Worrying evolved to benefit our species
By William Smith
Several years ago, whilst suffering from panic disorder, I read an enlightening book which, along 
with much good advice, stated that anxiety disorders seem to be more common in intelligent people. This gave me some measure of comfort as I strove to overcome my difficulties.
New research states that worrying might have evolved alongside intelligence as a beneficial human characteristic. Scientists at the SUNY Downstate Medical Centre in America worked with other institutions on a recent study which found that both intelligence and worry correspond to a brain activity measured by the depletion of choline in the white matter of the brain.
Jeremy Coplan, MD, professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate says ‘While excessive worry is generally seen as a negative trait and high intelligence as a positive one, worry may cause our species to avoid dangerous situations, regardless of how remote a possibility they may be. In essence, worry may make people ‘take no changes’ and such people may have higher survival rates. Thus, like intelligence, worry may confer a benefit upon the species.’
In the study the researchers compared people with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) with healthy volunteers . They set out to assess the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ), worry, and subcortical white matter metabolism of chlorine.
They examined this relationship in 18 healthy participants of which eight were male and 10 were female, and 26 participants with GAD, 12 males and 14 females. In the healthy group of participants they found that high IQ was associated with a lower degree of worry. In the group with GAD they found that high IQ was linked to a greater level of worry. The association between IQ and worry was significant in both groups.
