Having a bad day is a universal occurrence and can affect those ranging from children to the elderly. The identification of a “bad day” is subjective and may be related to one’s resilience to negative events. Generally, people do not intentionally want to have a bad day; however, there are some who purposely seek or anticipate bad experiences. That is, sometimes the person will intentionally behave in a way to instigate trouble for themselves, such as purposely overeating high-caloric and high-cholesterol foods when on a diet, or choosing to start a fight with one’s spouse just before going to bed. These actions may be related to the person having emotional problems that are not being adequately addressed.
Bad experiences may occur unexpectedly, such as being broad-sided by a driver who runs a red light. Other bad experiences may not be unexpected, such as performing poorly on an exam when you haven’t studied the material.
Because we can only realistically anticipate that which is “likely to occur,” being vigilant for any possible negative repercussion is impossible. However, there are people who try to meet that degree of preparedness. In most cases, these individuals are compulsive and easily stressed. Their worry may be so great that they go through several actions to assure themselves that they have done all that they can to avoid their perceived “possible bad consequences.” Dysfunction can occur when the worry and “protective actions” become overwhelming and/or impossible to achieve.
Worry is a universal emotion that people experience in degrees. Some issues prompting worry are realistic whereas others are far-fetched and unlikely to happen. For those with realistic worries, the concept of “benefit finding” can be effective in reducing stress. Rankin and Sweeny (2021) discuss how looking for benefits that may arise from the problematic........