Worry is, sadly, an inevitability of life. Bad things are bound to happen, and the natural human reaction is to think about the negative consequences that could potentially arise.

　　可惜的是，忧虑是生活中无法避免的。不好的事情定然会发生，而人类的本能反应就是去考虑可能由之带来的负面后果。

　　However, worry is rarely productive -- "it's something we do over and over again, without much resolution, and it's typically of the worst-case scenario of the future," explains Jason Moser, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University, who has conducted studies on worry.

　　然而，忧虑很少带给我们动力—“我们会一遍遍地担心，而没有什么解决办法，而且担心的通常是未来最坏的情形，” 贾森·莫泽博士这样解释道，他现在密歇根州立大学心理学部门任助理教授，已经开展了诸多关于忧虑的调研。

　　"There’s always an element of uncertainty, always an element of catastrophe," he tells HuffPost. Unlike fear, which has a more pin-pointable source (like a spider on the wall), people worry over "an amorphous, future uncertain threat -- something bad that might happen."

　　“总有不确定元素，总有灾难性的可能，” 贾森·莫泽博士在《赫芬顿邮报》讲道。忧虑和恐惧不同，恐惧是有具体原因的(比如墙上的蜘蛛)，而人们担心的却是“无形的，未来不确定的威胁—可能发生的不好的事情”。

　　While the research isn't clear on the extent to which people are predisposed to worry, it is clear that there are some personality types that are more linked to worrying than others. Neuroticism seems to be tied to worrying, for instance, as is general intolerance of uncertainty, Moser says. And while everyone worries from time to time, it is possible to worry so much that it starts to have a noticeable impact on your daily life.

　　研究并没有清晰地表明哪些人更容易忧虑，但明确地发现了一些特定的个性特点更容易导致忧虑。比如神经过敏，通常很难接受不确定的结果，就易导致忧虑，莫泽博士讲道。而且每个人都会时不时地忧虑，这些忧虑达到一定程度就会开始明显地影响日常生活。

　　But even if you are a worrier, you're not doomed -- there are a number of effective strategies that worriers can use to stop the cycle. Moser and Christine Purdon, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist, professor and executive director of the Centre for Mental Health Research at the University of Waterloo, shared some of the most effective habits and strategies for squelching worry, as well as some common traits shared by people who aren't bogged down by it:

　　但是，即使你是个容易忧虑的人，这也并非无可救药——有很多有效策略可以让忧虑者停止这个恶性循环。莫泽博士和克里斯蒂·博登博士(专业认证心理学家，现为滑铁卢大学的心理健康研究中心教授和执行主任)在本文分享了一些能够有效消除忧虑的习惯和策略，以及摆脱忧虑的人群的共有特征。

　　They focus on the present.

　　活在当下

　　Perhaps one of the biggest differences between worriers and non-worriers is the ability to stay in the present, and not get bogged down by things that have yet to happen. Purdon calls it a "worry chain" -- the idea that one worry will spur a "what if," which spurs another worry and another "what if," and so on. Non-worriers are able to look at a problem and recognize what solution needs to be implemented, "but a worrier isn't able to get that kind of distance," she explains. "The mind goes a lot faster."

　　活在当下，不被尚未发生的事情困扰，这种能力也许就是衡量一个人是否容易忧虑的最主要区别。博登博士称之为“忧虑连锁”—就是一种担心会激发另一个“假如 “，再激发下一个“假如”，如此产生连锁效应。不易忧虑的人能够去看待难题并且找出需要的解决方法，“但是易忧虑的人却无法达到那种程度，”她解释道， “他们的思绪转得很快。”

　　For instance, say your son comes home with a bad grade. If you're a worrier, you might then worry that this will cause your son to fail the class, which will then impair him from getting into college. However, if you're a non-worrier, you'll realize that the immediate issue at hand is just that your son needs to study harder in this particular class -- and that's that. "I'm able to say, 'He usually does really well, he's smart, he’s dedicated, he’ll be fine; this is a blip, not a pattern,'" Purdon says. Whereas when worriers become anxious, their "intentional focus narrows to threat cues. They can get themselves very anxious very quickly."

　　比如，你的儿子考试考砸回到家。如果你是个容易忧虑的人，你可能会担心这会导致孩子最后挂科，可能会影响他上大学。然而，如果你是乐天派，你会意识到当下之急就是小孩需要在这门课上多用点儿功——仅此而已。“我可以说，‘他一直做得很不错，聪明又用功，他没问题的;这只是个小挫折，不是常态，” 博登讲道，然而，当忧虑者焦虑起来时，他们会“有意识地将注意力缩小到那些威胁性因素上，然后很快让自己不安起来。”