What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological reaction to a situation of stress and has many symptoms: mild preoccupation, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, panic attacks… Of course there is nothing funny or exciting about these symptoms, but rather than fearing them, we must accept them as what they are: alarm signals triggered by a built-in survival system.
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Columbia's University professor Simon Wolfe Taylor and Professor Isabelle Arnulf in Paris have studied anxiety in depth and found out in their own ways that anxiety is not necessarily a negative feeling and can be beneficial. Some articles and papers they have written have given me food for thought.
The most anxious you are, the most prepared you will be
For example, according a study by Prof. Arnulf, the students of a university exam who had the most nightmares about it were the ones who turned out to be the most successful! How come? Easily enough, anxiety triggers in the human brain a wide range of response to face the stress of the situation it is facing. Which means that - potentially - the most anxious is the person, the most ready (s)he is to face it because (s)he will evaluate all the possible angles and come with pre-ordained solutions to deal with it.
The only problem is that, culturally, we are taught that to be anxious is to be unhappy. And to be unhappy, in the XXIst century Brave new world, is nothing less than an Orwellian thoughtcrime!
There is nothing to fear but fear itself
When scientists design pharmacological solutions to anxiety disorders, they primarily target the nonconscious brain system, leaving the subjective feeling of anxiety largely untouched.
So, rather than looking for the cause of anxiety and to deal with the anxiety-inducing situation, the drugs are just getting rid of the symptoms, leaving us totally unprepared to face the situation we feared in the first place and lulling us into a false sense of security.
Is it really such a favour to do to us? Can't anxiety be a motivator to change the path of our lives, rather than a state to be eradicated at all cost? This is where it is worth looking into the past for old truth.
Anxiety and creativity
For just over a century—beginning with the 1844 publication of Kierkegaard’s The Concept of Anxiety, to the rise of psychopharmacology in the 1950s and ’60s—a group of existential philosophers, theologians, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists developed a distinctive conception of anxiety. Rather than viewing it in purely negative terms as a malady of the soul, as ancient and medieval audiences did, or a pathology to be conquered, as contemporary medicine does, these thinkers saw in anxiety the potential for something constructive.
[…] the proposition that anxiety can be channeled into constructive behavior or activity is surely an idea worth considering—one with the potential to provide comfort and hope to many thousands of patients, especially those whose disorders are comparatively mild.
The cultural cause of anxiety
It is worth mentioning also that anxiety can also be seen as a the price we had to pay for an advanced society. You very seldom hear about anxiety in first world countries. If you have anxiety, it means that you are better off than 80% of the rest of the human population - so stop whining and face the fear.
Rollo May, a psychologist and the author of 1950’s The Meaning of Anxiety, declared: “One has anxiety because it is possible to create.” Patients, he continued, should be encouraged to recognize that the “presence of anxiety means a conflict is going on, and so long as this is true, a constructive solution is possible.”
In the end, however unpleasant the symptoms of anxiety, we must reject the Western cultural and capitalistic assertion that it can be dealt with easily and efficiently by going to the pharmacy and buying pills. It is, on the contrary, a potentially beneficial opportunity for us to show ourselves at our best and devise rational responses to impending events.
Thanks for reading, and keep smiling :)
Sources and quotes are from:
https://qz.com/1013901/the-surprising-benefits-of-anxiety/
https://www.thenation.com/article/fear-itself-2/>
Tough topic, since some people really need the meds, however I try hard to minimize them myself.
I dislike pills but even I eventually fell for pills like tryptophan, which is supposedly more "natural".
The drugs are just the temporary fix, I agree with embrace the anxiety, like a friend! For once don't escape from it, it's necessary for growth. Just don't let it stay for too long lol.
haha yeah, i like this image :) let it sleep on the couch for a while
Wow. I needed this today. Thank you. Resteeming!
thank you @jscottdavis28 !
Interesting post but I don't really agree, especially about anxiety and creativity. If you suffer from anxiety, that means that you would spend a lot of time worrying instead of thinking creatively about the perceived problem. Anxiety builds up over time and has a certain 'energy charge' behind it that can be crippling to some people. It is this charge that is the real problem because without it, the thought or thoughts behind it are just like any other thoughts.
So, I love this post.
I suffer from anxiety myself...but I also run a creative agency in NYC.
I made the tough decision of not using meds because i was worried that it would stifle my creativity and affect my business.
To combat anxiety - I made the decision to cut back on caffeine, drink chamomile tea at night and probably the most important thing I learned is: the worst part of anxiety is not the fear itself, but the resistance to feeling the fear.
When I taught myself to welcome the feeling of fear instead of resisting it, i found it easier to alleviate my anxiety within minutes and prevent panic.
Managing anxiety without meds is a challenge but im happy I chose that route.
Awesome read!
Thanks! I really think indeed that a healthier diet, easier on the nervous system, can really help :) I was recomemded tryptophan pills , which are supposed to be more natural, but i'm really not sure how to feel about them. They may work only as long as you "believe" they work. So, "welcoming the feeling of fear" and facing it is probably the best way to deal with anxiety in the end, there is no use running away from it.
I am the "anxious" type, sorta laughed how it mentioned artists cause it rang true to me. The good news is I am able to turn that into productivity most often, I sort of use it as a spidey sense that I should be doing something. I also realized most of my anxieties are manufactured in a sense, "I have food, shelter and health...calm down life is good :)"
Yeah, it's like we have this inherent autodestructive tendency to overlook all we have achieved or all the good in our lives, and keep looking for the one bad cloud to ruin it all.
This is a tough subject -it's not easy to talk about, or open up about anxiety. It's important for us w anxiety to learn where it stems from that way we can nip it in the bud, and can get rid of it! Thanks for the information, I didn't know the details went this far back!
Thank you @brandybb ! Not easy to talk about indeed, because it looks like it's a weakness, or a handicap and people tend to hide it or go to the shrink, which is still a bad word... But mental health is as important as physical health.