Article May 18, 1987 ISSUE

Is there a way out of anxieties?

The Christian Science Monitor

When I was a child, my mother would quiet my fears of the darkness by telling me there was nothing to fear. When I grew up and the monsters I had been afraid of no longer seemed real to me, there were adult anxieties to take their place. Fear of not being accepted by family members, coworkers, or employers; fear of not having enough time to do a job well; fear of the future; fears growing from a strong personal sense of responsibility. These can put a person in a different kind of darkness, but one that is just as gnawing as the child's fear of the night.

Like cats fighting in an alley, these anxieties often make enough noise to trouble us, but not enough to make us go out and stop them. When fears start taking the joy out of life, most people look for some kind of temporary release. But wouldn't it be better to heal these worries instead of living with them or letting them build up into bigger troubles?

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