Face anxiety correctly正确面对焦虑
作者: 高玉玲没有人喜欢焦虑的情绪,但其实,焦虑带给我们的并不都是坏事。
Nobody likes to feel anxious. Anxietyis among the most common and criticizedof human emotions. Studies show that over100 million people in the US will sufferfrom an anxiety disorder in their lifetime.Rates, especially among the young, havebeen rising for the past decade. It seems,then, that our efforts to contain anxietyaren’t working.
As a clinical psychologist and neuroscienceresearcher, I believe that we mentalhealth professionals have made a terriblemistake. Feeling anxious isn’t theproblem. The problem is that we don’t understandhow to respond constructively toanxiety. That’s why it’s increasingly hardto know how to feel good.
Anxiety, by contrast, has nothing todo with present threats. Instead, it turnsyou into a mental time traveler, drawingyour attention to what lies ahead. Will yousucceed or fail in that interview for a jobyou desperately want? Anxiety promptsyour mind and body into action. Your worriesforce you to prepare thoroughly for theinterview, while your heart races and pumpsblood to your brain so that you stay sharp,focused and prepared to pursue your goals.
Research has also shown somethingthat many scientists didn’t expect: higherlevels of dopamine (多巴胺) when we’reanxious. We have long known that dopaminesoars (上升) when an experience ispleasurable and also in anticipation of rewards.The fact that anxiety also boosts dopaminelevels points to its role in makingpositive possibilities into reality.
Many of us feel overwhelmed by lastinganxiety and don’t see any benefit fromit. We have come to believe that the bestway to cope is to get rid of it. But treatinganxiety like a disease prevents us from distinguishingbetween ordinary anxiety andanxiety disorders. We need to develop anew mindset about this misunderstoodemotion. Anxiety can’t do its job unless itmakes us uncomfortable, forcing us to situp and pay attention. We don’t need to likeanxiety—just to use it in the right way.
Reading Check
Why is it increasingly hard for us toknow how to feel good?