Anxiety is an unpleasant emotion, but can it be useful? NPR’s A Martinez talks to clinical psychologist and author Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, who calls anxiety a triumph of human evolution.
A MARTINEZ, HOST: More than 100 million people in the U.S. will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Anxiety is one of the most common and unpleasant mental health conditions on the planet. But maybe – maybe, just maybe – it’s gotten a bad rap. That’s the gist of a new book called “Future Tense: Why Anxiety Is Good For You Even Though It Feels Bad.” And it’s written by Tracy Dennis-Tiwary. The clinical psychologist joins me now to talk about why anxiety may actually be useful.
DENNIS-TIWARY: One of the most anxiety-provoking experiences of my life is when we discovered that my son, my first born, was born with a congenital heart condition which would require open heart surgery when he was an infant. When we knew this, it was really anxiety that allowed me to function. It kept me hopeful that there was a future. I understood that something bad could happen. But I really believed that if I worked hard enough that that good outcome that the doctors told me about was also possible. So it kept me focused, energized. The worry that I had, it wasn’t easy. But it kept me, really, working hard to get him the best treatment, the best follow-up care. And, I think, in many ways, if I hadn’t had that anxiety, I might have fallen prey to despair.
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