Recently an acquaintance said that a lesson learned many years ago was 'to protect yourself' by 'thinking paranoid'.. Knowing this person for a long time, we talked about paranoid defenses (an older psychoanalytic concept seldom heard today) as, indeed, being not unwise. If you were mugged walking alone at night, you might find it hard to ever walk down that street again without being anxious and watching your back.. However, I believe anxiety is confused with defense. When the stock market did a big drop, this person impulsively sold a major holding which has since showed evidence of being more valuable and secure. This was pure anxiety, not paranoia, that forced that panic and sale.
Many people often mistake anxiety for clairvoyance, as from a dream; or thinking that the distress is an omen of some sort. That by today's understanding is unlikely more than wishful thinking. Anxiety, which leads to impulsive decisions, does not make one's life run smoothly. Worse yet is that a mistake once made should be forgotten, other than the lesson learned not to repeat it. Unfortunately too many people ruminate over their mistake and can't move forward to try to compensate or make moves ahead instead of dwelling in the past.
Anxiety and panic produce cortisol in our system. People with clinical depression usually have an overload of cortisol. Researchers strongly belief too much cortisol over long periods of time contributes to earlier death.
Alcoholics do not own the Serenity Prayer. Not worrying about things over which you have no control will raise your comfort level and lower your cortisol level. Relax and live longer; unrelieved stress will only shorten your life.
Many people often mistake anxiety for clairvoyance, as from a dream; or thinking that the distress is an omen of some sort. That by today's understanding is unlikely more than wishful thinking. Anxiety, which leads to impulsive decisions, does not make one's life run smoothly. Worse yet is that a mistake once made should be forgotten, other than the lesson learned not to repeat it. Unfortunately too many people ruminate over their mistake and can't move forward to try to compensate or make moves ahead instead of dwelling in the past.
Anxiety and panic produce cortisol in our system. People with clinical depression usually have an overload of cortisol. Researchers strongly belief too much cortisol over long periods of time contributes to earlier death.
Alcoholics do not own the Serenity Prayer. Not worrying about things over which you have no control will raise your comfort level and lower your cortisol level. Relax and live longer; unrelieved stress will only shorten your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment