Understanding Anxiety and How to Resolve It

Is Your Anxiety Helpful or Unhelpful?

Anxiety is a normal human response designed to protect us. It alerts us to potential threats and helps us prepare for challenges. But not all anxiety serves the same purpose — sometimes it helps, and sometimes it hinders. Understanding the difference between helpful and unhelpful anxiety can guide us toward healthier coping strategies.

Each emotion we experience serves a function that is trying to help us. Anxiety (and stress) are intended to help us resolve life-threatening situations. Modern conveniences have reduced the amount of life-threatening situations. During the hunter/gather era people constantly had to take action to ensure they had enough food to eat and be on guard against animals that may harm them.

Our body still functions the same way trying to get us to take action to prevent us from ending up in a situation that could be devastating. Our brain tries to help by alerting us to potential danger and when you react to something non-dangerous as it if is dangerous then your brain thinks it's done a good job. So how can you recognize the difference?

Unhelpful Anxiety

Unhelpful anxiety tends to overreact to situations that aren’t truly dangerous. Many people have a fear of public speaking, but typically what you say doesn't involve an immediate threat to your life. The brain trying to help you prepare for a presentation can result in feeling stressed, constant worry, exhaustion, and overwhelm.

Characteristics of Unhelpful Anxiety:

• Overreacting to minor stressors

• Triggered by non–life-threatening situations

• Persistent and hard to switch off

• Emotionally or physically debilitating

  
  

When anxiety isn’t protecting you from a real or significant threat, it’s your body’s alarm system misfiring. The goal is to calm the body and quiet the mind.

Ways to Manage Unhelpful Anxiety:

• Calm the body: Slow, deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation.

• Grounding techniques: Focus on the present using your senses — what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell.

• Cognitive diffusion: Notice anxious thoughts without attaching to them. Acknowledge, “I’m having the thought that…” instead of believing it’s fact.

• Exercise: Physical movement helps release built-up tension and restore balance.

• Shift focus: Redirect attention to meaningful, manageable tasks or comforting routines.

  
  

Helpful Anxiety

Helpful anxiety arises when there’s a real or potentially significant threat. It motivates action, problem-solving, and planning.There are two kinds of helpful anxiety — direct and indirect.

Direct Threats

These are immediate dangers where taking action on your anxiety helps keep you safe.Examples include:

• A health issue that needs urgent attention

• An act of violence or danger in your surroundings

• A traumatic incident that requires a quick response

In these cases, anxiety helps you take protective action — calling for help, seeking safety, or getting medical support. One of the most common examples of this that we have seen is people who are awaiting a medical result for something like a cancer screening. Cancer is a real and present threat. People feel anxious waiting for results. We tell clients if you've taken action then focus on calming the body while you wait for the results of that action. This anxiety is normal and it's trying to get you to follow up with your doctor.

Indirect Threats

These are less immediate but still important concerns.Examples include:

• Job loss or financial instability

• Reputation damage or social consequences

• Relationship loss or emotional disconnection

These situations still feel threatening, but they don't possess the imminent nature of direct threats. You can think of this as someone who lost their job today and they're worried about how they'll eat next month. This is a real concern, but it can often be navigated without experiencing an actual threat like homelessness or running out of food.

In these situations, anxiety can motivate problem-solving and planning — it pushes you to act before small issues become big ones.

What Action Resolves the Anxiety?

The key to managing anxiety is responding appropriately to its type.

Type of Anxiety	Resolution Strategy
Unhelpful Anxiety	Calm the body and refocus the mind. Practice grounding, exercise, or mindfulness to reset your system.
Helpful Anxiety	Make a plan, take action, and remind yourself of your plan during periods of waiting. Action provides direction and reduces uncertainty. Use calm the body strategies during times of waiting and remind yourself of your action plan.

Using SMART Goals to Manage Helpful Anxiety

When anxiety is pushing you to act, channel that energy productively by setting SMART Goals:

• Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve.

• Measurable: Track your progress in concrete ways.

• Attainable: Set goals that are realistic for your current resources and time.

• Realistic: Ensure your goal is meaningful and practical. Think about what the smallest step is that you can take towards your goal and focus on completing that one step.

• Time-bound: Give yourself a clear timeline or deadline. When things are going well we can plan years ahead. When things are stressful you may be able to plan your week. When you're in crisis you may have to limit yourself to the next 5 minutes.

Example: Instead of “I need to find a new job,” try “I will update my resume and apply to three positions by next Friday.”

Instead of "I will reduce my anxiety in half over the next three weeks." Focus on what you can control. "For the next 1 I will learn one new thing about managing anxiety everyday and I will apply it."

Final Thought

Anxiety itself isn’t the enemy — it’s a messenger. The key is learning to listen without letting it take control.Ask yourself:

• Is my anxiety warning me about a real, actionable threat?

• Or is it my body’s alarm system reacting to something non-threatening?

When you know the difference, you can take the right steps — calm when needed, act when required.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

If anxiety has been holding you back or leaving you feeling stuck, you don’t have to face it alone. Together, we can identify what’s fueling your anxiety and create a plan to help you move forward with confidence and calm.

Book a consultation today