Managing Anxiety

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - If you have to make a presentation and you're nervous - your heart beats fast, you're running out of time, you think you're not prepared…

Psychologists say somewhere between "checked out and freaked out is an anxiety sweet spot… which keeps us our toes" and alert for potential problems. Therapists treat people for both too much or too little anxiety.

According to The National Institute of Mental Health, about 40 million American adults, 18% of the population, have anxiety disorders which include panic attacks, phobias obsessive-compulsive disorders and post-traumatic stress. They also might suffer from physical ailments - depression, high blood pressure, migraines, heart disease and digestive disorders.

Anxiety is self-defeating when people focus on the fear itself rather than the task at hand reports Melinda Beck in an interesting Wall Street Journal article. She quotes Jason Moser, psychologist at Michigan State University who suggests using the Nike slogan when feeling anxious about a task, "Just Do It!"