How to Fight 'Fight-or-Flight' During Terrifying Economic Times

GREAT NECK, N.Y., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jonathan Berent has authored the definitive book on drug-free treatment for social anxiety, "Work Makes Me Nervous," (Wiley) that teaches proven ways to conquer work-performance anxiety.

The economic climate is tough and getting tougher. Things will get worse before they get better seems to be the operative algorithm. Economic stress is creating a need for productivity and high performance more than ever before. Survival of the fittest is a fact of life! Social and performance anxiety handicap the quest for survival, as well as attainment of "success."

Anxiety skyrockets when you read sobering job-loss statistics. And the media's endless variations on the theme make things worse: "Unemployed need not apply." "Over 50? You won't get an interview." "Hundreds inquired; only one will be hired."

"It's not uncommon for people to put their heads in the sand rather than confront the adrenaline-driven, visceral discomfort of anxiety," says Jonathan Berent, L.C.S.W., author of "Work Makes Me Nervous: Overcome Anxiety and Build the Confidence to Succeed." "Social phobia, substance dependence, and unhealthy pharmaceutical dependence are at an all-time high," he adds.

People may know it as procrastination. But the clinical term is "avoidance," and it can be toxic, says Berent's co-author, Amy Lemley, a self-proclaimed "recovering avoidance addict." Because of performance and social anxiety it's easy to rationalize putting off challenge scenarios such as interacting with authority figures, speaking in public, making sales calls, and so on.

In "Work Makes Me Nervous," she explains, "We present a strategy for controlling the internal critical script that has become negative and a methodology for making adrenaline your friend and source of power instead of the dreaded enemy."

According to Berent, who has worked with over 10,000 clients in his 32-year career, the economic climate has heightened anxiety for both job seekers and the currently employed at all levels of the career hierarchy. "I have clients earning in the high six figures who become so anxious about being noticeably nervous, and humiliating themselves in challenge scenarios like leading a sales meeting, participating in a conference call, or pitching a new customer that they will do anything to avoid!"

Whatever your situation - on a job hunt or currently employed, just entering the workforce after school or time at home, making a career change - learning to make the physiology of performance work for you with its adrenaline-driven power, a state which can induce anxiety if not handled productively, is critical. In order to accomplish this, it is crucial to invest in the paradoxical psychology of adrenaline acceptance. "Adrenaline will be there," says Berent. "Let go of trying to stop it. Use it as energy to fuel your success."

For more information about social and performance anxiety, including a free library of audio interviews with people who have suffered and recovered, an interactive Q&A with Jonathan Berent, and many free resources, visit http://www.socialanxiety.com. To purchase "Work Makes Me Nervous," or Berent and Lemley's previous book, "Beyond Shyness: How to Conquer Social Anxieties," visit Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or 800CEO-read.com, or your local bookstore.

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SOURCE Jonathan Berent