There’s no question that anxiety is a part of life. We all experience it, and when we do, our first instinct is often defensive. We tell ourselves that we need to push back against anxious feelings, and we do all we can to escape their discomfort. But what if we did the opposite and chose instead to embrace our anxiety? As it turns out, there’s plenty of evidence that such a counter-intuitive commitment can actually help us thrive.
So how can we learn to reframe our thinking about anxiety? What are the specific benefits of doing so? And can the concept of exposure therapy be applied to facing the anxieties of everyday life?
David H. Rosmarin, PhD, ABPP, explains how anxiety works and why it’s unhelpful to fight it, explores the lessons we can draw from evidence-based anxiety treatments, and answers questions about using anxious feelings to build resilience.