Why anxiety is good?

Can anxiety be good?

Anxiety has a bad reputation.  Just even hearing the word anxiety can cause people to have a physical reaction or negative thoughts.  But is all anxiety bad? Can some good come from anxiety?

Am I the only one that experiences anxiety?

First off, everyone experiences anxiety. It is a normal reaction to stressful situations.  Many can relate to the analogy of “butterflies in their stomach.”  This physical sensation is there to alert us that we are in an anxious state due to a situation that we are facing.  There are many different types of anxiety disorders as it is not a one size fits all type of disorder.

How can anxiety be good?

Anxiety can be an excellent motivator for people.  This can be referred to as good stress. Anxiety can improve performance in many ways, such as performing well on tests or athletic/sporting performance.  When we get anxious before public speaking, it can motivate us to do better.

Anxiety or Excited?

Reframing anxiety and thinking that you are just excited can really help turn the anxious feeling into something good.  Both anxiety and excitement cause the same arousal reactions and feel just with a different name. In brain imaging, the same region of the brain is responsible for both anxiety and excitement.  So just thinking to yourself that you are excited can elicit a more positive feeling than thinking you are anxious!

Anxiety is a warning sign.

Another way anxiety can be our friend is that it can alert us if something bad is potentially happening.  For example, a teenager may feel anxious when arriving at a party and realizing underage drinking is going on.  The anxiety is helpful in this example because they know it could get them in trouble, which may lead to them leaving the party.  Another example is when you are driving, and you feel that someone may be following you, the anxiety you feel at this moment is helping to protect you and be more aware of your surroundings and threats of danger. Smelling smoke in the house would cause you to be anxious and react quickly to see what is going on. 

Simply looking at anxiety as an ally can help you start to see it as good and not all bad!