In Defense of Anxiety: When I entered the field of professional psychology (c. 1976) one of the major topics of study and practice included "Stress Management". Articles, seminars, and clinical approaches were plentiful, devoted to understanding the sources, effects, and methods to manage the STRESSORS in our lives. Then along came ANGER MANAGEMENT! Depending on your age, you will readily recall articles, interventions, and even humorous movies depicting attempts to mitigate (does this word ring familiar?) the destructive elements of anger (remember "Anger Management" starring Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler?). This includes specific interest in ROAD RAGE!, an area of ongoing concern, even as people are driving less during the pandemic. More recently, the trend has actually returned to stress in the form of ANXIETY, which has become one of my favorite topics, how it can play both a disruptive but also (underappreciated) positive force in our lives. Such popular movies as "What about Bob?" and "As Good as It Gets" addressed anxiety (in the form of OCD) in an effectively humorous manner. In brief, anxiety is our friend when it keeps us out of danger or prompts us to prepare for an important event ('psyching up' in athletics, for example, is actually a form of anxiety that helps motivate), whereas it is our foe if it hinders us from doing things we want or need  to do. 

       For the past few months, I have found myself increasingly 'defending' anxiety, in trying to get those I am in conversation with to listen not ignore the symptoms of anxiety when it is trying to keep you and others safe (especially those who are risking their own health for us), in the presence of the powerful and still poorly understood effects of COVID-19. I write this as different communities, states, and nations wrestle with the strong desire to 'reopen' (and wrestling in turn with the question of "Are we reopening to the virus as well?"). When I observe (from a distance) others not washing their hands after_______,not wearing a mask when entering_______, and otherwise congregating in close groups, I am inclined to yell out "Hey, aren't you feeling anxious right now, you should be!" Yes, it's time to actually embrace anxiety as self-preserving, short of being immobilized, as we wait and hope for the dire forces of this virus to subside. Another major feeling on the increase the past few months is sadness, a feeling I will address in an upcoming post-stay tuned.