Perspective…
I had the opportunity to talk to my niece tonight. She expressed she was talking to a holistic doctor recently and this doctor said she should maybe think about therapy for the anxiety she experiences. Apparently this doctor could “see” the negative effects of the anxiety…
My niece was grateful that a doctor would care so much and try to help her without trying to sell her something or offer some “program.” I also applaud this doctor… but I also think anxiety is “needed.” Anxiety helps to keep us alive and prepares us for situations. It helps to determine what are threats and what situations are manageable. Anxiety is a necessary component of the human condition. In my mind, anxiety only becomes a problem when we experience anxious moments we can not deal with in a positive manner.
Anxiety is not “bad” or “negative” or something we should try so hard to avoid… it just is… a necessary and vital aspect of the human condition… this is just my perspective.
I agree that *some* anxiety is needed…isn’t that one of the core basic emotions that a human is innately born with, not learned? Anxiety is what’s needed for success in many situations, negative or positive. I believe it’s also a signal that a person actually cares about the outcome of a particular situation. If I have anxiety before a presentation, that’s a sign that I care about the success and effectiveness of the presentation on the learners. Or if I am anxious in a dangerous situation, my senses are heightened and I’m more intensely aware of my surroundings. However, once anxiety manifests itself in a physically crippling way a person might need to reach out for support or figure out a way to manage that anxiety in more productive ways.
After reading The Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne, PhD I have been fascinated by the two sets of emotions–particularly the ones that are learned (empathy, guilt, shame, and love). She didn’t list anxiety on her list of innate or learned emotions, but I wonder…is anxiety innate or learned or a combination of both?
Betsy, I am sorry I did not answer this sooner. I think I read this the first time and I did not know the answer to your question at the end. I still do not know the answer, but I think it is important to respond…. So here we go. I do believe “anxiety” is intimately tied up with the flight, fight, or freeze response but I don’t know exactly how it is categorized. Is it a fear response or something different or its own category all together…. That is not so important to me. What IS important to me is the tendency in society today to pathologize many aspects of our daily lives…. Feeling down, anxious, a lack of energy or trouble focusing and so many others as “problems” we need to fix. Yes, in SOME instances these may be “problems” and we MAY have ways to “fix” them, but, at least in my mind, many times these are just natural consequences of the human experience and it is our bodies and minds trying to “tell” us something important and we are not listening. More importantly, we are trying to “shut down” the communication all together because we don’t like the “message.” Feeling anxious is an important “message.” I simply think we should pay MORE attention rather than less.