The Alarm of Anxiety

Seven or eight times, Jesus doesn’t just suggest that we should not worry, He commands it, saying, “Do not be anxious!”

We all know what it feels like when anxiety sets in. But what exactly is anxiety, and what do we do about it? Anxiety is fear that something bad might happen in the future, and our brain treats it as if it were happening right now. When that happens, the brain sounds the alarm: fight-or-flight kicks in, our chest tightens, our breathing shortens, our heart races, and digestion slows down. This response is useful if a lion is chasing us. But most of the time, no lion is there.

Again, anxiety is rooted in anticipating what might happen rather than what is happening. Maybe you imagine losing your job, or you worry that something bad might happen to a son or daughter. The brain reacts as though the danger was already here, right now. If this alarm stays on long enough, the brain builds pathways of fear and anxiety. We form habits of being on edge, living in a state of danger even when there is none. Over time, this has real effects on our body and soul: it weakens the immune system, stresses the heart, disrupts digestion, and leads to burnout. Worst of all, it destroys our trust in God. 

False Alarm / Barking Dog

Anxiety is like the fire alarm going off when there’s no fire. Or it’s more like my dog barking at the Amazon driver. She thinks the driver is a threat and sounds the alarm. Now, I know the driver isn’t dangerous (what is really dangerous is how often I hit the Amazon Prime button. It would be more helpful if she barked when I got on Amazon.) When the driver comes, she barks, I thank her for trying to protect me, and then I assure her, “We are safe.” That’s what anxiety does. It mislabels future potential problems as if they were immediate dangers. The Amazon driver isn’t dangerous, but my dog can’t tell. Anxiety is the same way, an alarm system that overreacts to non-threats. Anxiety is a false alarm.

But not every alarm is bad. Fear itself is healthy. Fear is the brain’s response to a real and present danger. It’s what helps you run from a bear, brake for a car swerving into your lane, or step back from the edge of a cliff. Fear protects us. 

Prudence, or concern, is also good. This is our forward-looking capacity to notice risks and prepare wisely, studying for a test so you don’t fail, locking your doors at night. That’s just living responsibly. Worry or anxiety, by contrast, is when the fear system gets activated without a real, present danger. My dog barks as if the Amazon driver were an intruder. A little healthy fear or concern motivates us to act wisely. But the problem comes when the alarm keeps sounding without a just cause—that is, anxiety.

The Traps of Anxiety

Anxiety thrives on two traps: catastrophizing and avoidance.

Anxiety grows when we catastrophize. We think and say things like, “This will ruin everything,” or we assume what others think, “They’ll think I am a failure.” These thought traps make the stakes feel like they are life-or-death, even when they’re not. Our brains are wired to be hyper-alert to threats that could kill us. That wiring sometimes misfires and tells us, “If I fail, it will kill me. Or if this happens, I just couldn’t go on.”

The key is to lower the stakes to match reality. Most of the time, what we’re worried about won’t kill us or anyone else. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst-case scenario?” If you can live with that, then you can live with anything else. It lowers the pressure.

Then there’s the trap of avoidance. Often, procrastination or avoidance is what feeds our anxiety. When we avoid what we fear, the brain learns that avoidance keeps us safe. The temporary relief we feel rewards avoidance, which makes the alarm louder next time. The problem is that the brain never gets to learn the truth, that most of what we fear is tolerable or harmless. And if we just do what we are avoiding, the fear goes away. 

Overcoming Anxiety with Grace and Trust

When we feel anxiety coming on, the critical question to ask is this: Is this a real, present danger I can act on? Or is it only a possible future outcome? Real danger calls for immediate action, not avoidance or procrastination. Imagined or possible future danger calls for prayer, preparation, prudence, or simple surrender to God.

Maybe you’ve prayed and prayed, gone to Mass, confessed your sins, and still your anxiety hasn’t disappeared. Why did prayer not work? Because anxiety is a bad habit. As we saw earlier, anxiety is the fear of the future treated as if it were happening now. Practiced long enough, it becomes a habit. So, anxiety or worry is a fear we turn into a bad habit. All bad habits or vices can be overcome with the combination of God’s grace gained from the sacraments and prayer, plus our hard work and practice to gain the opposite virtue. 

Saints aren’t born with great trust in God. They build the habit of trust by practicing trust over and over in times of fear.  

Practical Resolution  

Every time anxiety rises, you have two good choices: act or surrender. If there is something you can do about it, then do it and don’t procrastinate or avoid it. If there is nothing you can do, if it is beyond your control, then give it to God, surrender it to Him, and God will take care of it. And all the while, remind yourself, with God watching over me, no matter what happens, I will be safe. This will retrain the brain in the habit of trust, overcoming the bad habit of worry or anxiety.

The bottom line is simple: do what you reasonably can today, and entrust the rest to God. Remember, “All things work together for good for those who love Him” (Rom 8:28).

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

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