Anxiety expert gives advice on how to deal constructively with money worries

Author/Byline: Sarah Horner
Duluth News Tribune

With Christmas bills piling up and the economy tanking, more and more people are feeling anxious about staying financially afloat these days.

Reid Wilson, a psychologist and anxiety expert scheduled to speak on panic disorders tonight at St. Scholastica, doled out some advice about how to cope.

Q: Many people are experiencing anxiety about their jobs and financial security right now. How would you advise them to work through those fears?

A: The best way to get a handle on anxiety related to the economy, or anything else for that matter, is to first attempt to solve the problem, Wilson said.

“Pay attention to the problem on your mind, generate some solutions, analyze them, pick one, implement it and see how it goes,” he said. “When I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of a problem, I worry much more about it than if I even allow myself 30 minutes to think it through.”

For example, if you feel anxious about the stability of your career, it might help to develop a plan to cope with the issue, such as deciding to stick with it for a year to see whether the economy turns around or begin fine-tuning your resume to prepare yourself for new career opportunities.

Q: What if the nagging thoughts don’t go away?

A: If problem-solving doesn’t help, you might want to consider the type of anxiety you’re dealing with. There are commonly two types of general anxiety people struggle with: “signal anxiety” and “noise,” Wilson said.

Signal anxiety is a worry that someone can do something about and move on, whereas noise is usually a persistent worry that doesn’t have a clear solution.

“If you keep waking up at 2 a.m. thinking about your employer cutting the staff, then your worry at that point becomes noise,” Wilson said.

One strategy for dealing with noise is to try to delay the anxiety until you have a time when you can give it clear, thoughtful analysis. Sometimes Wilson advises people to sing the worries in their mind.

“It’s a way to manifest the behavior that degrades the content,” he said. “If I am worried about getting salmonella and I realize that is irrational, I might actually sing the worry to myself as a way to lessen its severity in my mind.”

Q: When should someone consider seeking help to cope with anxiety?

A: When anxiety continues to interfere with daily life, it might be time to think about seeing a counselor or a therapist, Wilson said. He said it’s unlikely people struggling with the current economy will be forced to that point.

“The monthly, yearly stresses of the economy that are coming down on our world and society right now don’t tend to throw someone into a diagnostic category,” Wilson said. “But they are real-life worries a lot of people are struggling with right now.”