Abstract
Worrying is the central feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Many people worry from time to time, but in GAD the worrying is prolonged and difficult to control. Worrying is a specific way of coping with perceived threats and feared situations. Meanwhile, it is not considered to be a helpful coping strategy, and the phenomenological account developed in this paper aims to show why. It builds on several phenomenological notions and in particular on Michael Wheeler's application of these notions to artificial intelligence and the cognitive sciences. Wheeler emphasizes the value of 'online intelligence' as contrasted to 'offline intelligence'. I discuss and apply these concepts with respect to worrying as it occurs in GAD, suggesting that GAD patients overrate the value of detached contemplation (offline intelligence), while underrating their embodied-embedded adaptive skills (online intelligence). I argue that this phenomenological account does not only help explaining why worrying is used as a coping strategy, but also why cognitive behavioral therapy is successful in treating GAD.
Highlights
Worrying is the core feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) [1,2,3,4]
It is not considered to be a helpful strategy for dealing with future situations [5], and the phenomenological account developed in this paper aims to show why
GAD patients hold certain metacognitions, circling around the value of worrying as a way of preparing for future events. Such metacognitions are shared by many people, but in GAD they are more extreme
Summary
Worrying is the core feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) [1,2,3,4]. Many people worry from time to time, but in GAD the worrying is prolonged and difficult to control. We noted that GAD patients tend to underestimate their ability to deal with whatever scenarios might obtain in reality Taking these together, I propose the following perspective on worrying in GAD: These patients may underestimate their coping skills in such feared situations, because they tend to largely overlook their embodied-embedded resources, while they are convinced that detached contemplation is a helpful means to deal with the world. In (more severe) disorders like schizophrenia, there are actual (developmental) changes in bodily interaction with the world, whilst in GAD the main problem concerns metacognitions about how to deal with future situations. Correcting this metacognition could be part of CBT as well
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