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Explained: ‘I Worry You’ vs. ‘I Am Worried About You’ – Expressing Concern

Explained: ‘I Worry You’ vs. ‘I Am Worried About You’ – Expressing Concern

Both these sentences have completely different meanings. “I worry you” denotes that you make someone worry. You’re not worried; someone else is worried for you. Probably your actions are making someone worried.

However, the other sentence, “I am worried about you,” has a more positive connotation. It means that you care about someone and are showing your concern. In this case, you’re the one who is worried and not the other person.

Secondly, the former sentence is in Active Voice and shows a regular concern of someone for the speaker, whereas the latter Passive Voice sentence refers to a specific moment.

What Is Worry?

Worrying is a type of anticipatory thinking in which you consider future occurrences and feel nervous or worried. Almost everybody worries at some point, and it’s natural to worry when there are issues or hazards or someone confronts something new or unexpected.

Worry produces fearful ideas concerning events that may occur, have occurred, or are already occurring. Worrying about losing control, worrying about not being able to cope, fear of failure, dreading rejection or abandonment, and worrying about death and diseases are among some fundamental fears.

Family, interpersonal relationships, work or study, health, and finances are the most prevalent sources of anxiety. Factors like genetics, childhood experiences (e.g., severe criticism, detrimental parental pressure, parental abandonment, rejection), and stressful life also contribute to your worries.

Types Of Worries

Following are the two main types of worries:

Hypothetical worries

Hypothetical worries are not real worries. They relate to your future concerns, such as “what if this happened” fears. If you stop overthinking, you can easily control these worries.

Practical worries

Practical worries are due to everyday issues that can be resolved without much effort. There’s a solution to every problem. Do not panic. Just keep yourself calm and think about the solution; you’ll definitely be able to sort it out.

Do you worry all the time?
Do you worry all the time?

Are You A Chronic Worrier?

Perhaps you intuitively believe that if you “worry excessively,” awful things will not happen. Worrying might have unexpected effects on the body. When you worry too much, you can stress out and even get physically ill.

You may have significant anxiety and even panic during waking hours if you worry excessively. Many chronic worriers describe a sense of inevitability of disaster or irrational anxieties that merely add to their anxiety. Excessive worriers are hypersensitive to their surroundings and cannot cope with criticism from others. They may regard anything and anybody as a threat.

Chronic worry can negatively impact your daily life, influencing your appetite, lifestyle choices, relations, sleeping, and job performance.

Several people who worry constantly are so anxious that they turn to unhealthy lifestyles like overeating, smoking cigarettes, or abusing alcohol and drugs for relief.

Can I Get Sick From Worrying Too Much?

Yes, that can happen if you worry too much. Chronic suffering from emotional stress can lead to a variety of health issues. The issue arises when excessive stress and anxiety prompt fight or flight daily.

The body’s sympathetic nervous system releases stress hormones like cortisol in reaction to the fight or flight. These hormones can increase blood sugar levels and triglycerides that the body can use as fuel. Physical reactions caused by hormones include:

  • Headache
  • Fatigue
  • Fast heartbeat
  • Difficulty in swallowing
  • Dry mouth
  • Dizziness
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Nausea
  • Muscle tension
  • Muscle aches
  • Irritability
  • Trembling and twitching
  • Sweating
  • Shortness of breath
  • Rapid breathing
  • Premature coronary artery disease
  • Short-term memory loss
  • Digestive disorders
  • Suppression of the immune system
  • Heart attack
Are you an excessive worrier?
Are you an excessive worrier?

Things You Need To Know About “I Worry You”

When you say “I worry you” to someone, it means that they are worried because of you. It implies that you are causing tension to that person. And you are admitting this to that person for whom you are the source of worry.

You are the main concern for that person, and you always make him/her upset. The other person may be your friend, sibling, or even your mom.

The sentence clarifies that you are not just making him/her worried for a moment. In fact, you’re a nonstop source of worry for that person. Probably you’re fond of adventures and love to take risks. For this reason, your well-wishers constantly worry about you.

I Worry You Vs I Am Worried About You

Below are the dissimilarities between “I worry you” and” I am worried about” you.

I worry youI am worried about you
Meaning
“I worry you” means to make someone nervous and upset; concern them.“I am worried about you” means to worry about someone
at the present time.
Which one is a habitual act?
It is a habitual act. That ensures that you repeatedly and regularly make someone worry about you.It is not a habitual act. However, this means that a person
might not be worried about you tomorrow or the day after
tomorrow.
Which one is permanent?
It is a more permanent and extended condition of worrying about somebody.It is not a habitual act. However, this means a person
might not be worried about you tomorrow or the day after
tomorrow.
Which type of verb is this?
Worry is a transitive verb with the object “you” in the phrase “I worry you.”Worried is an intransitive verb in the phrase “I’m worried about you,” meaning it has no object. The speaker is simply expressing his/her concern. The prepositional phrase “about you” provides more information, namely the source of the fear.  
The grammatical difference
If we say I am worried about you, we use the verb in
the past principle form Here, the subject “I” is before the verb.
If we say I am worried about you, we use the verb in
the past principle form Here the subject “I” is before the verb.
Active and Passive voice
It is in active voice.It is in passive voice.
Example
We use the verb worry (active form) if we say I worry you, The subject is “I,” and the object is “you”. It is a simple subject, verb, and object structure.I am worried about you; you are looking sad.
Comparison between the two
Overthinking can result in stress and anxiety
Overthinking can result in stress and anxiety

Which One Is The Correct Form?

I believe the first one, “I worry you,” is a generic statement implying that the person is concerned about you most of the time. However, the second statement, “I am worried about you,” appears to have a ‘now’ element. The speaker talks about a higher specificity (worry) that he or she is experiencing while talking, and he or she has stated the cause or purpose for the feeling about you, which highlights the fact that the concern is specific to this condition.

Both phrases are appropriate, but they have different meanings. However, if you would like to discuss a general, long-term concern, say I worry you, and if you just want to discuss a specific worry about a current (or recent) event, say I am worried about you.

How To Quit Worrying?

Following is a five-step approach and an effective method to suppress your worries.

1. Schedule a half-hour “worry period” for each day.

2. Keep track of your daily worries and recognize them promptly.

3. If a worry bothers you at some other time, delay it to your “worry period”, assuring yourselves to worry about it later and that it is pointless to distress yourself now.

4. Keep your attention on the present moment.

5. During your worry phase, you can think about your problem as often as you like. Therefore, it will be more beneficial to divide your anxieties into those over which you seem to have little control and those that are controllable. If you can impact the situation, solve it and take action on it.

The following video will tell you more ways to overcome your fears.

Learn how to deal with your worries

Conclusion

  • “I worry you” implies making someone else worry due to your actions.
  • “I am worried about you” signifies your concern and care for someone.
  • Worrying is natural, but it can lead to anxiety and health issues.
  • There are types of worries that are hypothetical and practical.
  • Chronic worrying can have detrimental effects on physical and mental health.
  • Excessive worrying can lead to stress-related health problems.
  • Both phrases have different meanings and connotations.
  • Effective strategies to manage worries include setting periods. You can also focus on the present moment.
  • Addressing worries is essential for overall well-being.

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