Facing Anxiety One Step At A Time
In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt identifies two primary reasons that children born after 1995 have become the anxious generation - “overprotection in the real world” and “under protection in the virtual world.”[1] For what it is worth, I agree with Haidt but there are far more qualified voices that could further defend his assertions, so I’ll leave that to them. My intention with this new series of articles/posts is to further explore a pragmatic, solution-side focused approach to this two-pronged dilemma.
This past Christmas I got a cold tub. If you know anything about cold tubs, they are simple products. They exist to hold cold water, and they are big enough for you to get inside. I’ll spare you the data on optimal times in the tub, frequency, and debates over proper water temperature and give you my non-scientific headline. Every time I’ve jumped in the cold tub it has been COLD. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Each time as I’m changing into my shorts, I have this internal dialogue where I attempt to talk myself out of the cold water, but I end up asking the same three questions and arriving at the same three answers.
First, is this going to hurt you? No.
Second, is it good to do at least one difficult thing each day? Yes.
Third, when you finish are you going to feel better and be glad you did it? Yes.
So, into the tub I go for 3-5 minutes and then (this is important) I get out. I do not stay in for hours as that would have adverse effects on my body – i.e. hypothermia. I get out, put on dry clothes, and allow my body to warm itself back up. I’ve been doing this a few weeks now and what I’m learning is it gets easier with each time. The body adapts to external stressors (the cold water) thus it becomes more confident in its ability to overcome that stressor.
Contrary to the last paragraph, this is not an article about cold plunging, but rather the body’s ability to adapt, grow, and strengthen itself due to external stressors. The body was made to do this, but it needs opportunities. As Sir Winston Churchill said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” But those external stressors or crises must be appropriate in scale and scope. That’s the difficult part to figure out. You want to bend, not break. For example, if you can run a mile easily, work on running two and not 25. Two miles will force you to bend, while twenty-five might cause you to break. If you want to learn to eat healthier introduce one vegetable at a time and do not immediately become a vegetarian. Will it be difficult? Sure! But can you do it? Absolutely! And the result? Confidence.
DISCLAIMER: By referencing cold water therapy, we are not promoting that you try this modality. Please consult your doctor before attempting cold water therapy to ensure it is safe for you.
[1] Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidimic of Mental Illness. New York: Penguin Press, 2024. P. 9