Not all worries are the same.
When something is on your mind, it can be tempting to keep thinking about it until you feel you've found an answer.
But different types of worry need different responses.
In CBT, it can be useful to distinguish between practical worries and hypothetical worries.
The difference doesn't depend on how serious the worry is or how likely it is to happen.
Instead, we can start with one simple question:
“Is there anything I can do about this RIGHT NOW?”
What is a practical worry?
A practical worry is about a problem where there is something useful you can do right now.
For example:
“I haven't paid the electricity bill and it's due tomorrow.”
There are practical actions available.
You might:
- check how much you owe
- pay the bill
- contact the provider if you can't pay
- make a plan for when you can deal with it
The worry has pointed towards a problem that can be acted on.
Another example might be:
“I need to get to an appointment tomorrow, but I haven't worked out how I'm getting there.”
You could check the route, look at public transport, arrange a lift or decide when you need to leave.
Again, there is something you can do.
What is a hypothetical worry?
A hypothetical worry is usually about something that might happen, but there isn't anything useful you can do about it right now.
These worries often begin with:
“What if...?”
For example:
“What if I make a mistake during my presentation next week?”
“What if my test results are bad?”
“What if they don't like me?”
“What if something goes wrong on the journey?”
These worries can feel extremely important.
They may even be about things that genuinely could happen.
But the important question isn't:
“Could this happen?”
It's:
“Is there anything useful I can do about it RIGHT NOW?”
If the answer is no, continuing to think through more and more possibilities may not bring you any closer to a solution.
Hypothetical doesn't mean imaginary
This is an important distinction.
Calling something a hypothetical worry doesn't mean:
“This isn't a real concern.”
It doesn't mean:
“You're worrying about nothing.”
And it doesn't mean:
“That will never happen.”
It simply means that, at this moment, the worry is about an uncertain possibility rather than a problem you can take useful action on right now.
Imagine you're waiting for medical test results.
The worry:
“What if the results show something is wrong?”
may be completely understandable.
But if the test has already been done and you're waiting for the result, repeatedly thinking about what the result might be cannot change it.
At that moment, the worry is hypothetical because there is no useful action available to resolve the uncertainty right now.
The same worry can change
A worry isn't permanently practical or hypothetical.
What matters is what you can do at that particular moment.
Imagine you're worried about money.
On Sunday evening you think:
“I don't think I'll be able to make this month's loan payment.”
If you need to speak to the lender and they're closed, there may be nothing useful you can do about that particular problem right now.
You can note what you need to do, but repeatedly thinking about what might happen overnight won't necessarily help.
On Monday morning, when the lender opens, the situation changes.
Now there may be a practical action available:
call them and discuss your options.
The worry has moved from something you couldn't act on immediately to something you can address practically.
Sometimes a worry contains both
Worries don't always fit neatly into one box.
Take:
“What if I don't get the job?”
There may be a practical part:
“I haven't finished preparing for tomorrow's interview.”
You can do something about that.
And there may be a hypothetical part:
“What if they don't like me and choose somebody else?”
You can't completely control or predict that.
Separating the two can help.
Instead of trying to solve the entire worry, ask:
“Which part can I actually do something about?”
Then focus your energy there.
The RIGHT NOW question
When you notice yourself worrying, try asking:
Is there anything I can do about this RIGHT NOW?
YES
This is likely to contain a practical worry.
The next step is to identify what action you can take.
Later in this pathway, we'll look at a structured Problem Solving approach for doing exactly that.
NO
This is likely to be a hypothetical worry at this moment.
Trying to solve it through more thinking may simply lead to more “what if?” questions.
Later, we'll explore Worry Time as one way of responding differently to hypothetical worries.
The important thing for now is simply learning to recognise the difference.
Try sorting a few worries
Here are some examples.
“I haven't booked accommodation for my trip next month.”
Can I do something about it right now?
If you can search for accommodation and make a booking:
Practical
---
“What if it rains for the entire holiday?”
Can I do something about that right now?
You might prepare for different weather, but you can't control what the weather will actually do:
Hypothetical
---
“I haven't prepared the slides for tomorrow's meeting.”
Can I do something about it right now?
If you have time and access to what you need:
Practical
---
“What if everyone thinks my presentation is terrible?”
Can I completely solve that uncertainty right now?
Hypothetical
Notice that this doesn't mean the hypothetical worries are silly or unimportant.
We're simply asking whether more worrying will help us take useful action right now.
Try it with one of your own worries
Think of something you've been worrying about recently.
Write down:
What am I worrying about?
Then ask:
Is there anything I can do about this RIGHT NOW?
If yes:
What specifically can I do?
Try to identify an action rather than another thought.
For example:
Instead of:
“I need to sort my finances out.”
something more specific might be:
“I'll open my bank statement and list the payments due this week.”
If no:
Simply notice:
“This is a hypothetical worry right now.”
You don't have to make the worry disappear.
For now, you're practising recognising when your mind is trying to solve something that can't currently be solved.
Don't worry about getting it perfect
Sometimes it won't be obvious whether a worry is practical or hypothetical.
That's okay.
You might discover that part of the worry can be acted on while another part can't.
Or something that can't be acted on today may become practical tomorrow.
The purpose isn't to label every worry perfectly.
The purpose is to help you ask:
“Is continuing to think about this helping me take useful action?”
That question can help you decide what to do next.
What comes next?
As you begin noticing your worries, you may start to see patterns.
Perhaps most of your worries happen at a particular time of day.
Perhaps certain situations trigger them.
Perhaps you tend to respond by checking, seeking reassurance or avoiding something.
The Worry Diary will eventually give you a simple way to record these patterns.
And once you can recognise whether a worry is practical or hypothetical, the Worry Tree can help you decide what to do next:
Practical worry → Problem Solving
Hypothetical worry → Worry Time
For now, the most important thing to practise is just one question:
> Is there anything I can do about this RIGHT NOW?