The conventional wisdom is - Don’t worry, be happy. Even the Dali Lama XIV weighs in on worry with ““If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.”

Well hello Dali, there is a new study that says while being worried and anxious doesn't feel good, it might be the best way to go when you're waiting for news.
Researchers followed the reactions of law graduates waiting for four months to find out if they passed the California bar exam and found that people who were optimistic and didn't feel a lot of anxiety felt hopeless if they found out they didn't pass. But those who worried a lot while they were waiting didn't feel as bad if they didn't pass, and were more excited than others if they found out they did.

The study was conducted by an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside who concluded that people who suffer through a period of uncertainty respond more productively to bad news, and more joyfully to good news.
But wait there’s more - researchers also found that many coping strategies didn't work to reduce the anxiety, and sometimes even backfired.

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