He who has overcome his fears will truly be free. (Aristotle)
Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival. (Hannah Arendt)
… and everything that you have seen and grasped with your soul. (Anton Čechov)
Anxiety is one of the basic emotions of human existence. Some people experience it early on as a child1, some lucky few are only exposed to it much later in life. There is hardly an emotion as challenging as anxiety. Why is that? Anxiety offers valuable insights into the limits of our life on earth and the inner limits that serve to protect and define us. In this way of thinking, anxiety offers an opportunity to discover the hidden part of ourselves and a big chance to look closer.
A lot of thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Kierkegaard and Sartre have taken on the matter of this existential phenomenon of human being. Whereas anxiety (φόβος, ἀγχόνη oder angor, -oris) was viewed in the ancient world as a powerlessness2, as a frame of mind and a kind of movement that begins and ends in the soul3 and as an anti-philosophical attitude which occurs when you lose the courage to wonder (θαυμαζειν in Plato’s Theaitetos 155c-d und Aristotle’s Met. 982b12-15), it was the existentialist philosophers of the 20th century who saw anxiety in a different light as a crucial aspect of freedom.
According to Kierkegaard, anxiety is altogether different from fear (which is directed at a concrete thing) and he thereby defines anxiety as „freedom’s actuality as the possibility of possibility“4. Anxiety is directed at nothing palpable as it is a cognitive and rather vague process. However, it is not only a negative phenomenon, but it also serves as a reminder for knowledge when it evokes thinking about the conditio humana and the importance of psychological guard rails.
Heidegger is thinking along these lines when he says that anxiety is a way to disclose the freedom of “Dasein”, meaning that the free and authentic self comes into existence in anxiety. Anxiety is a misunderstanding of Being-in-the-world as such. We do not understand the world in which we are thrown in and we don’t know, what it is that scares us.5
Described as the primal phenomenon with Kierkegaard, as a state of mind with Heidegger and as an existential experience according to Sartre who wishes to establish it „in its essential structure as consciousness of freedom.”6 Anxiety is an existential part of being human: Anxiety is me.7 Experiencing the world and its open-ended possibilities means being thrown into freedom which is necessarily associated with fear, anguish and anxiety.
Anxiety is a basic emotion such as anger or joy which all humans can experience, regardless of their cultural and societal background and that are often associated with recognizable universal mimic8 and typical body symptoms. Basic emotions are a part of the physiological make-up of humans from which other emotions may arise. What is an emotion? An emotion is a subjective, specific, mental reaction that manifests as sensations in the body whereas a feeling is generated by our thoughts. An emotional trigger might be anything – a thought, person, smell or sound. Anxiety is a basic emotion common to all humans, but it evokes different reactions due to the nature and individuality of the person having them. This is the reason why anxiety is a true challenge for all those affected, as it means to deal with difficult emotions when they arise and thereby to handle and survive tough times.
Anxiety as an emotion is a natural part of human life, but it can be both normal (helpful) and abnormal (causing distress).9 Normal worry is a true friend as it can help us: When I had a sudden encounter with two wild bears roaming free in the woods of Budapest while out walking my dog some 25 years ago, my heart was pounding in my ears and my mind was empty. Nothing had ever prepared me for such an encounter, and I instinctively did what my big dog was doing – making myself small, backing away slowly without giving any eye contact and keeping calm. It was the right thing to do as we both survived unharmed and when I looked back some minutes later, the bears were gone into the woods. My brain switched into flight-response, prepared my body for high performance before I even had a chance to think clearly.
Constant, overwhelming anxiety however is not normal as it does not help, is out of proportion to the situation at hand (f. ex. no imminent danger) and is often leading to an anxiety spiral with recurring negative thoughts (and interfering with daily life). As mentioned above, this is often due to an anxious thought, sound or smell, even though no bear or sabre-toothed tiger is in front of us. Our amygdala (almond-shaped part of the brain) is being activated and rapid heart beating, trembling or the like may follow. Learning how to cope with anxiety is a true challenge but it can be done with the right tools learnt from therapy with a mental health professional. Learning how to look beyond the debilitating darkness and to discern the limit of normal and abnormal anxiety remains a vital task for all those affected.
Anxiety challenges us to look closer at where exactly our limits are, what we need, what stresses us and what is important to us in life. It may help us to hone our self-management skills and to get over the past which may lead to more self-care and the discovery of inner strength. It remains a strong emotion that cannot be repressed. In all its mysterious, individual diversity, anxiety wants to be addressed, lived through and understood.