What is the purpose of anxiety, really?

[Elshaddai]

As someone who has alot of experience with anxiety, I often ask myself this question.

Why does anxiety even exist when in the long term it doesn't seem to have much benefit for the person experiencing it?

[Farnaby]

Not sure if it has any purpose but it does exist for a reason. 

Anxiety is just our ability to predict future dangers. That's a survival mechanism. 

The problem is when it gets triggered when it's not needed. 

Also, "negative" emotions such as anxiety are often trying to get you to pay attention to what's going on in your life and may not be aligned with your needs. 

I've experienced anxiety quite often, especially social anxiety and for me the anxiety was there because I wasn't allowing myself to be authentic. Not that I was very fake either, but I would be scared of rejection if I "let myself go" and express certain emotions and vulnerabilities. Since I don't repress these things so much, I don't get anxious often anymore. 

This is just an example of why I think anxiety is helpful for improving your life if you dig deep into why it's there.

Hope this helps! 

[Elshaddai]

On 14.7.2020 at 4:47 PM, Farnaby said:

I've experienced anxiety quite often, especially social anxiety and for me the anxiety was there because I wasn't allowing myself to be authentic. Not that I was very fake either, but I would be scared of rejection if I "let myself go" and express certain emotions and vulnerabilities

I also struggle from social anxiety with varying degrees of intensity and struggle to be authentic with poeple, how to you manage to maintain authenticity with others? 

[Chakra Lion]

 

On 7/20/2020 at 7:46 AM, Elshaddai said:

I also struggle from social anxiety with varying degrees of intensity and struggle to be authentic with poeple, how to you manage to maintain authenticity with others? 

I’ve found that when something is falling into Anxiety, it’s really just choosing to partake in a moment that is lacking love, or peace. Confirming fear or distrust in the perceived Experience even when there is no danger to be sensed. As if something was out to hurt you or bring down darkness at any moment from anywhere. Choosing not to trust in life, but instead fearing a thought or feeling that is put infront of another thought or feeling as if it was somehow more reasonable to happen next. Like watching the Kardashians. Life needs Drama to stay creative. I’m not talking to you personally, just in general and from my own experiences that is how I see self induced anxiety. Change who you are by changing the way you Feel and Think. By simply thinking you are authentic, you can feel authentic, and that will make you authentic.

[Farnaby]

On 20/7/2020 at 3:46 PM, Elshaddai said:

I also struggle from social anxiety with varying degrees of intensity and struggle to be authentic with poeple, how to you manage to maintain authenticity with others? 

It's a matter of degrees. I don't think you can be 100% authentic all the time in our society. We all play different roles depending on who we're relating to. The important thing, IMO, is to be aware of it so you can be as authentic as possible as often as you can, especially with the most important people in your life. 

With anxiety in general, my experience is that trying to fight it or control it, only makes it worse. On the other hand, not trying to do anything in particular about it and keep doing the things that make you anxious, slowly reduces the anxiety over time. If it's a very intense anxiety, grounding techniques are useful, but if you think about it, they're also an attempt to get rid of anxiety, which creates tension and that can feed the anxiety.

So, I use them in moderation and other times I just accept that I'm anxious and try to treat that anxious part with compassion and understanding, because it's usually rooted in "traumatic" experiences and is trying to protect me. 

I hope this helps!

[Elshaddai]

@Farnaby Lately meditation, concious breathing And mindfulness have been helping me cope and I see good results so I recommend that you practice mindfulness if you haven't. Resisting anxiety doesn't really help me either, what resists persists.