Anxiety Isn't Your Enemy: Why Your Body Won't Turn Off the Alarm

Anxiety has a purpose - but modern life keeps the threat system stuck "on." Learn the difference between healthy warning signals and chronic false alarms, why uncertainty and avoidance fuel the cycle,

What exactly is anxiety? What is its purpose? Does it have a purpose, or is it an unnatural disorder?

Anxiety is collectively higher worldwide than it ever has been — rising at alarming rates. Studies across the board show that anxiety disorders globally have been significantly rising since 1990 and accelerating in the 2020s.

Anxiety is not our enemy — it is a biological function inherently designed to protect us from danger. The challenge is it is triggered by clear and present dangers, as well as perceived or anticipated ones. Today, we face potential economic collapses, rampant job loss, the continual erosion of personal rights, greater uncertainty in weather conditions, technological takeover, and a looming third World War. Within modern history, the whole of humanity has not collectively faced so many perceived or anticipated threats on this many different fronts.

There is healthy anxiety where the warning signal is turning on and off as it’s meant to — then there is unhealthy chronic anxiety where the warning system is stuck in the ‘on’ position. We are naturally wired for adaptable anxiety, which helps protect us from real danger — it alerts, focuses our attention, and prepares us for action. Many people today suffer from pathological anxiety, where the warning signal is always on — excessive anxiety and worry that are very difficult to control and often result in restlessness, fatigue, and other unhealthy symptoms.