Neuropsychiatrist Suggests Journal Writing to Fight Anxiety

Posted on December 9, 2004

We live in a stressful world with constant threats from terrorism, layoffs, weather disasters and horrifying flu outbreaks. These threats are constantly broadcast to us with live video feeds through cable and television transmissions. Dr. Richard Restak has written a book on the subject called, Poe's Heart and the Mountain Climber: Exploring the Effect of Anxiety on Our Brains and Our Culture, in which he discusses anxiety disorders and ways to overcome it. Restak is in favor of journal writing as a way to relieve anxiety.

When asked in a recent Newsweek interview what advice he would give to people worried they may be suffering from too much anxiety, Restake said, "I think of medication as the last option. I believe in journal writing, so you can look upon it as something objectifiable rather than something that is happening to you and you can't control. The key thing - and the reason I wrote this book -- is to say that we are in this age of anxiety and not to deny it. Stay informed, but I wouldn't keep yourself jived up all the time with these horrific images [on TV] that can have that effect on you or about subjects that you can do nothing about"