Footnotes on ANXIETY: Eu, Me, Dis, and Dat...

ANXIETY, by any other name: So you thought you were rid of ME, at least done reading about ME in this blog. The author dude sure seems to have a liking for ME, eh? Well, just like in real life, "I'M back!" Your friend AND foe, ANXIETY, but this time sneaking in just under your awareness, under the pseudonym (or alias if you prefer) STRESS! (you know, how some authors and artists engage in this type of name trickery, either to avoid not ticking off their fan base when they cross genres, to create intrigue, or some other reason they will have to tell you themselves). In this case, I have to ask, if it's actually the other way around, as the character STRESS has certainly been around before the time that MY character showed up on center stage. OK, it's time that me, the real author, wrestled the pen away from both these characters and explained...

The Character Evolution: When I formally entered the field of clinical psychology (late 70's), "STRESS MANAGEMENT was in vogue -- seminars, books, and videotapes (i.e., before the time of DVD's) on this all important subject were omnipresent, as were us, bringing the information to you where ever, whenever, you might need it...even in the workplace...one of my first clinical placements was as a consultant to a large corporation, which sent us mental health professionals to their various offices to facilitate "stress management" groups with their employees. This was always a decent experience for me and different in every setting--I never knew what I was going to get into when I talked about what/who caused YOU stress, when I had various employee levels assembled in the same room...not sure I would have designed it that way but, like I said, it was always interesting, often entertaining (glad I was able to leave at the end). In any case, STRESS was the word of the day, which, of course, was eventually replaced by "ANGER MANAGEMENT!", which took center stage for a while, exemplified by calls to my office (more often involving males, but not exclusively): "I'm calling because they say I need ANGER MANAGEMENT!" The approach to this presenting complaint, the main character now being ANGER, was more similar than different when compared to the general approach to STRESS MANAGEMENT, in that we don't seek to rid the person of stress or anger, respectively, but improve how they engage the feelings (e.g. the person calling about "Anger Management" soon learns that they are not unique in experiencing anger, just how much they are giving themselves permission to indulge the feeling. Finally, in walks ANXIETY, to whom you have have been introduced and perhaps even found yourselves 'kindred spirits' -- if not, with additional practice, I am confident you'll get there. Now, back to the future, back to touch base with STRESS...

Balancing Act, Goldilocks: Early on, when I was first formally introduced to this character, STRESS explained that, like Goldilocks discovered when visiting the den of the "Three Bears" (I hope this fairy tale and its iterations hasn't been 'cancelled' yet), "I am your body's reaction to pressure from various situations and events. You might have a physical, mental, or an emotional reaction to me. But I'm unavoidable and you deal with me throughout life, so you may as well make the best of it, bring out the best of ME AND YOU...I'm not all bad, after all--I can make you aware of things around you that are important and keep you more focused (i.e., VIGILANCE!, see March 10th post), even make you stronger and get more stuff done. OR, on the other hand, if you engage the other part of my persona, the 'Hyde' part after engaging friendly 'Jekyll', I can wear you down, deplete your resources, and eventually get blamed for an assortment of physical and mental symptoms. Avoiding ME is not an option, so you may as well make ME work for YOU...by maximizing what others have called the EU in ME; EUSTRESS, that is, the kinds of stress and excitement you may actually find pleasurable, that you can all relate to, such as a vacation, promotion, even a competition that excites you and brings out your best, which might even bring out MY inner best, my bonus gift to you...Endorphins! DISTRESS, on the other hand, represented by the kinds of negative experiences you have all been dealing with throughout the last year, such as separation from those you cherish, sudden unwanted lifestyle changes, etc., etc...which can prompt me to let out my other inner product, Cortisol! This, in short bursts, can actually be life saving for you, but too much over longer periods without a break, it can have ominous implications for your health...not MY original intent, not by design...So, like Goldilocks discovered, as often depicted by the typical "Stress X Performance" bell shaped curve, you need to try and find that 'sweet spot' which is fortunately represented by a decent amount of space in the middle of the curve. One example of this balance among many was illustrated in some recent advice from a radio financial adviser: "Don't get too giddy when the market goes up or get too anxious when it goes down...assuming you are a long term investor...". MY hope for YOU is that you'll get get proficient at doing so before the "Three Bears" return, before your own forced hibernation/quarantine ends, and before I might show up again, under even another alias. In the meantime, for the short future, you'll likely refer to ME as ANXIETY...what you call me and how you engage me is up to you, but in any case plan on ME tagging along for the long run...

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Life Goes On...𝆕