To understand anxiety, we need to understand the mechanism of fear and anxiety. Fear and anxiety are functional and normal processes for all humans. If the person experiences excessive fears and anxieties, clinical intervention may be required.
The difference between fear and anxiety is the time difference. As human beings, we are afraid if we witness that something will happen to us now. If we believe that something will happen to us in the future, we call it anxiety. For example, we are walking alone in a forest. We came across a very powerful predator, for example, a bear. Most of us are afraid that our resources will not be enough to fight a bear. A person does not usually criticize himself and is not criticized by his environment because he is afraid of the bear. What if he's afraid of a stray cat? I intend to explore the answer to this question in the phobias article, so let's move on to the topic of anxiety. The difference in fear between the cat and the bear is the difference between our power resources as humans and how competent we are (we are strong) compared to the bear and the cat. We are afraid of the bear in general, we are not afraid of the cat in general. Now let's build the same example over the future tense. We are walking in a forest and we are worried/worried that a bear will appear in front of us. Here, while the fear object in the here and now causes fear, we call the fear that this fear object will appear in the future or that something will happen in the future. As you can see, the difference between fear and anxiety is whether it happens now or in the future.
So what are we going to do? How do we get rid of anxiety? The expression 'we will increase our strength' is misunderstood from time to time.
The example of the bear and cat I gave above is for all of us to understand the subject easily, of course, it does not intend to harm any animal. Now, let me replace the example I gave about animals with an example from the field of relationships.
'Something will happen to me when I go out'
Imagine a person who does not leave his house because of his belief above. I'm old. For him, society and the outside are fearful. He will be harmed somehow. This directed fear of the future is anxiety.
How will this friend of ours overcome his anxiety?
How will he become stronger?
When it comes to psychology, it is not physical but spiritual to get stronger. we use The power here is the increase of one's ego/self power. In order for a person to become stronger, he needs to meet himself; to meet their own thoughts, their own feelings and their own world of meaning. If the person understands the origin of the thoughts and feelings that he is currently experiencing, he will no longer have to deal with the fears and anxieties that come from within and that he cannot make sense of.
There are two important ways for the person to meet himself;
1- What's going on now? (What's going through my mind)
2- What happened in the past? (Childhood experience)
What is now is the thoughts that pass through our minds. During the therapy process, we find the ideas that pass through our minds and look at how we relate to them.
The past is our personality structure formed as a result of our childhood life (along with genetic factors).
By focusing on these two processes (thoughts in the mind and childhood experiences) we can make sense of the fears and anxieties that are happening now. Thus, the person receiving consultancy service sees, understands and resolves the processes within himself. The person gets to know himself/herself and his/her ego becomes stronger. Ultimately, the person becomes free and happy.
Classifications related to anxiety;
1. Separation Anxiety
- The child's communication problems with his/her parents
- Concerns that adults experience regarding their capacity for commitment and long-term relationships in their relationships
2. Selective Mutism
- Not speaking in certain situations, usually seen in children
3. Social Anxiety (Social Phobia)
- Worry about being criticized, humiliated or doing something wrong in public/in a group
4. Panic Disorder kluk
- Concern that the person will die/be seriously harmed when their heart beats fast (or thinks they are beating fast)
5. Agoraphobia
- Worrying that something bad will happen to the person in open spaces (home or outside of safe places according to him/her)
6. Generalized Anxiety
- Worry that the person generalizes to most situations, regardless of a specific situation or person
I hope the article you read has helped you to make sense of some of your processes. If you are experiencing the processes I mentioned above, you can start your own counseling journey, regardless of the therapy school. Let's not forget, every journey starts with the first step.
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