What’s the difference between healthy and unhealthy anxiety? Psychologist Lisa Damour explains how we can recognize when anxiety is helpful *or* hurtful. “We look for anxiety to be of help to us, to guide us and to let us know what we’re supposed to be doing and not doing,” she says. In this exclusive TED Membership conversation, Damour breaks down the key differences between our responses in anxious situations, and offers guided techniques to help us process and manage our emotions better. “We really see anxiety as largely normal, protective, healthy and useful in our lives,” says Damour. “Knowing the basics of how it unfolds really does put you in the driver’s seat of knowing how to calm yourself when you feel anxious.”