Why anxiety?

Anxiety has its roots in childhood. And, as always, it is hard to demantle what is genetic and what is due to upbringing. This means it is probably fifty/fifty. From what I have been able to observe in my clinical practice, for a child to develop into an anxious adult, he or she needs two genetic « suitcases » or « bagages » as we say in french. The infant needs to be blessed with an above average intelligence, and an acute sensitivity. These two traits are very positive ones. The problem arises when fate, or life, or watever we want to call it, puts that same child in the midst of a very unstable, constantly changing environment. This can be an environment of violence, substance abuse, or repetitive neglect from a parent or primary caretaker. If the parent is unstable, the environment the child takes for granted cannot be stable and conducive to a calm and carefree existence. 

Thus the highly intelligent and sensitive child, already blessed with more neural connections than is the average norm, needs to « overdevelop » these connections in order to have some perceived control over their fragile and unstable surroundings. 



Therapy can be amazing at turning an anxious temperament from a curse into a blessing, whilst greatly diminishing anxiety at the same time. Anxious people make excellent employees and great friends; they never forget a single detail and so are trustworthy and dependable. Very often through therapy we get to become really aware of these positive traits and this produces a dramatic rise in self-esteem. And as confidence goes up, so obsessive overthinking, insomnia and digestive disturbances go down. All of these diminish in order to eventually disappear alltogether. And then, the person who used to be crippled with excess anxiety becomes who they were always meant to be: intelligent, sensitive, filled with joy and an amazing inner strength, capable of meeting the ups and downs of life with calm and confidence.