Some random shrink appears to want to abolish "anxiety"

Post Reply New Topic

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... han-hiding

Just read this article and it made me angry
Those of us with serious anxiety issues get stigmatized enough already, without some "health professional" seeking to tell us that it might be good for us

I've spent my whole life being told "it's all in your head"
Do hope it don't catch on...

Isn't normal anxiety supposed to help you to stay alive, like fear?

Sure
But the article appears to be suggesting that "anxiety" can be pretty much a blanket term

And I disagree

If it's anything, it appears to be talking more about the "normal" anxiety response of day to day life things and people trying to avoid said things that we really shouldn't rather than the anxiety disorders, which are an entirely different beast. "Normal" anxiety is a good thing and it helps us grow as humans, as without adversity and confronting things, one will tend to get an aberrant anxiety response over things that really aren't a bother at all and one will also avoid normal things. It's talking about normal people and things in other words. Though with saying that, exposure helps with anxiety disorders too depending on the type, and I've found it helped me the most other than distraction.

"Fear is the certainty that something bad is happening to you."

Unfortunately:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio ... glish/fear
"an unpleasant emotion or thought that you have when you are frightened or worried by something dangerous, painful, or bad that is happening or might happen"

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/fear
"A very unpleasant or disturbing feeling caused by the presence or imminence of danger"

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fear
"a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fear
"an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger"

When an author starts bending the definitions of words, I tend to stop listening.

Fill the oceans with xanax.

If they find a way to abolish anxiety, it won't work on me. I have squeaky wheel anxiety instead of normal anxiety.

I don't think much can be done about my anxiety. It only seems to happen when I see a real risk of something rather nasty and don't know how I'm going to secure myself against it. The only thing about it that could be called irrational is that the risks don't have to be particularly big. But such anxiety as I suffer from is rarely all that intense, it's just a nagging feeling that takes the edge off my enjoyment of life until I've figured out how to reduce the danger I'm facing. For all I know it could be entirely natural and inevitable, just that I often wish it wouldn't bother me as much as it does. I suppose it's like wishing never to feel physical pain or discomfort. In the short term that would be great, but without that driver to put right the source of the pain, it would probably be the death of me in the long run.