By: Laura Bennett
In a world increasingly aware of mental health, anxiety remains a heavily discussed yet often misunderstood phenomenon.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Toni Lindsay, author of Everything Anxiety Ever Told You is a Lie, says anxiety isn’t inherently negative – it serves as an essential survival mechanism that has kept humans safe for millennia.
“Anxiety is one of the reasons why we can be upright and moving around and being alive in the world,” she explains.
As an internal alarm system, anxiety helps us avoid danger, choosing safer alternatives. However, we all know that excessive anxiety can lead to overwhelming mental strain.
“People find that there’s lots of thoughts and feelings and experiences in their body that’s driving them towards this kind of constant worry, or a worry that they can’t get out of their minds,” Dr Toni said.
This translates to an unending loop of stressors that amplify anxiety beyond its survival function. Elevated levels of societal pressures—academic achievements, job performance, and social interactions—constantly bombard individuals, making it difficult for them to break free from the cycle of persistent worry.
“Having access to social media and seeing what people thinking about you, talking about you, or if they’re not thinking about you and talking about you, what does that mean?” Dr Toni said.
This heightened connectivity creates an environment where anxiety can thrive. Social media and constant digital interaction introduce new layers of social validation and comparison, making anxiety an ever-present companion. Furthermore, the expectation to be available 24/7, particularly in work settings where emails can reach us at any hour, adds continuous stress.
A key part of managing anxiety is learning to recognize when your mind is feeding you irrational thoughts, Dr Toni says and encourages people to distances themselves from anxious thoughts by treating them as fleeting notions rather than absolute truths.
“So in the same way that ‘I need to buy dog food’ is a thought, ‘this really terrible thing is going to happen to me’ is a thought,” she said.
Thoughts, whether mundane or anxiety-driven, deserve equal scrutiny, Dr Toni says. By acknowledging anxious thoughts as just another mental event, individuals can reduce their impact. This practice allows for clearer discernment between genuine concerns and anxiety’s distorted projections.
Acknowledging that not everything our brain tells us is true can be liberating. It empowers us to challenge the negative narratives spun by anxiety, thereby diminishing its hold over our daily lives. This approach is particularly crucial in therapy settings, where recognizing and reinterpreting anxious thoughts can lead to significant improvements.
Anxiety is a double-edged sword: essential for our survival yet capable of immense psychological distress. By understanding the dual nature of anxiety, recognizing its escalation due to contemporary pressures, and striving for a balanced emotional landscape, we can turn anxiety from a foe into an ally. Dr. Toni reminds us all that while emotions can be powerful, they need not be overpowering.
If you need support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au.
• Lifeline 13 11 14
• Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
If you are in an emergency, or at immediate risk of harm to yourself or others, please contact emergency services on 000.
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
Feature image: Photo by Joice Kelly on Unsplash
About the Author: Laura Bennett is a media professional, broadcaster and writer from Sydney, Australia.