06/22/2022
(Long, not algorithm-friendly post, but here we are).
Getting rid of anxiety is often not my goal in treatment, even when that is a presenting symptom. To explain a bit further: Anxiety is something we treat a lot in clinic. The scientific literature on acupuncture for anxiety is fairly robust, we have myriad herbs and techniques that are very effective in calming the nervous system, quieting thoughts that keep us awake, lowering blood pressure and generally helping us feel more grounded. These are well and good and necessary if someone is in a state of heart shock or crisis, or there is a critical pathology that needs to be addressed. (Even here the anxiety is serving a purpose).
But of course there is more to this very partial story of symptoms and discomfort. Anxiety is often what comes up when we are embarking on the pursuit of a life of meaning. When we are having honest encounters with ourselves and becoming aware of things we need to stop doing, start doing, or change. There is risk involved, there is fear, there is the relationship (or lack thereof) with the unknown. Of course there is anxiety.
What is the alternative? If we seek to ease the discomfort of this type of anxiety, we calm it, dampen it, quiet it and push it down. We find all the compelling reasons why we should not pursue whatever it is, so that the anxiety can go away and we can sink back into the comfort of the known. But life is movement and to not go forward is to resist the natural direction of ever increasing complexity and integration, and ultimately it is to be stuck. Further, it is regression into the past, which is everything other than the risky future we set out to create. As Jungian analyst James Hollis describes, to avoid this anxiety is often to choose a sort of depression, the type that occurs when our Soul, and the bigger task, is ignored and we engage instead with the fear based path of avoidance and security.
In these particular instances, it’s better to choose the anxiety, not make it go away. So the treatment, if all participants are willing, becomes more about freeing up the stagnation, acknowledging the bigger task at hand, and heeding the call.
