and be pessimistic about their problem-solving outcomes. However, it should be borne in mind that these individuals do not have any faulty problem-solving abilities. It is due to their negative thinking, attitude and beliefs about their own capabilities that interfere or disrupt their problem-solving skills. Since the individual’s problem-solving skills are impaired by his/her negative attitudes, it would likely perpetuate the belief that the problem is unsolvable.
Cognitive avoidance
Cognitive avoidance is posited to be the attempt of a person to prevent or mitigate unpleasant thoughts or imageries. Those individuals would usually have a wide range of strategies like active avoidance, mental distraction and thought suppression. Although it might sound like a good thing, such cognitive avoidance may not necessarily be totally beneficial. Some researchers claimed that cognitive avoidance may have interference with emotional processing of fear, therefore, the strategies used by the individuals may lead to maintenance of high anxiety and worry levels. Some individuals may also believe that anxiety and worry may have avoidant functions. For instance, some may believe that anxiety and worry helps them to avoid future negative events, difficult circumstances and distressing topics. In one study, it was found that patients with generalized anxiety disorder reported to have higher cognitive avoidance than healthy individuals and decrease in cognitive avoidance was linked to positive outcomes.
Written by: Ryan Wong Kar Wai (Aizen) (MPS Psychological Services Intern)
Supervisor: Mr. Liang Yaw Wen
References:
- Carleton, R. N., Norton, M. P. J., & Asmundson, G. J. (2007). Fearing the unknown: A short version of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale. Journal of anxiety disorders, 21(1), 105-117.
- Dugas, M. J., Savard, P., Gaudet, A., Turcotte, J., Laugesen, N., Robichaud, M., Francis, K., & Koerner, N. (2007). Can the components of a cognitive model predict the severity of generalized anxiety disorder?. Behavior therapy, 38(2), 169-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2006.07.002
- Fisher, P. L., & Wells, A. (2009). Psychological models of worry and generalized anxiety disorder. Oxford handbook of anxiety and related disorders, 225-237. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195307030.013.0017
