The cause of anxiety in modern society
In the natural world, fear was beneficial to humans for thousands of years. It kept early humans alive, alert, and functioning on a creative and protective level that meant survival from real physical dangers. Despite the prevalence of physical dangers being relatively low compared to ancestors thousands of years ago, human brains react to the mental thoughts and perceptions of danger exactly the same way they react to real physical dangers. The “fight or flight” reaction remains part of human physiology. Thus, when thoughts invoke the fight or flight responses, even if no physical danger exists, anxiety and all of its physical symptoms are a common result (Bourne 2010/1989).
Particularly in Western cultures, the stresses of modern life can stimulate this “fight or flight” reaction quite frequently. The pressure to be constantly in touch and accessible to work, family, and friends through technology is immense. The prevalence of constant marketing messages perpetuate the image of how life should be lived in order to try and sell the products are needed to live a happy life. Cultural stereotypes set the standards for modern lives, and it is more difficult now for people to tune out these strong messages because of their constant presence. It is more difficult now to tune into the internal voices within and be in touch with those things that create meaning in life.
The stress—and ultimately anxiety—that this inauthentic living causes is not being effectively treated by traditional methods of medication and/or talk therapy. A new way of treating this debilitating disorder is needed to help cope with busy modern lives.
Mindfulness and authentic living as a way to break free from anxiety
Mindfulness, with its deep roots in the Buddhist spiritual tradition, involves intentionally bringing a curious, compassionate attention to one’s experiences as they are in the present moment, (Orsillo, Roemer, 2011, p. 3).
It is paying attention, without judgment, to what is happening to in any given moment, including feeling things and simply noticing thoughts, without giving them any labels such as good or bad, right or wrong.
In the field of psychology, using mindfulness in this way is a key component to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (“ACT”), which differs from CBT in that it is a method which encourages patients not by challenging thoughts, but by accepting them.
In the past decade, acceptance and commitment therapy has been utilized by many therapists and also garnered considerable research support, (Bourne, 2010/1989, p. 439).
It is based on the ACT acronym for Accept (that you have anxiety), Choose (the most important directions for your life), and Take Action (embrace your true values and live by them).
Following a 10-year study, Drs. Susan Orsillo, PhD., and Lizabeth Roemer, PhD., (2011) have reported that by increasing mindfulness and raising awareness to even the most subtle sign of anxiety, suffers can apply new skills before the emotional response escalates to the “fight or flight” response. This then greatly reduces the impact of anxiety and allows the patient to live much more fulfilling, anxiety-free lives.
[Mindfulness] is the key to unlocking anxiety’s hold. Our valiant efforts to fight anxiety, avoid stress, and silence those bossy inner bodyguards are the very things preventing us from keeping our responses proportionate and useful, finding solutions for our concerns, and focusing our attention on where it belongs: on pursuing what matters most to us in life, (Orsillo, Roemer, 2011, p. 2).
When anxiety sufferers become more mindful, it releases them from anxiously avoiding their authentic lives—that is, the lives they were meant to be living.
Anxiety narrows our attention, focusing it on what we find most threatening. Mindfulness expands our attention, helping us fully engage in our lives, (Orsillo, Roemer, 2011, p. 224).
Mindfulness and ACT are methods that can help people suffering from anxiety by helping them identify what is important to them. They can then make changes to their lives to live more in alignment with these values, thus living a life more authentic to their true selves. Recent research shows that when patients live more in line with their values, using their strengths and talents rather than focusing on apparent shortcomings, and by living more mindfully, the anxiety and stress produced by modern living and by living inauthentically reduces dramatically (Orsillo, Roemer, 2011).