Yes, you read it correctly. I am suggesting that you add stress to your life in order to reduce anxiety. Stress is good for you. It just needs a new publicist.
Stress and anxiety are different from each other, yet the terms are often used interchangeably. Say it with me: Stress is good -- I must admit, I felt a bit like Gordon Gekko while I was writing that, but really, stress is just a synonym for pressure. And pressure is a motivator. Without enough of it you won't get anything done. Obviously, too much pressure can be overwhelming, but if you have too little pressure you may not even try to do things, which is worse. It is better to burn out than rust out.
On the other hand, anxiety is bad. Profound statements like that are the reason I get paid the big bucks -- anxiety is a false alarm that is set off by something, anything, that you perceive as a threat. Triggers are everywhere: For example, noticing that your husband has been staying out later than usual can touch off anxiety that he will leave you, or a thoughtless comment from a boss can bring on a fear of being fired. There are many things that can start the anxiety spiral; it all depends on your personal circumstances.
Once triggered, your alarm can be as irritating as any ear-shattering siren or the wailing of an infant in pain. It is telling you, "You are in danger. Do something. Now." The problem is, there may not be anything to do right now. But your mind wants to do its job, which is to keep you safe, and so it begins looking for some way to protect you.
In the absence of something tangible to do -- like confronting the problem directly -- your mind does what it thinks is the next best thing: trying to plan for every possible scenario by imagining what you would do if your husband left you or if you got fired. Your mind becomes like the WOPR computer in the movie, "War Games," which runs countless scenarios for a nuclear attack in order to make sure everything has been anticipated -- for those of you who haven't seen the movie, WOPR ultimately learned that the only way to win a nuclear war is not to get into one.
Anticipating every possible situation may be possible for a computer, but it is certainly not for us, so we shouldn't even try. This reminds me of a patient I once worked with who was afraid of flying, but she had to take a flight to meet her fiancée's family in Europe. She told me that she worked out all of the possible scenarios about what could go wrong, which actually didn't help her feel any better. As it turns out, she and her fiancée had gotten into a minor car accident before leaving the city -- the one scenario she had not considered. I call this the "1,001st scenario." The one you don't think up is probably the one that will happen -- thus, the only way to win is not to play.
Enter stress stage left. Stress, which is just pressure, can be thoughtfully applied to help you get things done, and if you're doing, you can't be spiraling. Finding areas where you can put pressure on yourself to do things will take away some of the psychological and emotional energy that you might use for the mental goose chase of anxiety. For those of you out there who have kids, think of this as trying to run your son or daughter ragged on the field or in a playground so that they will be able to settle down and rest at the end of the day.
Here are some ways that you can add stress to your day, so you will have less room in your life for anxiety:
Create. This is the No. 1 answer on the board. Becoming engaged in creative actions, such as writing, painting, building, organizing people in your community or church, developing an idea or a project, or building an organization or business all add positive stress to your life. Creative action is a great way to use positive stress to combat anxiety.
Physical Exercise. Look, let's face it, except for Glen Rice, none of us are exercising enough. If you are not going to do it for your physical health, consider your mental health. This does not mean that you need to become a gym rat. Anything that raises your heart rate and, even better, makes you sweat can help add stress to reduce anxiety. Just taking the stairs instead of the elevator during the day, walking, biking, rollerblading or unicycling to, or from, work, or parking farther from the mall entrance will give you an excuse to stress your system.
Mental Gymnastics. Taxing your brain is a great strategy for adding stress to reduce anxiety -- plus, it helps improve and preserve brain function as you age. Anything that you can do that helps your brain work harder can help reduce momentary anxiety. Try doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku or even one of those fancy brain trainer programs. All of these are great ways to get your brain working for you, not against you.
So give it a try, add a little stress to your daily diet. The only thing you have to lose is the anxiety.
Follow Ben Michaelis, Ph.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drbenmichaelis
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Although I wouldn't really term it stress, I think the more important thing is to divert your thoughts from whatever is troubling you. When I was a kid, I would have anxiety attacks at summer camp, and I had a counselor who would just sit and talk to me about my day, until I just wasn't thinking about the problem anymore. It sometimes took awhile, but it always worked. :)
I wrote a column about anxiety once, and I write (I want to be a writer) and it can be very therapeutic. Less so when you're writing ABOUT anxiety, because then you're just refocusing on it. That's why I think it's more important to distract yourself than to stress yourself out. I apologize; perhaps I'm just playing with semantics.
I'm also sending the article to my mother, who is VERY dismissive of G.A.D, and tacking it up on my wall, so I can remember that not everyone thinks the way my mom thinks. :)
Thank you again! :)
~Levvie Shulman
I strongly disagree with "it's better to burn out"- two of the only weeks I had off during those 8 years were with *mental*, not physical, exhaustion. You can't do a single thing. No TV, no reading, no moving. You are a vegetable until you recover. I'd rather rust- at least you can entertain yourself.
I'm great at rust! I can't find any career I'm capable of doing with my anxiety. I've been unemployed 9 years now. I do not receive aid or disability (I was laughably told to be a lumberjack) and so I'm bankrupting a parent who supports us both on social security only.
I can get medicines from community health & the pharm. companies, but I can not get access to a psychologist or psychiatrist at no cost. I've seen student councilors & social workers, but know more about anxiety than they do in many cases.
Unless we allow President Obama's affordable health care act to remain in place and I get insurance through the mandate (can't pay so I'll be given as hardship case), I can never access the help I need to work. That means a major university graduate with a Mensa-level IQ going to waste in our society because we don't aid fellow citizens.
Also, New York State Medicaid covers psychologist/psychiatrist visits and psychiatric medicine. I haven't seen enough of them to know if its exactly top tier care, but it does the job, I suppose--I mean, at least I can get medicine. From what you state, it doesn't seem to be an option for you, but if it is, perhaps you should consider living somewhere else, someplace with a health care system more suited to your needs.
Anyway, good luck to you. :)
Instead he presents a case of a woman whose emotional reasoning imagines a negative scenario to a simple thing like her husband being late. She basically is catastrophising something she doesn't even know. She could easily have reasoned it with a positive light by saying "so what if he's late ... it's ok to be anxious .. it's ok to be human and have feelings " But the author does not mention this. .
Stress is real . So a person doesn't need a real problem of stress to replace an imagined feeling . Instead he (or she) needs to undersand that his defenses are down briefly and be compassionate with ones self .
I define stress as either "eustress" or "distress" . Eustress is a positive type of stress . For instance if someone wins the lottery he might be happy but also stressed . "Distress" is negative . For example if one hears he has a terminal illness the stess is negative .
The three items you present (as "strss") strike me more as constructive diversionary outlets. On this we agree to some extent and anything positive will benefot the person but my opinion is ultimately the person will have to learn coping skills . One cant distract himself 100 percent of time .
Mental gymanastics is a broad term . It might even include positive self dialogue where one replaces a negative feeling with something positive (or even neutral) .
Exercise might be considered physical stress but it also comes with both positive and negative potential . Endorphin release and cardio vascular benefits are positive . Health management is positive . Sports injury is negative . In fact it may be negative enough that the exercise diversion reveals itself as a bandage over the wound .
You mention the "serious " case . An extreme case of anxiety patient might be too agitated to even process the recommendation .
Anxiety is be negatively interpreted but it doesn't have to be. In fact for some it
might even be growth spurt . I don't feel its possible to label anxiety as either being negative or positive .