In today's post I would like to dwell on the topic of anxiety: what anxiety is, where it comes from and what danger it can be fraught with. If you compare anxiety and fear, then at first glance they seem very similar. Both fear and anxiety signal some kind of danger, but the fundamental difference between them is that in the case of fear, the danger is obvious and objective, and in the case of anxiety, it is hidden and subjective. A person may be afraid of a hurricane that is heading towards his house . A hurricane is an obvious and objective reason to be afraid. And a person may be worried that his house will flood, while living in an area where there are no large bodies of water. Anxiety about flooding is subjective. In general, the level of anxiety depends on the significance of the situation and the meaning that a person puts into this situation. In other words, the level of anxiety is not related to the current reality, but to a person’s idea of ​​reality. Why is anxiety such an unpleasant feeling? As we have already found out, anxiety is associated with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe situation, but not with the situation itself. If we return to fear, then in this case a person can take some action: run away, freeze, hit. And in case of anxiety, you have to deal with your internal representation, and then there is no way to do any physical action and relieve tension. In a state of anxiety, a person feels helpless. Finding himself helpless can be unbearable, especially for those people who have an ideal of control and power in any situation. If a person experiences anxiety and finds it difficult to deal with it, but such a person does not have the opportunity to turn to help specialist, he can develop his own ways of coping with anxiety. Unfortunately, the methods that a person chooses do not always actually help get rid of anxiety. There are four bad ways to help “cope” with anxiety: rationalization; negation; drowned out by substances; avoiding thoughts, feelings and situations that may cause anxiety. I will dwell a little on each of these methods, but I will not go into too much detail. So, method 1 is rationalization. Rationalization helps to transfer anxiety from subjective to objective, i.e. into fear. And then it’s easier for a person to explain what’s happening to him, but this doesn’t help much, because the person still continues to worry. For example: there are no bodies of water near my house, but the temperature of the planet is increasing and glaciers are melting, which means the sea level is rising, and my the house may flood due to global warming. Method 2 is denial. Denying anxiety helps push it out of consciousness. In this case, anxiety goes into the manifestation of bodily reactions: trembling hands, sweating, rapid heartbeat, etc. For example: every morning before work, a person’s stomach twists, his hands sweat, and he doesn’t feel very well. There is a colleague at work with whom the person does not get along, but due to repressed anxiety, the person does not connect his physical state with a fantasy of what will happen at work. Method 3 – drowned out with substances. Here, it seems to me, everything is quite clear. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in addition to alcohol or drugs, anxiety can be drowned in work, food or even sexual activity. For example: A person devotes a lot of time to work: he may come early or be late, he loads himself with projects and tasks. And on weekends or holidays, when there is no work and free time appears, a person begins to notice his anxiety and it becomes unbearable, he wants to occupy himself with something, just not to face this feeling. 4 way - avoiding thoughts, feelings and situations that could cause alarm. Fearing public speaking, a person may begin to avoid speaking in public. This may be a conscious decision, or it may be an unconscious one. If the decision is made unconsciously, then there is a possibility of a ban. Prohibitions can manifest themselves in different ways, for example, a ban on expressing an opinion.