According to Charles Merrett, clinical psychology as a treatment for anxiety doesn’t really work the way we’d like it to. And he should know . . . he’s been a clinical psychologist for more than 35 years. His recent book, “The Origin of Anxieties” is a culmination of what he’s learned about stress over the years and why the way most of us think about it is dead wrong.
The way people think and speak about anxiety (“EverydaySpeak” as Merrett calls it) is as if it is a condition, or something that has “happened” to you. The problem with this perspective is it relinquishes all control over the situation and makes people victims of their anxieties.
Merrett uses the example of “The Speeding Car” to illustrate his point. If you were standing in the middle of the road as a speeding car came headed straight towards you, you would be experiencing a great deal of anxiety. But if you were wearing your iPod headphones and had your back turned as the car bore down on you, you wouldn’t experience any anxiety at all. In other words, the anxiety is not in the car or in the situation, it is in you.
It is only when you become aware of the car and begin to attach significant meaning to the situation that the anxiety comes into play. Anxiety is not what we have it’s what we do. In some situations, “doing” anxiety can be helpful. (Preparing your body to leap out of the way of an oncoming car would be one good example.)
Beth
