Curiosity and Creativity as Antidotes to the Epidemic of Anxiety
Feeling anxious is a common experience, and people often describe themselves as either feeling anxious or not. However, in recent years, many have described anxiety as less of a binary state and more of a constant presence.
It's common knowledge that people often seek mental health care for anxiety triggered by an acute crisis. However, more people now describe anxiety as a continuous and unrelenting hum in their bodies—not directly related to the shock of a specific crisis. Chronic anxiety may stem from factors such as constant news exposure, uncertainty about the future of democracy, social isolation, fatigue from injustice, and economic strain.
Chronic anxiety rarely responds to logic. Anxiety narrows our focus and pulls the mind toward controlling or eliminating perceived threats. In modern society, it's virtually impossible to avoid these threats. This widespread unease contributes to increasing collective anxiety.
Curiosity Creates Space
Reassuring someone that unpleasant feelings will pass can sometimes help, but this approach often misses the underlying issue. Instead, focusing on curiosity can be more helpful. Curiosity invites us to stay present with discomfort and shifts the question from “How do I make these feelings stop?” to “What are these feelings trying to tell me?”
Curiosity softens the edges of anxiety. Creativity encourages us to see anxiety as a potential ally and a source of information—something to be explored, not fought.
Creativity and Inner Movement
Creativity is energy in motion, providing the psyche with a way to transform overwhelming feelings into something tangible. It offers a route for these emotions to surface and be examined.
This Moment In Time Demands Creative Approaches
In turbulent times, as global systems shift and predictability erodes, creativity offers a path to finding meaning and reclaiming a sense of agency.
In this context, creativity can help us:
Tolerate uncertainty
Experiment with new understandings of self
Find meaning
Reclaim personal agency
Curiosity helps us stay alert and connected, whereas fear encourages us to shut down.
Curiosity is courageous, and creativity is brave.
Creativity as a Response to Anxiety
Anxiety often leads to thought loops (perseveration), which can result in a freeze state. Creative expression provides movement. Writing, painting, music, and movement help give shape to unpleasant feelings. Once we understand what we are facing, it becomes easier to work with.
It can be tempting to wait until we “feel better” to access our creativity. However, tension, urgency, and the need to process complexity can all fuel the creative process.
If you or someone you care about feels anxious, invite creativity to become a companion, and together consider anxiety as a source of information for personal growth, rather than something to eliminate.
What This Means for Clinicians
For those working in therapeutic spaces, creative approaches to serious problems bring light and hope into the darkness.
Alongside evidence-based frameworks, curiosity and creativity invite introspection as well as psychological and emotional growth. They can help us:
Tolerate ambiguity
Explore identity
Manage symptoms
Build resilience through meaning.
Reconnect with self
Curiosity and creativity offer different ways to be present to others and to ourselves. Learn to listen to your psyche and be a witness to what emerges from our collective unease.
It's always darkest before the dawn. The sun will rise again tomorrow!
by Dr. Amy Vail and Alli Fischenich