What does trigger anxiety?, Collective anxiety. You can’t heal what you can’t identify. (2)
In this post, I am writing about the remaining two approaches of anxiety along with the potential remedies. Here is the first part.
The third approach; obsessive thinking:
Thoughts like “I will blow it”, “I am not good enough”, “The children are not safe to go outside alone”, “I might have an accident” that sometimes are accompanied with negative mental images, when general, obsessive and not based upon real threats are common cause of anxiety.
the problem with these thoughts beside being illusory is that they involve threats that are indefinite enough to be dealt with, they are not immediate, and have no specific time to happen.
The fourth approach; Hidden emotions
Emotions are meant to be felt, when denied and deliberately forgotten about, they become hidden from the conscious mind. However, as energy, they keep dwelling the body pushing to be released. When the mind fails to address and act upon them, they become a source of anxiety.
Pleasing everyone:
Some people are nice that they prioritize others’ needs over theirs. They keep themselves there for the convenience of everyone believing that it is what makes a good person.
Collective anxiety:
Another important point is the anxiety that affects the masses. The persistent claims of conspiracy theorists that you are being screwed, you are under constant threat, the world is run by psychopaths who won’t hesitate to destroy you for their own good, do more harm than good. I don’t know to what extent the claimed conspiracies are true, but it is obvious that most people believe the world is no longer safe, without being able to identify what is threatening them and when it might happen.
When it comes to political conflict each opposing party becomes conspiracy supporter itself, no matter if it was the ruling party or not. Each one seeks people support by showing them how unsafe they would be with the other parties. They hold prejudice toward each other’s actions and address them with the worst possible explanations.
With everyday business, people tend to bury their feeling of insecurity and move on with their lives. The hidden feeling keeps running in the back of people minds keeping them constantly stressed and anxious.
Dealing with symptoms of anxiety.
To alleviate the symptoms of anxiety I have tried mindfulness, breathing, meditation, Yoga, and Tai Chi. Tai Chi has been the most efficient remedy I have been using so far. It is an ancient Chinese martial art that works on balancing body’s energies. You don’t have to be professional or to perfect the stances, only flowing with the routine will do the work.
Healing:
As I have stated in the first post, anxiety is not the illness that needs to be cured. It is a flag raised by the subconscious mind telling us that there is an unresolved potential threat. The threat might be one to safety, emotional well-being or to the authenticity of one’s self.
It is important to define what causes anxiety in order to heal it. There is no anxiety without an underlying feeling or thought that either consciously or unconsciously triggers fight or flight mode.
First, for compulsive thoughts, cognitive behavioral therapy is being used by psychiatrists and therapists to change the negative thoughts and attitudes one holds about himself and life.
Second, for hidden emotions and lack of coherence with one’s self, the only way out is tuning into one’s soul and be guided from within. In other terms, healing anxiety is about closing the gaps between the authentic self and the superficial one.
I noticed that those who are stubborn enough to live according to their own terms are more comfortable with themselves and less likely to develop anxiety. This might seem from a social point of view as selfishness or immaturity, but this is more of an indication of social closed-mindedness. At the end of the day, the everlasting relationship is the one one has with himself.
Healing is about identifying what parts of one’s self he had compromised earlier to fit in a society, relationship or family and claiming them back. Anxiety might have been the price one paid to have a relationship, to feel loved, to make wealth or to have a good career path. In such cases, the cure is tied to how willing the person is to compromise what he has accumulated and getting back to living from a place of authenticity.