Legal Commentary

Anxiety Addictions

By Jeralyn

Newsweek reports that some people are addicted to anxiety and actually seek it out.

Researchers who study emotion regulation—how we cope, or fail to cope, with the daily swirl of feelings—are discovering that many anxious people are bound and determined (though not always consciously) to cultivate anxiety. The reason, studies suggest, is that for some people anxiety boosts cognitive performance, while for others it actually feels comforting.

....In some cases, the need to experience anxiety can lead to a state that looks very much like addiction to anxiety.

At the other end of the spectrum, are those who have turned "F**k it" into a mantra. Check out this video, F**k It, The Ultimate Spiritual Way. (It's only 1 minute but I won't embed it because the title doesn't have asterisks.) You can also take the "F**k It" course at a gorgeous retreat called The Hill That Breathes in Urbino, Italy. [More...]

The hill itself is 100 acres of wooded loveliness in a bit of Italy known as Marche, next to the town of Urbino and close to the mountains that border both Tuscany and Umbria (two inferior and much overrated provinces)

Who would choose anxiety over "F**k It?" There's also a book for those who can't travel to Italy.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 08, 2011 (boomark / email).