Worry and Anxiety

In the David Brook’s article “The Epidemic of Worry”, he talks about worry and anxiety. Two very important things that can affect somebody’s mental health. Brook’s quotes Francis O’Gorman’s book “Worrying” that says “Worry is circular and it has a nasty habit of taking off on its own, of getting out of hand, of spawning thoughts that are related to the original worry and which make it worse.” I find this quote very interesting, because Brook’s is saying that no matter what kind of worry or anxiety it is, good or bad, it has the potential to get out of hand. This interests me, because a lot of things that we worry about are irrelevant to us. But can affect our lives in various ways. David Brook’s also says “Worry Alters the atmosphere of the mind. It shrinks your awareness of the present and your ability to enjoy what’s around you right now.” I thought this was very interesting, because it helped me understand that when you are anxious or worrying you have tunnel vision. Meaning that you can’t pay attention to anything else besides what you are focused on. This caught my attention, because I have experienced this. For example, when my brother was in the hospital for two months I had such a terrible time trying to focus in class. To me the scariest and most exciting part about life is not knowing what the next day will bring. Some people live like there’s no tomorrow, but others sit around worrying and not experiencing the full beauty of life. As Brook’s says in the article “Worry dims every sunrise”. This stood out to me, because I want to live an amazing life and make lots of memories. But I can’t do that if I am laying in bed worrying about something that probably won’t ever happen.