Separate solvable problems from hypothetical worries

Apply problem-solving only to real, current problems — and use uncertainty tolerance for the hypothetical ones.

Why it works

GAD involves applying problem-solving effort to hypothetical, future, low-probability scenarios where no solution is possible because the problem hasn’t happened. This is exhausting and ineffective. Triaging worries as "solvable now" or "hypothetical" channels cognitive effort appropriately: real problems get action, hypothetical ones get uncertainty tolerance practice.

How to do it

1. When a worry arises, ask: "Is there a problem that exists right now that I can do something about?"
2. If yes: define the problem, generate options, choose and act.
3. If no (a hypothetical "what if"): write it on the worry list for the postponement window and practice tolerating the uncertainty.
4. Resist the pull to "just think it through one more time" for the hypothetical — that is worry, not problem-solving.

Evidence

Problem-orientation training is a component of Dugas’s CBT-GAD model; poor problem orientation (negative view of problems and one’s ability to solve them) predicts worry independently. (clinical)

The triage distinction is conceptually clean but can be blurry in practice — some real problems have genuinely uncertain components. Clinical guidance helps draw the line.

Sources

• Dugas et al. (1998), problem orientation and generalized anxiety disorder, Cognitive Therapy and Research

Common mistake

Treating every hypothetical worry as a problem to solve — generating action plans for events that haven’t happened — which rehearses anxiety rather than resolving it.