Anxiety feels terrible…the heart palpitations, nausea, sweaty palms, problems sleeping and concentrating, the overwhelming sense of danger or impending doom. No wonder we try to ignore it, control it or over-medicate to make it go away. The problem is that approach only makes matters worse.

Harvard University psychologist David Rosmarin says we’re better off befriending anxiety then smothering it. Rosmarin is the founder of the Center for Anxiety and he joins us this Friday to discuss his new book, Thriving with Anxiety. He says we should think of anxiety as a smoke alarm which signals there’s a problem that needs fixing. Rather than banishing anxiety, we can use it to learn to live with uncertainty, connect with others and be more compassionate to ourselves.