- Judith Akatugba
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The term “anxiety.” The very term elicits feelings of unease. Muscle tension, shortness of breath, and a racing pulse are among its distressing side effects. And more of it exists than ever before. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that fifty percent of young adults in the United States exhibit significant symptoms. The anxiety epidemic’s widespread consternation and concern is to be expected.
However, in my capacity as a clinician and researcher, I perceive a considerably more substantial issue. In our culture’s endeavor to achieve anxiety-free living, we often fail to capitalize on numerous advantageous prospects that arise from this common human emotion.
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Anxiety, as an entity, does not possess lethal potential and is in no way classified as a disease or pathology. On the contrary, the ability to experience anxiety serves as an indicator of the functionality of our fight-or-flight system, which in turn is a sign of sound brain and sensory function. By acknowledging apprehensive arousal as a typical, albeit distressing, aspect of existence, we can harness its potential for positive development.
Here are three beneficial effects of anxiety:
1. It can strengthen your emotional fortitude and resiliency
A workout at the gym is intended to be challenging. A “good workout” inherently entails discomfort, as it requires exceeding one’s physiological strength and aerobic capacity beyond what is readily achievable. While it is possible to exert excessive effort and abuse it in the gym, activity should always be approached with a moderate degree of difficulty.
To develop emotional fortitude and resilience, one must also confront a certain amount of mental adversity. Undoubtedly, traumatic incidents and abuse have a tendency to inflict more damage than good. However, enduring intermittent anxiety, stress, and tension significantly fortifies one’s emotional resilience.
One illustration of a highly efficacious intervention for anxiety is exposure therapy. This approach entails methodically confronting an individual’s concerns directly, gradually escalating the intensity of the confrontations. Assisting a clinician, individuals who suffer from phobias such as those of spiders, heights, snakes, or medical procedures are systematically exposed to the stimuli that induce fear. As they courageously and voluntarily exercise their emotional fortitude, they desensitize to their anxiety and its effects diminish.
Throughout the course of my clinical practice, I have administered exposure therapy to hundreds of patients; in a significant number of cases, these individuals not only recover with reduced phobic anxiety, but also exhibit enhanced overall resilience. With this method, I assisted a young woman in overcoming a severe case of hypochondriasis (anxiety centered on her health) in one particularly memorable instance. Years later, she managed a critical health complication involving her newborn child that necessitated life-saving surgery with extraordinary fortitude and composure. Anxiety may present occasions to exercise our cognitive and affective capabilities, thereby fostering enhanced cognitive aptitude in confronting routine stressors with greater efficacy.
2. It can strengthen your emotional connection and intimacy
We are inherently social beings. Genes, financial success, or notoriety do not rank as the primary predictors of later-life contentment and flourishing. Regarding the caliber of our interpersonal connections. Likewise, clinical science has determined that one of the most efficacious approaches to fostering connection is to confide in our loved ones regarding our anxieties. Almost invariably, my patients report a heightened sense of emotional intimacy with their companions once they develop the ability to disclose their anxieties.
Once more, anxiety is a typical human emotion; if you are fortunate enough to be in a significant relationship, you will experience anxiety eventually. Even in the most stable and secure partnerships, individuals will inevitably experience a degree of unease regarding the genuineness of the affection they receive. When we embrace and express our need for connection during difficult times (e.g., “I’m having a hard time right now and could really use your support”), it fosters greater connection and transforms our anxiety into love, according to international relationship expert Sue Johnson.
A young married couple, referred to as Marty and Sheryl, approached me recently beset by a substantial financial dispute. Sheryl was concerned about the proportion of Marty’s expenditures to their financial balance, and Marty perceived Sheryl to be excessively frugal. Months of reciprocal culpability and retaliation had weakened confidence and rapport, with no discernible alteration in financial conduct or circumstances.
I urged the couple to candidly communicate the origins of their apprehensions to each other. Marty disclosed that he feared Sheryl would lose interest in their relationship if they did not feel materially at ease. Sheryl responded that she had personally witnessed her parents come perilously close to divorcing as a result of financial difficulties. Although it took several months, the financial dispute ultimately subsided as Marty and Sheryl came to the understanding that their divergent actions stemmed from a place of affection and were merely different strategies for maintaining their relationship. Through acknowledging and communicating their anxieties, they successfully fortified their emotional connection and fostered a more profound emotional bond.
3. It can assist with rebalancing and recalibration
We all find ourselves at the end of our ropes on occasion. We are beset with obligations, our resources are depleted, and the time simply does not permit us to accomplish everything. Nearly always, if not always, do we experience unsettling anxiety.
In such circumstances, we are referred to as being under duress. In essence, the obligations imposed on us surpass the limits of our accessible resources. Stress management is analogous to an unbalanced set of scales in that it is nearly mathematical in nature: It is necessary to either reduce our demands or augment our resources, or both may be required. No alternative solutions exist.
When my patients are feeling overburdened, they frequently assume additional responsibilities. They provide additional assistance to their friends, engage in volunteer community service, and undertake additional work-related initiatives, which is ironic. This occurs because it is more difficult to recognize our difficulties when we are preoccupied with our work, making it simpler to assume that everything is fine and avoid acknowledging how overwhelmed we truly are.
Regrettably, such an outcome may result in catastrophic outcomes, as the scales eventually succumb to the imbalance and break. Overexerting oneself by working harder, faster, and for extended periods of time can lead to chronic stress, which has been linked to a variety of less severe medical conditions, including heart disease, cancer, and stroke.
Taking medication to alleviate stress symptoms may provide temporary relief and improve daily functioning, but it often exacerbates the condition in the long term. Once more, the sole authentic remedies for stress are to augment our resources or reduce our demands.
Thus, experiencing authentic feelings of overwhelm and anxiety due to stress is an indication from the body that it needs to reestablish equilibrium and recalibrate. We are all, in essence, finite beings existing within an infinite universe; no one is inherently boundless. By tuning into our internal signals and recognizing our fallibility, we not only improve our overall health and concentration but also experience a reduction in tension and anxiety.
Anxiety can be a constructive and vital emotion, serving as a beneficial component of the human experience. Confronting our concerns can enhance our emotional resilience in the face of acute anxiety. By sharing our vulnerable emotions with others, anxiety can facilitate an emotional bond. Anxiety, when manifested as tension, can function as an intrinsic gauge to ensure one maintains equilibrium and good health. It is time to begin putting it to good use.
