How to Make Anxiety Your Friend | David H. Rosmarin | TED

So I vividly remember my first anxiety attack. It's kind of like I feel right now. (Laughter) Whoo, is it hot in here? (Laughter) It's hot in here. (Laughter) This wave of fear crashed over me, and my heart started to pound. My breathing got ahead of me and out of control. My face felt hot.

It's hot in here, right? (Laughter) Yeah, it's hot. And I got doused in this really uncomfortable cold sweat. It was a life-changing moment, because I made a decision, right there and then, to dedicate my career to ridding our world of this feeling, anxiety. So that was more than two decades ago. Work in progress.

(Laughter) I became a clinical psychologist. I became a professor. I started an anxiety treatment center. And then, I realized, at some point along the way, that eradicating anxiety from our lives would not be beneficial.

Sometimes, anxiety interferes with your life. That's clinical anxiety. And yes, you do want to get rid of that clinical anxiety, with the help of a professional. But other times, many times ... it's uncomfortable, it's uncontrollable. Did I mention it's hot in here? (Laughter) It's intense. But that's a good thing. It's a good thing.

Many of the greatest leaders in human history, certainly in recent history, they were forged in a cauldron of anxiety. Once, early in his career, Sir Winston Churchill, he froze for three full minutes in the House of Commons, giving a speech. He fought against his phobia, faced his fears head-on, and he went on to become one of the greatest orators

of the 20th century. In the 1990s, after a box-office flop, Oprah Winfrey, she turned to food to drown out her feelings, to suppress her emotions. She ended up feeling emotionally numb for six weeks, and during that period of great anxiety, she learned the importance of letting go of her expectations for success. She went on to become a media icon.