The Positive Side to Your Anxiety

Most people view anxiety and fear as very unpleasant emotions, especially people with an anxiety disorder such as
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is because anxiety and fear are often associated with uncomfortable
bodily sensations, such as increased heart rate, muscle tension, sweating, racing thoughts, shortness of breath,
and tunnel vision. In fact, anxiety and fear are often viewed as "negative emotions."
However, even though anxiety and fear may feel unpleasant or uncomfortable, they are in no way negative. They
actually serve a very important purpose, and it would be very hard to get by in life without these emotions.
What Are Anxiety and Fear?
Anxiety and fear are natural human emotions. They are our body's alarm system. They occur in response to
situations where we may be in danger or at risk for some kind of harm. Fear is an emotion that is experienced
when we are actually in a dangerous situation, whereas anxiety is an emotion that occurs when we expect or
anticipate that something unpleasant may happen.
Take the analogy of riding a rolling coaster. Anxiety is what we would experience as we climb that first big hill,
anticipating that something scary is going to happen soon (going down the other side of the hill). Fear is what we
experience as we are actually going down that big hill.
What Do Anxiety and Fear Do?
Fear and anxiety tell us that there is some kind of danger present, and all the bodily sensations that go along with
fear and anxiety are essentially designed to help us respond to that danger. They are preparing us to flee, freeze,
or to fight. Anxiety and fear are part of our body's built-in "fight-or-flight" response.
This alarm system has been around for a long time. We likely would not have made it as a human race without it.
Because it has worked so well for such a long time, it is very developed. It works fast with little effort. It is, in many
ways, an automatic response.
We don't have to think about this response. We don't have to deliberately set it off. If we detect or perceive a
threat, this response can be immediately activated whether we want it to or not.
When Anxiety and Fear Disrupt Your Life
Just because anxiety and fear serve an important function for us, it does not mean that they don't have their
downsides. They do. As humans, we have the ability to think and use our imagination to come up with possible
scenarios that we may encounter in the future.
For example, if you are going out on a first date or a job interview, you have the ability to think about how those
experiences may turn out. If you can imagine them going bad, this is likely going to result in anxiety, even though a
negative outcome hasn't really occurred — you only imagined that one would occur. Thus, our body's natural
alarm system can be activated even if a real threat is not present.
Fearing a negative outcome may then lead to some kind of avoidance behavior. For example, if we expect a date
to go badly, we may avoid going out on that date. Or, if we expect a job interview to turn out negatively, we may
seek out a job that is less challenging or easier to get. These choices may interfere with our ability to build a
meaningful and positive life for ourselves.
In addition, anxiety and fear can take us out of the present moment. If we are constantly worrying about what
negative things could happen to our children, it may prevent us from really engaging with them. We may be
distracted and less likely to enjoy spending time with them.
If you are ruminating about something bad that happened to you during the day while you are with friends and
family, you may be less likely to really connect and enjoy your time with them.
Anxiety and Fear in PTSD
People with PTSD may have fear and anxiety that is much more frequent and intense than those without PTSD. In
PTSD, the body's fight-or-flight response becomes more sensitive, so it is constantly being activated. In addition,
people with PTSD may become hypervigilant to signals of danger or threat in their environment. As a result, they
may constantly feel on edge, fearful, or tense.
When Are Both Useful?
Anxiety and fear also have upsides. Anxiety and fear can signal that something is very important to us. For
example, if you are worried about your children, it is likely because you really care about them. If you didn't have a
strong relationship with them, you may experience less worry.
If you are anxious about a job interview, it may be because you really want that job — it matters to you. If you
didn't care about the job or didn't really need it, you likely would not find the situation so threatening or anxiety-
provoking.
Given this, sometimes it can be important to override our anxiety and fear system. Even if our body is telling us to
avoid something, we can move forward anyway, especially if we are moving towards something that is meaningful
and consistent with our goals.
We may not have much control over our emotions or thoughts; however, we can always control our behaviors. At
any moment, regardless of what we feel on the inside, we can make a choice to engage in behaviors that are
consistent with our goals.
Coping With Anxiety and Fear
There are many skills that can make it easier to move forward in life despite anxiety and fear. Diaphragmatic
breathing and progressive muscle relaxation are two effective ways of coping with anxiety and fear. Mindfulness
may also help you take a step back from unpleasant thoughts and emotions, allowing you to better connect with
your present moment experience.
The next time you experience anxiety or fear, take a look at it. Ask yourself if the anxiety is stemming from a real
or imagined threat. Try to determine whether the anxiety may be telling you that something is important or
matters to you, and if so, make the choice to move forward, taking your anxiety along with you for a ride.
How Anxious Am I? Labeling Your Levels of Anxiety
Lexi Schmidt for clients
Being unable to describe how you feel is confusing and frustrating. You’re trying to tell your partner how you felt
when they didn’t respond to your texts last night and you can’t seem to find the right words. Your therapist is
asking you to share what was happening for you emotionally during a triggering event, and you can’t come up with
anything other than…”anxious?”
Using a tool like this distress thermometer (sometimes called a Subjective Units of Distress Scale) for different
emotions can be an extremely helpful tool in building your emotional vocabulary, self-awareness, and
understanding. You can use this example anxiety distress thermometer or build your own using the following
steps:
distress-thermometer-anxiety
Pick an emotion or type of distress. Your words for describing anxiety, sadness, anger, loneliness, or shame will be
different and you’ll want to have a separate scale for each one.
Start with the levels you can most easily identify. Sometimes this means starting with the highest points on the
scale, other times the lowest.
Describe what happens in your body, what happens to your thoughts, what kind of urges/behaviors come up for
you, and any emotion words that resonate. Use an emotions dictionary or emotions list if that’s helpful.
Go back and fill in any missing numbers, using recent situations from your life to identify examples where you felt
that emotion and how distressed you were.
You can use your distress thermometer to create specific coping plans for different types and levels of distress. It
can also be used to help you identify how you’re feeling in the moment and express this to others, or use it to
guide your decision-making.
Happy thermometer building!
Normal Anxiety vs Anxiety Disorder
Positive Negative

 Occasional worry about events  Constant chronic worry that disturbs social
 Self-conscious in social situations and work life
 Sweeting over important events  Avoidance of social situations of fear of being
 Difficulty in sleeping immediately after a humiliated
traumatic event  Repeated panic attacks of anticipation of
 Realistic fear of a threatening place of another panic attack
situation  Recurring nightmares relating to a traumatic
event
 Performing repetitive actions
So, why am I writing about anxiety? Because anxiety is a reality for all of us — and a state that can be debilitating
for some. And, maybe … just maybe … by writing about the topic I might help to increase our collective awareness
about this issue.
Anxiety is a normal emotion — one that can actually be healthy. Anxiety warns us about something that we should
be worried about — a danger that may be lurking nearby. But, when you regularly feel a disproportionate level of
anxiety — when it becomes an impediment to your progress through your day, anxiety can become a problem —
something your doctor might diagnose as a medical disorder.
So, what are Anxiety Disorders? They are a subclass of Mental Health disorders and are broken down into several
categories:

 Panic Disorder
  Phobias
 Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
 Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder
They alter how a person processes emotions and they can often result in changes to one’s outward behaviors.
They are believed to be the most common of all mental health problems with some estimates having
approximately 1 in 10 Canadians affected by them.
People who suffer from Anxiety Disorders can have long, intense periods of fear and distress which are out of
proportion to real events. Their brains interpret things to be much riskier or dangerous than what the risk actually
represents. Their worlds are full of unease and fear, which interfere with their personal and professional lives.
All too often, people mistake these disorders for mental weakness or instability. The social stigma that can be
attached to mental illness often prevents those with anxiety disorders from asking for help.
The good news is that anxiety disorders can be successfully treated once they are recognized, acknowledged and
addressed. Many of our children and students are dealing with anxiety and some of them are dealing with it as a
disorder. The more we know about the signs and symptoms the better we are able to direct them towards
possible medical support.
And while I’m not going to spend time discussing the various treatments that are available, if you suspect that you
or someone you know suffers from an anxiety disorder, talk to your doctor or health care provider. They can
recommend a specialist in anxiety disorders or direct you to a specialized anxiety disorder clinic.
How to know what your level of anxiety is.

 Panicky
 Crisis
 Getting Tunnel Vision
 Feeling Unfocused
 Uncomfortable, But Tolerable
 Out of Control
 Feeling overwhelmed
 Trouble thinking clearly
 Noticeable worry thoughts
 Little Uneasy