Good Anxiety

Everyday stressors are pervasive—especially in high schools like Laguna. However, the excited state that anxiety brings can be used for productivity rather than being debilitating.

WORDS and ART by DARE FITZPATRICK

While stressors are ubiquitous in the society we live in—within school, work environments, etc.—Professor of Neuroscience at New York University, Dr. Wendy Suzuki, explains solutions to coping with anxiety in her book “Good Anxiety.” She explains in this interview how we can use the excited state anxiety brings us for productivity.

Q: How would you define Anxiety as the term is used in this book? A: Anxiety is that feeling of fear and worry typically associated with situations of uncertainty. Anxiety is worrying about what’s not immediately in front of your face but what could happen to you, which, of course, has infinite possibilities.

Our stress response and defense mechanism deploy almost identically for fear. That is why Anxiety can become so debilitating and overwhelming because it takes advantage of that natural protective circuitry. [Anxiety] is basically masquerading as a real threat to your immediate need, when in fact, it is an imagined possibility that may not come to pass at all. Q: You say it’s common for people in today’s world to feel out of control with their Anxiety—how does the concept of an external locus of control* relate to Anxiety in this way? A: It has to do with your own feeling of self-efficacy* and power, and that really is exported to the environment where these random, it seems, illogical things have been happening. That is very destabilizing for your general psyche. So, yes, it is very related and is how many people with Anxiety feel— they have no control, can’t predict what’s going on, and therefore the worst may be happening in the next moment.

Q: Can you talk about the term ‘stress inoculation’* that you use in the book? A: Stress inoculation are some of my favorite experiments that have been done. They were done in animals, and what they found is that if you give young animals a little bit of moderate stress—this is stress that’s uncomfortable, unpleasant, but it’s stress that you can get through—that that actually inoculates you against further stress. You build up this vision that ‘yeah, actually I can get through it,’ versus other animals that got no stress at all during that time. Then they’re both subjected to the same kind of stress, and the ones who got intermittent, moderate stress are much better at getting through it.

I find it such an empowering way to think about [Anxiety]. Did I get through it? Am I still standing? And if the answer is yes, then you have just been inoculated from stress.

Q: In the book, you talk about adaptive vs. maladaptive coping strategies*. What is the difference? A: The most obvious maladaptive coping strategies are [alcoholism]— not only the sleep disruptions you get, but it’s addictive. It can lead you down a pathway that’s very hard to get out of. Same with drugs and food.

Food is perhaps slightly more common and equally addictive— just like drinking, that first bite of chocolate cake tastes so good, but over and over, the higher levels of sugar affect your emotional health and your brain health, and so it becomes maladaptive.

To distinguish the maladaptive

WORDS TO KNOW EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL: the belief that one’s successes or failures result from external factors beyond their control.

SELF-EFFICACY: one’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments.

STRESS INOCULATION: a psychotherapy method to prepare subjects for stressful events successfully.

MALADAPTIVE COPING STRATEGY: strategies intended to reduce discomfort that increases anxiety.

PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM: the “rest and digest” side of the nervous system.

ones, they have this diabolical quality about them that they feel so good in that first moment but quickly can lead down a road to addiction.

In the other direction, [positive coping strategies] still feel good, but they are sustainable and yield good habits: meditation, exercise, other tools. A Netflix comedy special binge is a wonderful way to get out of a really stressful day.

So many things that are not addictive, or at least not addictive in a negative way, have more specific benefits or parts of your brain and brain networks that are vulnerable in periods of Anxiety.

Q: What is the ‘power of anxiety’ that you discuss? What makes ‘good anxiety’? A: The core of this is really appreciation of the wisdom that comes from getting through difficult situations. It’s not just, ‘oh I survived,’ but that mindset shift of, ‘oh what did that teach me, what can I learn about myself’ or the situation that can help me in the future and I do believe that you learn more from failures and difficult situations versus when it’s so easy. There’s so much wisdom in learning.

The two [superpowers of Anxiety] I talk about more are the superpower and gift of productivity that comes from Anxiety. This comes from a very common form of Anxiety which is the ‘what-if list.’

The trick is noticing that the worries are often real, about your school, your personal life, all these things that you truly value in your life, and what you’re trying to do well at. Try to turn those what-ifs into to-dos.

If you’re worried about something, it’s a sign. Instead of dwelling on the what-ifs, take each one and make a to-do.

The other one I often talk about is the superpower of empathy that comes from Anxiety.

This is very personal, which comes from my own, oldest form of Anxiety: Social Anxiety. I was shy, I always had this fear of asking questions in class as well, and so after years of that Anxiety and fear, I find myself at the front of that classroom—I’m the teacher.

Of course, I would never say, ‘that’s a stupid question.’ Because I had this sensitivity, this anxiety experience, because I empathize with all those silent students that weren’t asking a question in class because they were afraid, I stayed late and arrived early and made sure all those questions were answered.

The power is to turn [your Anxiety] to the outside, and you have this wonderful gift of empathy.

Q: How can high schoolers apply this ‘power’ to their lives (in terms of college application stress, school work stress, etc., especially when the proper rest to recover can’t always be taken)? A: The strategy really is to take a look at the schedule and work in and make time in your schedule for that decompressing and relaxation time. One of the most important times is every night when we sleep—I know sleep deprivation is pervasive in high school and college students. Yet, it’s so important for cognitive brain function and good emotional regulation. The famous experiment done by Professor Walker at UC Berkeley compared, for college students, an all-nighter versus eight hours of sleep. The difference in the morning in their ability to learn was the difference between an A and an F on a test.

The students who stayed up all night essentially failed to learn. That’s just one all-nighter—but it also takes a toll if you have many nights of not enough sleep.

If you do put sleep in, the lesser amount of time that you study the next day will be so much more effective.