What is anxiety and how to overcome it

The organs of vision capture information about danger. For example, we see an angry bear. The information is sent to the part of the brain that triggers the fight-or-flight response. The body prepares to save itself and mobilizes the hormonal, respiratory and circulatory systems. The part of the brain that is responsible for thorough reasoning is suppressed. This allows us not to inhibit the reaction to danger, and we become more impulsive. The brain quickly analyzes the environment and chooses a reaction:

Anxiety often appears when we mistakenly perceive a situation as dangerous, exaggerate its threat, or underestimate the ability to cope with it.

For example, a person is faced with a stimulus. The stimulus can be external (a knock on the door) or internal (a painful memory). The brain then gives the stimulus 2 ratings.

The first is an assessment of how dangerous the source of the stimulus is. The second is an assessment of the ability to cope with danger. If both assessments indicate a real or perceived threat, an alarm occurs.

Let's imagine a person who is afraid of public speaking, but has to defend his thesis. He waits in line, looks at people and thinks that those around him are judging him. It seems that everyone thinks: "He doesn't belong here." What did he forget here at all?". So he exaggerates the probability of danger. He also exaggerates the consequences of the danger: "To face condemnation will be terrible, I will not survive it."

The technique was invented by the author of the books, Byron Katie, when she was depressed. The technique is called "Work" and is used in cognitive-behavioral therapy. It is based on the following idea: it is not terrible events that disturb us, but the fact that we consider them terrible. The purpose of the technique is to reformulate thoughts about events in such a way as to get rid of anxiety and to see the possibility of not believing them.

You have to think about the answers. Take your time, use as much time as you need.

A.    Is that true? It is unlikely that he will be able to tell anything about the dissertation that he has been writing for 5 years.

B.   Can I be absolutely sure that it is? No, it's unlikely.

C.  How do I react to this thought? Panic, terror, desire to run away.

D.    Who would I be without this thought? A confident person who is not afraid to assert himself, and a successful scientist.