July/August 2002
Feature Articles
Holistic Health Q & A
by Dr. George Forster
Of whiplash and prescription drugs.
What is... the Organic Movement?
by Robert Roman
Part one of a three-part article detailing
the author's personal experiences and the growth of the organic movement.
UnCommon Sense!
by David Findlay
The Middle East, terrorism, weapons
of mass destruction.
Articles on the theme "To Worry Or Not To Worry"
What, Me Worry?
by AnneMarie Dyer
A vacation leads to some spiritual
insights.
Worrier To Warrior
by Lisa Raphael
The difference between someone who
worries and a warrior, a person of courage and vigor.
The Righteous Worrier!
by Rev. D. Kaye Patrick
Does worry really mean loving and caring?
Or is worrying a waste of time and energy?
Let It Go!
by Tracy Woolrich
Easy to say, but how to do it?
Why Worry?
by Bob Murray PhD
The underlying cause of over-anxious
reactions and generalized worry - and the solution.
A Balancing Act
by Charles Larsen
Of over-reacting and under-reacting
and the attempt to find a middle ground.
Too Blessed To Be Stressed
by Rev. Pat Cross
The power to choose between a human
or a spiritual view of our problems.
Remember Scarlett O'Hara
by Dave Hunt
A life without worry? How to achieve
it?
A Balancing Act
by Charles Larsen
During the Second World War in Chicago we had mock air raids. Sirens shattered the air with their harsh shrieking, tin-hatted wardens appeared, and Piper Cub airplanes dropped confetti on the city. Blackout shades were to be hung so window lights wouldn't beckon submarines in Lake Michigan (about ten miles east of where I lived). Now, there were no submarines in Lake Michigan, nor aircraft with sufficient range to fly from hostile territory to Chicago. Most civilians probably knew that, hence felt little anxiety. For we children it was a rather festive event.
During the Cold War some folks worried so much about the likelihood of nuclear attack that they built bomb shelters often very elaborate and well provisioned. The shelters remaining today have become relics of an era when children were trained to crawl under their desks in the event of nuclear attack the value of a wooden desk to thwart radiation was never clear to me. But it left many children fearful of nuclear attack.
Since September eleventh the United States has been living in a state of anxiety about further terrorist attacks. It isn't surprising that the government and many individuals fear for their very lives in this country where attack from outside had not occurred in living memory. Flying has become more arduous, with the chance of body searches and other invasions to our personhood. It appears that many are quite willing to give up long-cherished civil freedoms in order to have the illusion of safety from terrorists attack.
On an individual basis fear and worry are familiar phenomena to most human beings, as well as to some non-human creatures. When someone bends over to try petting Sunnie, the Italian greyhound, the little guy worries, as evidenced by his backing off. If I see a car about to collide with my motor scooter I try to avoid the collision and then feel the fear as an aftermath.
In the first example offered above, it seems that the air-raid drills were unrealistic responses to the war situation much as the incarceration of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans was an over-reaction. For coastal cities air-raid drills and blackout curtains may have been justified, but in Fargo or Chicago they seem to have been unnecessary activities. However, had a submarine or two come up the St. Lawrence to the Great Lakes it might have seemed imprudent not to have taken those precautions.
During the Cold War the means to deliver nuclear warheads were present; the perceived enemy seems, even in the light of history, to have been out to get us (perhaps due to their fear of us), and the measures taken had some justification. The Cuban Missile Crisis may have been the closest we ever came to experiencing nuclear attack. Or not. Were the precautions ones which would have been deemed worth the effort if we had been attacked? Fortunately, no one knows the answer to that question.
Today the threat of terrorist actions seems much more of a reality than the air raid over Chicago, or even nuclear attack during the Cold War. Of course the attack in September may have been isolated. Who can know what the reality bases for these institutionally inspired fears and worries are? None of us fully knows, therefore we hope to achieve an illusion of safety without unduly jeopardizing our freedoms.
The type of fear/worry alluded to in the motor scooter anecdote is more like those we deal with in everyday life. On the flight deck of the USS Boxer I was a flight deck director, parking and facilitating the launching of aircraft. We had AD Skyraiders in those days, propeller-driven aircraft which were lined up across the flight deck with their engines running in preparation for launching. There was about two feet between the tail of one aircraft and the whirling propeller of the next. I often had to walk that gauntlet. I never stumbled when doing so. Never panicked. Just did my job, calmly. In my bunk at night, after such activities (fortunately not a daily occurrence) I lay and twitched as the fear and worry was allowed to surface. Had fear raged during the act I very well might have been like some colleagues in that job, dead. In the scooter incident to freeze or panic could result in no evasive action and a collision. The rush of fear afterwards was non-toxic, and allowed the feelings associated with the threat to be felt.
The ways to deal with fear and worry are not simple, since fear is a survival quality in all the creatures of the earth, and worry or anxiety in threatening situations is anticipatory fear. Nonetheless, the examples offered may give some hints. We can prepare for the catastrophic event, trying to keep preparations proportional to the perceived threat, also asking if it is a real threat.
Here is where the Noah situation comes forth no one believed him yet he and his family survived. When in a frightening situation we might strive to stay calm, feeling the fear afterwards. In all dealings with threats it behooves us to weigh the threat carefully. We do not want bomb shelters which are converted to wine cellars, nor do we want to be on the land when the floods arise.
Counter-phobic activity is another technique which can allay fear at times. That is not to say everyone should sky dive to reduce fear of heights, but measured counter-phobic activity can be very helpful in "normalizing" situations. Perhaps the best example of this in the nation today is the resurgence of recreational air travel people are risking in order to have a sense of balance in their existence.
In answer to questions about whether or not to worry about anything my usual response is that worry is not inherently bad not if it results in a possible solution to the threat. However, one might be well advised to ask if the worrying is causing difficulties in coping with the self or the society. If it is, then seeking help may be indicated.
Worry can cause ulcers and heart problems, to mention two consequences, and not worrying or preparing one's mind for potential hazards can be equally dangerous. Somewhere there is a middle ground where we might seek some semblance of equilibrium without losing our integrity. One would hope.
Charles Larsen L.C.S.W. has been practicing psychotherapy
and hypnosis for over thirty years. St. Petersburg, FL (727) 894-3088. harrymorgan@earthlink.net
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