When running becomes therapy | Reem Al Obeidani | TEDxShabab St

Quick Overview

The speaker, Reem Al Obeidani, concludes that managing anxiety, which she previously tried to avoid through over-planning, avoidance, and excessive running, is best achieved by adopting the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principle: accepting difficult thoughts/emotions rather than reassessing them, and committing to meaningful actions even when uncomfortable.

Key Points: The speaker, a clinical psychologist named Reem Al Obeidani, shares her personal journey of struggling with anxiety. She previously attempted to manage anxiety by over-planning, avoiding social gatherings, and excessive running, which she later recognized as creating a 'giant anxiety loop.' The core solution presented, drawn from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), is the formula: Accept + Commit. Acceptance involves acknowledging difficult thoughts, emotions, and experiences instead of trying to re-assess or fight them. Commitment involves taking actions that make life meaningful, even when those actions feel hard or uncomfortable. The speaker realized that running, which was physically demanding, taught her that difficult things are meant to be hard, leading her to stop running from her own anxieties. She is now happy to share that her community has over 5,000 women running for their well-being, demonstrating a shift toward acceptance and action.

Context: Reem Al Obeidani, a clinical psychologist, delivers a TEDx talk about her personal battle with anxiety, which began when she was nine years old. She recounts that during her youth and while pursuing her Master's in Clinical Psychology, she relied on avoidance and over-analysis to cope, only realizing later that these were counterproductive mechanisms. Her narrative centers on the shift from fighting her anxiety to accepting it by applying principles from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Detailed Analysis

Reem Al Obeidani begins by establishing her history with anxiety, stating she was convinced at age nine that something bad would happen if she didn't wash her hands 36 times, a behavior she now recognizes as being 'doomed' due to a lack of mental health awareness in the Arab world at that time. As a teenager, her anxiety persisted, compelling her to over-analyze and over-plan everything, believing that every action needed to be 'just right' to avoid negative outcomes. She pursued clinical psychology to help others, but found herself still struggling, comparing her anxiety to a 'giant anxiety loop' where she was running from her own thoughts and feelings. The turning point came from learning Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which she summarizes with the equation: Accept + Commit. 'Accept' means acknowledging difficult thoughts, emotions, and experiences instead of re-assessing them, and 'Commit' means taking actions that create a meaningful life, even when it is hard or uncomfortable. She shares that running, an activity she initially took up to escape anxiety, taught her that difficult things are meant to be hard, leading her to stop running from herself. She concludes by celebrating the growth of her community, noting that over 5,000 women are now running for their well-being, signaling a broader cultural acceptance of prioritizing mental health.