Treatment of GAD. Targeting intolerance of uncertainty in two types of worry.

Four adults with GAD got a short CBT course. The twist: they learned to sort each worry into 'solvable' or 'unsolvable' and picked a matching fix.

Solvable worries got problem-solving steps. Unsolvable worries got acceptance and coping. Therapists tracked worry time across sessions.

After treatment, three of the four adults no longer met the rules for GAD. The gains stayed at six and twelve months.

Worry minutes dropped for everyone. The fourth person still had GAD but also improved.

Wilmut et al. (2013) ran a similar worry-reduction plan but used a daily 30-minute 'worry window.' Both studies cut anxiety, showing two roads to the same end.

Hwang et al. (2020) and Sutton et al. (2022) stretched the idea to autistic teens and adults. They found intolerance of uncertainty still fuels anxiety, so the same target works across diagnoses.

Uljarević et al. (2018) and MacLennan et al. (2021) saw the same link in Williams syndrome and preschoolers. The IU-anxiety chain appears in many groups, not just GAD.

You can shrink adult GAD without long therapy. Ask clients to label each worry as 'solvable' or 'unsolvable,' then pair it with the right skill. The tactic also helps autistic clients and other groups where IU drives anxiety, so add it to your transdiagnostic toolbox.