Anxiety - Finding Balance and Motivation

Everyone has felt anxious at some point. It happens when we have to wake up at dawn to catch a flight, when we have to take an exam, or even when we’re close to a deadline for handing in documents. The first thing we usually want to do when facing anxiety is get rid of it — remove that obstacle and calmly carry on with our commitments. At other times, we think that a certain amount of anxiety can actually energize and motivate us. (Wells, 1999). So where does the truth lie? To answer this question, we first need to understand what anxiety is. Anxiety is an emotion, and like all emotions it has a precise meaning. We feel anxious when we face situations of threat or danger over which we have little control. Anxiety is also accompanied by typical bodily sensations, such as a racing heart or excessive sweating. So what purpose does all this serve? Mild to moderate levels of anxiety can actually help motivate us to work effectively and stay engaged. When anxiety levels become too high, however, they negatively affect our performance and can even lead to real pathologies. Think, for example, of episodes such as panic attacks. The goal of psychological therapy is not to completely free ourselves from anxiety, but to reduce it, with the aim of learning to live alongside this emotion and making use of its potential (Norton & Antony, 2020).