Almost Anxious, by psychologist Luana Marques, PhD, and medical writer Eric Metcalf, MPH, came out recently along with its counterpart, Almost Depressed. These are both part of the Almost Effect series out of Harvard. (Tagline: “Almost is too close to Always.”)
The concept? You may not meet the diagnostic criteria for clinical anxiety or depression, but you may have subclinical conditions.
Each individual who is “almost anxious” may tend toward a particular type, e.g., physical, social, or worry-related. What can you do to manage this condition? The basics, it’s said, are making improvements in nutrition, sleep, and physical exercise.
Writing on her self-care site, Nadine Milton describes four lessons she gleaned from Almost Anxious:
- Anxiety is normal. But it can become unhealthy.
- It’s important to evaluate your own level of anxiety. The book provides various exercises.
- Avoidance is the enemy. “Avoidance brings temporary relief from feelings of anxiety but in the long term can bring with it more anxiety.”
- Finding mindfulness. “This book’s definition of mindfulness is ‘the experience of paying attention, in the present moment, non-judgementally.’ When you are being mindful, you are not fearing the future or living in regret of the past.”
Almost Depressed is by psychiatrist Jefferson Prince and psychologist Shelley Carson. As the publisher states, “We all experience unhappiness—but for some, sadness, stress, and negative thoughts can become a regular part of our lives, no matter how good things may be going. There is a place between basic sadness and diagnosed clinical depression called almost depression.”
Issues might involve job dissatisfaction, interpersonal relationship problems, anxiety, and a lowered sense of well-being. Interestingly, those with almost depression can actually feel worse regarding some of these life problems than those with full-blown clinical depression. Furthermore, about 75 percent of cases of this lower-grade depression will become a more severe condition if not recognized and treated. And once it becomes clinical depression, or major depression, it’s typically harder to treat and can include such features as serious physical problems, more challenging life issues, and suicidal ideation and attempts.
Recommended steps, in addition to what’s already been mentioned for almost anxiety, include scheduling activities for pleasure even if you’re not sure they’ll still be enjoyable, find a creative pursuit, stress management, cognitive tweaks, mindfulness practice, decrease inner criticism, and increase social support.
