AS LONG AS I CAN GET REASSURANCE FROM ONE OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS ABOUT MY WORRIES, I FEEL BETTER. DO I STILL NEED TO SEEK TREATMENT FOR MY WORRYING?

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This depends on the extent and severity of your worrying. If the following statements are true for you, then it might be a good idea to seek professional treatment:

1.My worry feels out of control.

2.I feel like I can't stop worrying.

3.My worry causes me a great deal of distress.

4.My worry causes problems with my family, social, work, and recreational activities.

Reassurance from a family member or even a close friend can be helpful in the moment, but over time your problems with worry are likely to persist. Reassurance-seeking is recognized by professionals as a “safety behavior,” or a short-term coping mechanism. Let's say I worry that my husband has been in a car accident, even though there is no evidence for that. I ask my sister, “Is he okay? Did anything happen to him?” and she tells me, “He's fine…everything is fine.” I might feel better at the time, but I haven't learned anything as far as how to look at my negative thinking in a more realistic manner. What I've learned is that every time I worry about my husband, I can ask my sister about it to feel better. To really begin to make a dent in your worrying, you don't want to have to depend on anyone's reassurance. You want to learn to be your own rational coach or reassure.

Source: The Anxiety Answer Book by: Laurie A. Helgoe, PhD, Laura R. Wilhelm, PhD, Martin J. Kommor, MD