Dr. Martha Beck

So on the left side, you have this thing called the anxiety spiral, where there's a little tiny part of your brain called the amygdala, and it's very primitive. Every animal with a spine has one of these or something very close to it. And its job is to make you safe by being alarmed when you see unfamiliar things. It feeds information to layers of the brain that are also ancient but not as old.

And these on the left hemisphere make you immediately start thinking of ways to control a situation. And then when it gets to the outermost layer of the left hemisphere, which handles things like time and language, it starts to tell a story defending the feelings it's having. So that's what the left hemisphere does in this one little compartment. On the right side, you also have an amygdala.

And these on the left hemisphere make you immediately start thinking of ways to control a situation. And then when it gets to the outermost layer of the left hemisphere, which handles things like time and language, it starts to tell a story defending the feelings it's having. So that's what the left hemisphere does in this one little compartment. On the right side, you also have an amygdala.

You actually have two of all these structures. On the right side, the amygdala also goes, ah, something unfamiliar, a little burst of, ah. Then, in the right side, it creates curiosity instead of aversion. Have you ever rubbernecked at an accident?

You actually have two of all these structures. On the right side, the amygdala also goes, ah, something unfamiliar, a little burst of, ah. Then, in the right side, it creates curiosity instead of aversion. Have you ever rubbernecked at an accident?

And I always think, oh, I should look away. I'm being voyeuristic, but I still really want to look. And the reason is that we evolved a tendency to move away from frightening things to stay safe, but toward them... insofar as we can figure out what happened and avoid that happening to us. So curiosity is intense around things we fear.

And I always think, oh, I should look away. I'm being voyeuristic, but I still really want to look. And the reason is that we evolved a tendency to move away from frightening things to stay safe, but toward them... insofar as we can figure out what happened and avoid that happening to us. So curiosity is intense around things we fear.

That's why the average American child, by the time they're ready for college, has witnessed on TV or online 16,000 or is it 60,000 murders We're terrified of murder, so we're obsessed with it. You do not have mystery stories written about robbery. It's murder. Okay, so the right side amygdala goes curious, and then it starts to connect things. How can I figure this out?

That's why the average American child, by the time they're ready for college, has witnessed on TV or online 16,000 or is it 60,000 murders We're terrified of murder, so we're obsessed with it. You do not have mystery stories written about robbery. It's murder. Okay, so the right side amygdala goes curious, and then it starts to connect things. How can I figure this out?

That's like that other thing, so this is what must have happened. It's a detective, and it starts to put together its own version of what happened. It doesn't use language. But it uses very vivid images and sensory details. And it can connect things in ways that are highly original and inventive. So you immediately start to get creative.

That's like that other thing, so this is what must have happened. It's a detective, and it starts to put together its own version of what happened. It doesn't use language. But it uses very vivid images and sensory details. And it can connect things in ways that are highly original and inventive. So you immediately start to get creative.

What I found in the wonderful books I read about anxiety, they always talked about how to get your anxiety to calm down. But for me, that wasn't enough as an individual or just as a theoretician because that just gets you to the – you flatten your anxiety. But if you go into the right hemisphere of your brain and start to get creative, something really magical happens.

What I found in the wonderful books I read about anxiety, they always talked about how to get your anxiety to calm down. But for me, that wasn't enough as an individual or just as a theoretician because that just gets you to the – you flatten your anxiety. But if you go into the right hemisphere of your brain and start to get creative, something really magical happens.

Just as anxiety shuts off creativity, creativity can shut down anxiety. It's like these two parts of the brain toggle.

Just as anxiety shuts off creativity, creativity can shut down anxiety. It's like these two parts of the brain toggle.

And if you go to any traditional culture, you will find the wise people, the elders, the medicine people of that culture talking about the oneness of all things. It's not a new concept. What I realized is that if I deliberately chose to push my brain toward creativity and get the right side moving, my anxiety shut down. And then I started testing it on clients and on groups of people online.

And if you go to any traditional culture, you will find the wise people, the elders, the medicine people of that culture talking about the oneness of all things. It's not a new concept. What I realized is that if I deliberately chose to push my brain toward creativity and get the right side moving, my anxiety shut down. And then I started testing it on clients and on groups of people online.

I'd design these experiments because I was trained as a sociologist. And consistently I found that this is the way – to get rid of this horrific scourge that is ruining so many people's lives. And what I always hear is people say, well, there are real problems. We really should be afraid.

I'd design these experiments because I was trained as a sociologist. And consistently I found that this is the way – to get rid of this horrific scourge that is ruining so many people's lives. And what I always hear is people say, well, there are real problems. We really should be afraid.

My answer to that is if you were in a horrible car accident, God forbid, and you had many injuries, would you want the surgeons working on you to be in a state of panic or calm creativity? The only way we're going to fix the problems we've made with our fear-based behavior, the only way to solve problems this big is to access the incredible capacity of human creativity.