This is the sort of stressed-out, anxiety-driven thought process we can
go into all on account of a funny look from the boss who may have just
been grimacing because of gas. This appraisal—a sort of domino drop to
disaster—is what Daniel Goleman refers to as an “emotional, low-grade melo-
drama.” This is the phenomenon where the worrying mind spins in an end-
less loop of low-grade melodrama—one set of concerns leading on to the
next and back again.
Worry is simply a rehearsal of what could go wrong beforeit goes wrong.
This sort of obviation is helpful to our survival. In this sense, worry attempts
to come up with positive solutions by anticipating dangers before they ar-
rive. It is, of course, possible to do this type of forward thinking without
having tension in our bodies and a churning sensation in our guts. When
we plan ahead—without stress in our bodies—we transform worry into strate-
gic planning.
For many people, worry is a chronic and repetitive appraisal that only
serves to take them deeper into the bowels of stress and anxiety. They never
actually get any nearer to the solution. Eventually a steady pulse of anxiety
fuels their system, and they do not know how to operate outside of this
stressed and worried state. They get locked into a myopic view of a worri-
some topic. These appraisal tendencies and amygdala hijackings can progress
into full-fledged anxiety disorders, obsessions, phobias, panic attacks, and
compulsive behaviors.
HEAL THYSELF
Americans are swallowing pills and medicines at an all-time record pace,
yet millions are still nowhere near getting at what truly ails them. (Americans
reportedly consume 100 million antianxiety prescriptions every single day.)
People take medicine to lessen emotional reactions to the threat of pain or
failure. Unfortunately, medication also interferes with our ability to toler-
ate stress. Until people learn to confront and manage their anxieties, these
dependencies will continue to escalate. In the long run, we are far better off
developing behavioral methods of coping than we are trying to dissolve anx-
ieties with a pill.
Sometimes the pills of life are bitter and hard to swallow. But taking this
medicine is what life and growth are all about—facing fears, wrestling with
anxieties, and controlling our appraisals and reactions to stress. The longer
we put off this emotional medicine, the longer the road is to self-confidence
and restraint.
In Stress and the Healthy Family,author Dolores Curran writes about some
simple ground rules for getting personal victory over personal stress:
Solving the Stress Mess 85