Who isn’t??? Maybe Rip Van Winkle, or perhaps Ted Williams in his cryo chamber. Our individual and collective battle with the anxiety demon rages on. As the saying goes, if you aren’t worried, you aren’t paying attention. The demand and complexity of life in the 21st century have a cost.
According to the Mayo Clinic, 10% of American children ages 5-17 are prescribed one or more medications as treatment for a mental health condition—staggering data. Data also shows that one in four (1/4) adolescents experience “regular mental health issues that require treatment,” although only 50% receive the treatment. An excessive state of apprehension related to real or perceived threats, evidenced by mental and emotional discomfort, disruption of the body’s regulatory mechanisms, and can create an opportunity for serious illness.
As adults, we have learned the quick fix of sweeping our anxiety under the rug.
Or as Marge Simpson says, “dig a hole, Homer, and bury those feelings deep, deep down in the earth so that they can never reappear.” If you’ve tried that, and yes, I have, here’s some breaking news... it doesn’t work. Those pesky anxieties, worries, fears (and isn’t that what it really is… fear?) don’t do “buried” very well; they are resilient and come bouncing back, often sideways and usually not very helpful.
I keep hearing the words “slow down” coming from my universal board of directors. Don’t drive so fast, don’t run down the stairs, don’t carry all the groceries in at once… It’s not just the pace of the 2026 life, it’s the torque. The issues we face are unprecedented, and no matter where you stand on community/national, or global politics, they affect you, even if you ignore them.
I often made this analogy during the worst of COVID, using peanut butter as an example of the COVID-19 virus molecule. It’s on your hand, but you can’t see it. Everything you touch, you contaminate. The same could be said for our energy, bouncing out of us all the time and impacting those around us. Aren’t there people you know, who you can “read” across the room? Their anxiety is so palpable that it almost has a color or a scent. You get it… You know it, and you feel it. Here’s the thing…anxiety is very, very contagious.
Stress vs. Anxiety.
Stress gets a bad rap. Stress is the physiological response to a demand that has consequences. In short spurts, the stress response provides hyper focus. The tension we feel while driving in bad weather with unsafe road conditions makes us hyper-focused, similar to preparing for an exam or a presentation of consequence. Our attention hormones are in full swing; our brains are engaged differently; heart rate and blood pressure are up.
In the short term, this is not a problem. Ever since we have walked the planet, we have known stress and have been saved by its lessons. Prolonged stress, unrelieved by resolution or personal management, may indeed morph into what we do not want… a pattern.
We crave what we know.
Our central nervous systems LOVE the steady stream of the familiar. If we, in times of difficulty, unwittingly train our nervous systems to experience these crises as “normal,” we may be developing a neural and behavioral pathway that becomes our baseline. I understand this well… and in my own quest to take my central nervous system out of the frying pan, it has become clear that any real change happens slowly, but intentionally.
When I feel my shoulders up to my earlobes, I say, stop. Shoulders down. Big deep breath down into my toes. And to my struggling brain, I say, “Turn the page.” Just the act of shutting down the runaway train that anxiety is, taking charge of even my breath, and saying “NO” again, this side trip will not serve me. I can be concerned, aware, motivated, and even… yes… worried… but I will not be hijacked.
Unhealthy anxiety has been my nemesis for years. Now that the world has more subject matter than ever to feed this inner beast, I need to find new and far better skill sets than I’ve had. I see the devastating effect of this business all around me, and as a personal sufferer, I’m taking charge. While I accept my helplessness in so many areas, I’ll take that deep breath to my toes, pull my shoulders down from on top of my head, pause, and take another miraculous deep breath or 10. I may still sit in traffic, but I resolve not to be carjacked by toxic anxiety. For today anyway, and maybe even tomorrow too.
Joanne MacInnis, RN, is the founder and president of Aberdeen Home Care, Inc., of Danvers, a concierge private duty home care agency in business since 2001. With 35 years of nursing practice, management and administration experience focused on home care and hospice, Joanne and her team specialize in advising and supporting families addressing the elders in their lives retain dignity and quality of life.
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