Anxieties

Anxieties can have a huge variety of origins and can, thus, come in many different forms. All of them have in common that the person concerned feels such a high extent of fear that he or she feels deeply impaired in the ability to deal with everyday life. The anxiety is so strong and powerful that a big part of the day is consumed by it. Often, people concerned see no other way than doing anything to avoid the respective object of fear. Even though, this causes an initial feeling of relief, the long-term reaction will mostly end up even more negative than before, due to the avoiding behaviour leading to a lower self-esteem.

Some of the most common types are

Panic disorder

Characterised by repeated panic attacks (suddenly emerging mental state of extreme fear) occurring in the absence of an obvious trigger, leading to significant changes in behaviour as well as to concerns about the panic attack.

Agoraphobia

Characterised by the avoidance of areas where escape seems difficult or impossible (e.g. very crowded, or closed spaces). As a consequence, the respective person’s living space is strongly restricted.

Specific phobias

Characterised by long lasting and exaggerated fear in reaction to a very specific object or situation. Even though the person concerned appreciates that the fear reaction is unfounded, he or she is not able to control it when being confronted with it.

Generalised anxiety disorder

In short, this disorder can be described as the fear of fear. People suffering from a generalised anxiety disorder feel a persistent fear that something bad could happen in the future. They are constantly pondering over possible threats and feel an ongoing tension. This often also comes along with sleep disturbances.

Social phobia

Characterised by an ongoing fear of a loss of face in social or performance situations. Even though people suffering from social phobia realise that the fear they feel is exaggerated they are not able to control it and, thus, avoid it.

What to do

  • Even if it seems to be the most crazy and impossible thing to do, there is one very effective way to get over it: Confront the object or situation of your fear. Once successfully confronted for the first time you will experience that, even though the anxiety is huge and seems invincible in the first instance, you will survive, and the fear will decrease the longer you are actually exposed to it. As a consequence, you will gain self-confidence.
  • To make it easier, start with a less intense confrontation: Just imagine being in that situation, imagine it as lively as you can. Observe your reactions, be aware of your thoughts and your feelings while imagining it and, most importantly, don’t escape. Stick with those feelings and maintain the imagination. This is crucial because, no matter how strong the fear is, it will always decrease once you’ve been exposed to it for long enough. Your body will adapt to that situation and slowly your fear will get less and less and less… After that experience, pay attention to how you feel. Is it relief?

For more ideas on what you could do, see also the page  What can you generally do.

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