Suggestions for Transforming Your Anxiety

Excerpted from
Poe's Heart and the Mountain Climber : Exploring the Effect of Anxiety on Our Brains and Our Culture
By Richard M. Restak, M.D.

I've ended certain chapters with some practical applications of the information contained in the chapter. I've also written more general suggestions that you'll find in the epilogue of this book. Some readers may elect to read these suggestions when finishing each chapter, while others may prefer to read all of the chapters and complete the book before looking at the suggestions.

Accept the Fact That We Truly Live in an Age of Anxiety

Weapons of mass destruction, the prospect of nuclear Armageddon breaking out at flashpoints throughout the world, the war in Iraq and its consequences, the ever-present threat of terrorism, the rapid escalation of anti-Americanism throughout the world, lethal diseases spread by both natural means and as tools of biological warfare-these are only some of the potential threats to our national security, health, and economic well-being.

In addition, while we're deluged with advertisements warning us of the need for video cameras and other measures designed to enhance our sense of personal security, such persistent reminders of threatening scenarios do little to increase our sense of safety. Instead, they create additional anxiety: "Is our video camera sufficiently current?" As a result, anxiety has become a driving force shaping cultural, commercial, political, and health concerns, as well as our sense of international, national, and personal security.

At the moment, the anxiety created by various "threats" to our "security" is far out of proportion to the statistical likelihood that any one of us is going to fall victim to a terrorist bomb, a biological warfare agent, or a cancer traceable to those occasions when we've been in close proximity to a smoker. Despite the statistical unlikelihood of any of these things happening to us, our daily lives are filled with reminders of the possibility-however unlikely-that something awful (i.e., anxiety arousing) could happen. This free-floating form of anxiety creates a craving for information about threatening events that in some cases approaches the strength of an addiction. The 24/7 coverage of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 now serves as a model: An anxiety-arousing event happens somewhere in the world; reports concerning it quickly escalate from news flashes to around-the-clock coverage to commentary that almost always puts the worst possible interpretation on the event. What's called for is the ability to learn new and important information while not allowing that information to induce overpowering anxiety.

In Times of Crisis, Stay Informed, Since Your Own Imagination Can Create Images Even More Anxiety Arousing Than What's Really Happening

Stick to news outlets that provide maximal information with minimal commentary and speculation. Your challenge is to keep abreast of world events so that you can make intelligent judgments concerning how those events may affect you and your family. Aim for balance. This has become even harder over the last few years now that many news outlets no longer make clear distinctions between "hard-news" reporting and commentary. As a corollary:

Resist the Tendency to Become Obsessed with Disturbing News Events

After you've learned the basic facts, move on to other things, lest you become overly anxious, overwhelmed, or desensitized. That isn't always easy since we live in an age of information epidemics, or infodemics, according to intelligence analyst David Rothkopf. Like an epidemic, an infodemic results in widespread dissemination; but with an infodemic, the "organism" is misinformation-isolated facts mixed with speculation and rumor anxiously relayed worldwide via the instant communication made possible by the Internet, laptops, wireless phones, pagers, faxes, and e-mail.

Recent examples of infodemics include the SARS "threat," the frequent-almost daily-Department of Homeland Security reappraisals of the likelihood of additional terrorist attacks, and the reported existence of biological weapons stored in allegedly hostile Middle Eastern countries. In each of these examples, our anxiety transforms a legitimate concern into an imminent threat. It's only too easy to ignore the fact that few people died of SARS worldwide; that terrorist acts haven't become part of our daily life here in the United States, and that inspectors failed to find the weapons of mass destruction that served as the basis for going to war against Iraq. No doubt we can expect more, not fewer, infodemics in our future.

"This phenomenon is only going to grow more complex," says Rothkopf. "In the information age, life has changed fundamentally. Increased volatility is routine; events and information about them unfold rapidly; their consequences are amplified. The results are much like a roller-coaster ride: exciting, scary, disorienting and all rather different from the view from more solid ground."

Learn to view potential disturbing events from the ground rather than from the roller coaster. Personally, I concentrate on summaries of world, national, and local events while scanning the morning newspapers over breakfast. I skip the commentaries and editorials. On my way to work, I listen either to an all-music station or an audiotaped version of a current book. When at home at the end of the day, I rarely watch television; when I do, I avoid the talking heads who offer nothing more than guesstimates about the "meaning" of current news stories. In this way, over the years, I've saved myself untold hours of anxious fretting that I've been able to invest in more productive ways.

Avoid News and TV Programs Aimed at Arousing Your Anxiety About Subjects You Can Do Little About

As noted earlier, the entertainment industry, which now includes news and information programs, recognizes the commercial value of anxiety. "Anxious people are inclined to eat and drink compulsively, need more distractions (newspapers, TV, etc.) and more propping up of their fragile self-image through 'lifestyle' products and status symbols," according to a commentary in Anxiety Culture.

As an example of how the media hypes viewer anxiety, recall the approaches taken by the major networks to the anthrax threat, the sniper crisis, and the war with Iraq. The coverage (especially on CNN) featured stark headlines incorporating words like showdown or crisis, accompanied by graphic videos of hospital isolation rooms, menacing-looking white vans, graphic war footage, and other anxiety-arousing scenes-all accompanied by background music marked by a mounting sense of tension and threat. "You, too, can fall victim to anthrax or bioterrorism, or the sniper" was the unspoken subtext. The best approach to take against this media assault on your equanimity? If you feel yourself becoming anxious while watching a particular show, turn it off. If you find yourself emoting rather than thinking about the news, stay away from the TV and seek news sources that provide you with information rather than subject you to an emotional roller-coaster ride. This is not a counsel for avoiding the news: Ignorance is not bliss. But your goal is to learn more, not to become more anxious.