Jun 30, 2025
The Hidden Value of Anxiety - Even When it Feels Meaningless
INTRODUCTION
When Anxiety Has Purpose
Anxiety so often feels purely disruptive—Intrusive, uncomfortable, and seemingly without purpose. It’s easy to get caught up in trying to push it away and to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
But while it may seem odd, there are times when anxiety has something to offer.
It’s important to know when it should be embraced precisely because of the discomfort it brings. Anxiety isn’t something to be tolerated for no reason, but to be carried willingly and well as a key component of a good life.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Anxiety Has Purpose: Anxiety is not inherently bad; it exists to help assess risks, guide decisions, and motivate action. Welcoming it can lead to better coping strategies and healthier decision-making.
- Anxiety Reflects Values and Growth: Anxiety highlights what matters most to you, helping reveal personal values and fostering self-development when engaged with constructively.
- Moral and Ethical Guidance: Even when no longer practical, lingering anxiety can demonstrate moral sensitivity and reflect a deep care and thoughtfulness in complex situations.
UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY
Is Anxiety Valuable?
When we object that anxiety isn’t “good,” we usually mean it doesn’t feel good.
► But that doesn’t mean it isn’t acting for the good within us.
We might also mean that we don’t do good things because of anxiety, like ruminating, worrying, and avoidance.
► But this also doesn’t mean that the anxiety itself isn’t good, just that the situation has gotten beyond our current capacity to tolerate and cope.
Our nervous systems have the capacity to experience anxiety for a reason, so it’s important to consider what it’s trying to do for us.
Anxiety is not an enemy to be defeated.
Anxiety is an aid in:
- Assessing risky situations
- Contemplating potential futures
- Weighing the consequences of our actions.
FREEDOM + RESPONSIBILITY
The Essence of Anxiety
The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote about what he called…
The “essence of anxiety”: The combination of our freedom to explore and choose any number of different paths to take, and the responsibility to choose what’s good, moral, ethical, and healthy.
This freedom is dizzying, and the responsibility immense. So, many people avoid it altogether and don’t take up the necessary tasks of life. Or they conform to societal norms to avoid the burden of personal responsibility amongst the general mindset of the crowd.
Carl Jung also noted that self-reflection is often avoided because it may reveal truths that we would then have the responsibility to address.
So we distract.
The anxiety remains under the surface where it feels meaningless because that’s what we’ve told ourselves.
But facing this responsibility means that…
Anxiety is a core aspect of self-development.
It lets you know that you’re engaging with your conscience to pursue what’s healthy and good across every aspect of your life.
WHEN ANXIETY WORKS IN OUR FAVOR
The Practical Values of Anxiety
Anxiety is also valuable as a means to greater things — most broadly as a motivator for avoiding bad things and pursuing good things! It plays an essential role in three key areas:
1. Anxiety Motivates Risk Management
When it comes to managing risk, less anxiety isn’t necessarily better than more!
If you live in a dangerous area, deal with high-stakes situations at work, or have a chaotic home life, anxiety is your mind’s way of urging caution. It may feel uncomfortable, but it serves an important purpose for protection.
Sometimes anxiety reflects a problem with your environment more than with yourself.
Many people stay in jobs or relationships too long that are bad for them and blame themselves for not just “coping better” or “making it work.” Toxic and abusive environments are structured in a way that continues to activate anxiety through no fault of your own.
Sometimes, the anxiety is needing you to get out, not to change yourself so that the abuse doesn't bother you anymore.
2. Anxiety Motivates Goal Achievement
On the other hand, when it comes to pursuing things that are good, achieving your goals often requires a certain amount of anxious motivation. If you’re not anxious about an exam, you won’t study. If you’re not anxious about a presentation, you won’t prepare.
Too much anxiety paralyzes, but the right amount provides focus and momentum.
It’s the willingness to grapple with this energy, understand what it wants for you, and figure out what’s needed in response that brings empowerment, satisfaction, and accomplishment.
The key is to channel anxiety into manageable steps — breaking big goals into smaller, achievable milestones so that the pressure doesn’t become overwhelming.
3. Anxiety Reveals Your Values
Finally, anxiety doesn’t just keep you safe or drive ambition — it also reveals your values!
When faced with moral dilemmas, anxiety often acts as an internal compass, signaling when something doesn’t feel quite right. It prompts you to take a closer look at the situation and consider the potential consequences of your actions.
Anxiety reminds you of what's important to your character when faced with tough decisions.
For example, if you’re considering lying to a friend to spare their feelings, you may feel a sense of unease. Your commitment to honesty and integrity feel at stake and worth preserving, even if it means some tension in the friendship.
By paying attention to these feelings, you can make a more ethical decision that aligns with your values and beliefs precisely because of the discomfort anxiety brings.
✦ More Info: When anxiety starts to lose its practical value, see Why You Worry So Much: Understanding & Breaking the Cycle.
HOW ANXIETY REFLECTS WHAT WE CARE ABOUT
The Intrinsic Value of Anxiety
Beyond its practical benefits, anxiety can also have intrinsic value.
Intrinsic value means something that's good for its own sake, not as a means to anything else.
The author Charlie Kurth, in “The Anxious Mind,” explores how anxiety — even when no longer useful — can reflect moral depth and personal integrity.
He uses this hypothetical dilemma to illustrate:
“Consider someone caring for his mother who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s. He promised that, when the time came, he’d give her a euthanizing dose of morphine and he now needs to decide whether to keep that promise. After much consideration, he decides to keep the promise, and he does. But days later he finds himself rethinking the situation and is still anxious despite coming to the same conclusion that it was the right thing to do. What can we say about this anxiety now that it no longer possesses any instrumental value for this difficult decision now that it’s been made? Ruminating on it will change nothing and serves no purpose.”
The point being made is that whatever anxiety remains is the outcome of this person’s admirable sensitivity to the difficult, morally ambiguous choice he faced — a sign that he takes his personal agency seriously and appreciates the weight of his decisions.
In other words, anxiety like this can simply be a demonstration of healthy moral concern and a virtue of good character in itself, even when it’s no longer useful.
LEARNING TO LIVE WITH, NOT AGAINST, ANXIETY
Towards a Balanced Approach to Anxiety
Rather than viewing anxiety as a flaw to fix, consider it a signal — one that, when understood, can guide you toward growth and deeper self-awareness. While excessive anxiety may require intervention, eliminating it entirely could mean losing the instincts that help you navigate risk, pursue your goals, and stay aligned with your values.
By listening to anxiety, not as an enemy but as an important part of yourself, you can develop a healthier relationship with it. When you stop fighting against it and start working with it, you can gain a greater sense of balance and control over your life.
Jason Peruchini, LMFT
Jason Peruchini is a licensed psychotherapist and anxiety treatment professional who helps people address issues in mental health to live better lives.
