The Fear and Anxiety Solution

Generalized anxiety disorder is a problem that the individual encounters in his daily life. It is the state of seeing the situation or object as more dangerous than it is and worrying about the situation/object more than necessary (Kafes A. Y., 2021). In other words, a feeling of uncertainty that challenging emotions and situations may occur in the future. Even uncertainty is a cause of anxiety for the individual. Fear is related to specific or unknown concrete situations and threats. According to the definition by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2013), delusions and anxiety that the person cannot control are accompanied by three or more of the following six symptoms:

• Restlessness or feeling tense or constantly on edge
• Easy fatigue
• Difficulty focusing or mind going blank.
• Get angry easily.
• Muscle tension.
• Sleep disturbance (difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, or unrestful, unsatisfying sleep).

Fear and anxiety are first perceived as unpleasant, a sign of potential danger. The anxiety, worry, or somatic symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Depending on the intensity of generalized anxiety disorder, you avoid being in social situations. For example; You hesitate to ask your questions in class. However, you avoid taking part in a project that requires group work. The ability to make decisions or move forward is lost. You will encounter difficulties in your work and relationship life due to insecurity, doubt, and self-sabotaging behavior. You constantly try to analyze possible situations by thinking about the possibilities and think about the worst-case scenario. According to Shaub, “Fear and anxiety are created for positive purposes. “The intellectual and adaptive dimension of anxiety activates your alarm system, which will allow you to either take precautions against the danger or identify your problem appropriately, by recognizing and taking into account the danger in advance” (2012). While the anxiety you experience at a low level warns you of possibilities and situations, the anxiety you experience at a high level keeps you alert, causing you to flee or fight against danger.

In his book, Schaub explains what happens in our body when we experience fear and anxiety and embodies the psychological and physical symptoms of the challenging emotions and situations we experience. When the brain detects potential danger, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland secrete stress hormones. These; are adrenaline and cortisol hormones. The release of adrenaline and cortisol hormones accelerates breathing, sweating and blood circulation to the outer muscles. According to Cannon (1914), we give fight-or-flight responses to stressful situations. All these stages we experience prepare our body for fight-flight reactions. At the same time, our brain develops a plan against potential threats. So, how can you control the fear and anxiety we experience while all these physical reactions occur?

To think about how we can control fear and anxiety, we need to look at how these challenging emotions and situations occur. These;

• Internal conflict; No matter how hard you work, a voice inside you always says, “You're not good enough. You will never succeed. Did he just imply what a failure you are? I can't believe." These internal conflicts, which make one feel insecure and inadequate, are sometimes defined as self-sabotaging behaviors of the individual.
• Stored Emotions; Not expressing emotions freely, suppressing them, and not allowing them to experience them harms us. We believe that it is better to ignore socially challenging feelings and thoughts. "I will look weak." All the negative emotions suppressed by the thought emerge stronger after a while and harm the individual physically and psychologically.
• Limiting Self-Beliefs; Self-beliefs that an individual has about himself can be the strongest internal resource as well as the biggest obstacle. Most self-beliefs are anchored in the subconscious before puberty. The experiences that create self-belief and the impressions against experiences are to keep the individual safe and to experience happiness. It is about both security and pleasure. We do not consciously determine our self-belief. It is based on the opinions of the people around us about us and how we interpret their actions. (Shaub,2012,p. 78-86) 

As a result of every experience we have, we have some predictions about ourselves and our environment. In fact, we often do not realize that we are talking to ourselves through someone else's mouth. “How did I make this mistake? He'll think I'm incompetent too. always the same thing I'm doing it. “I can't do anything.” These words were perhaps spoken to you at a very critical time. Every time you make a mistake you say to yourself, you told yourself that "You are incompetent." and believed that you were really incompetent. This opinion about yourself is also reflected in your behavior. So, is this something that can be changed? So how can we change the way we think about ourselves? According to Osho; “Emotions and thoughts are guests. They come and they go” (2014). We have been led to believe that our opinions about ourselves will not change and that we will be the same in the future as we were in the past. We believed that our habits and behaviors would not change. In his book Fear and Anxiety Solutions, Schaub explains how we can change our mindset.

REFERENCES

Kafes, A. Y. (2021). An overview of depression and anxiety disorders. Humanistic Perspective, 3(1), 186-194.

A.P. Association. (2013). Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders Dsm-5. ISBN: 9780890425541. Publisher: American Psychiatric Association Publishing.

Cannon, W. B. (1914). The interrelations of emotions as suggested by recent physiological research. The American Journal of Psychology, 25(2), 256-282.

Schaub, F. (2012). The fear and anxiety solution: a breakthrough process for healing and empowerment with your subconscious mind. Sounds True.

Osho International Foundation. (2014). Hsin Hsin Ming: The Zen Understanding of Mind and Consciousness. Osho Media International.