Secondary Anxiety: Worrying About Worry

Yesterday I went to Crossfit and enjoyed a vigorous 90 minute session of weightlifting. For those 90-minutes my mind was solely focused on the task at hand with no concern other than lifting 60kg above my head taking up my mental space. I finished the workout invigorated. I managed to hit a few personal bests, was praised for my technique on some of the lifts, and enjoyed socialising with the other members. To say the least, my mood was great. It was no surprise then that walking home a sense of unease began to fall across me. Not quite full-blown anxiety, but more-so a lingering sense that my good mood was soon to be cast aside. Secondary Anxiety.

Fortunately anxiety, just like any other state of mind, is not constant. The discomfort and recklessness it can have over ones day, however, can leave an individual anticipating it’s return. Secondary anxiety, meta-worry, meta-anxiety, or however the way you want to phrase it, is the phenomena that describes an individuals state of worry over not-worrying. Frequent anxiety sufferers, or those of us who are recovering from chronic anxiety, experience this state of unease in times when our anxiety has subsided. Like a weather forecaster predicting rain, the current sunny day seems all too good to be true.

I wanted to speak about this today as this is something I experience quite often and can, for some…