(Stillness in the Storm Editor) When we feel threatened, the older parts of the brain override the thinking version of you. The conscious identity you experience as your everyday you will slip away, being replaced by a “triggered version” that has different values.
This triggered you is in survival mode. It doesn’t have the ability to empathize well, it can’t thinking logically, and tends to make snap impulsive decisions.
This is well understood in psychology, and likely you’ve experienced this yourself.
That moment when it seems catastrophe strikes, like when you lose your job, discover your partner has been cheating on you, or get attacked on the street, your identity shifts.
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While psychology is still trying to make sense of how personality, identity, and behavior are all related, we know enough to say that who you are is more like a tapestry of personality aspects than a single identity.
This means, the person you invoke while at your job is one version of you, while the person you invoke while at home is somewhat different.
These differences are the most stark when you feel deeply threatened.
A threat activates ancient defense neurology in the brain, designed to keep you alive. This older aspect is much like a child, which I often describe as the damaged or wounded inner child.
This aspect of us, sometimes called the shadow, the beast, or the hateful-you, exists whether we’re triggered or not. It’s what Carl Jung refers to in his writings about shadow work.
Jordan Peterson describes this as a beast within that must be tamed. That if we fail to contend this this aspect of ourselves, when we get triggered, we’ll be very unhinged.
You know someone who, in their trials and hardships, seems to fly off the rails. They have a jekyll and hyde dynamic. They can go from warm and friendly to nasty and hateful in seemingly the blink of an eye.
This indicates a divided personality, a shadow that hasn’t been integrated.
The following discusses the psychology behind this human trait. The better we’re able to incorporate all our personality aspects, the more in control of our lives we’ll be.
– Justin
by Staff Writer, October 13th, 2019
A mind taken over by anxiety is unable to enjoy even the simplest things. It’s trapped in a state of worry, suffering, negative internal monologue, and the feeling that all you can really do is “get by” from day to day.
When anxiety takes over your life, everything falls apart. Anxiety is like an annoying, uninvited guest that takes advantage of your hospitality. It’ll refuse to leave when you tell it to and, without you even realizing it, will throw everything out of whack in your mind.
When that happens, your personality can change. You’ll lose your potential, your balance, and your well-being.
From a psychological point of view, humans are great at turning “beauty” into “the beast”. What do we mean by that? Well, anxiety itself isn’t your real enemy. In reality, you’re the one who turns it into the awful monster that robs you of your peace of mind.
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In a controlled and balanced way, anxiety can actually be a great ally for you. It’s there to help you react to threats. It gives you a push, motivation, and an ability to achieve things. The problem is that, in many people, anxiety ends up becoming their worst enemy.
Modern society is the perfect breeding ground for anxiety to take hold. It thrives in uncertain, precarious conditions. Nowadays, our world is filled with potential threats. It’s full of things that are out of our control. But to make matters worse, society actually rewards anxious behavior.
Being constantly busy, having a full schedule, or doing five things at the same time is “normal” and something we’re meant to desire. We label anyone who’s different lazy or carefree. But giving anxiety that power can have some serious and unintended consequences. Living your life on auto-pilot isn’t living, it’s just surviving.
“The average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950’s.”
-Scott Stossel-
What happens when anxiety takes over your life?
Robert Edelmann, professor of clinical and forensic psychology at the University of Roehampton in London, made some interesting points in his book, Anxiety: Theory, Research, and Intervention in Clinical and Health Psychology.
He believes that anxiety in and of itself isn’t a psychological anomaly and certainly not an illness. It’s a normal process. The problem is when people start using it improperly.
People can go months, years, or even decades building up tension, fear, and worry. Unresolved experiences, constant stress, and negative internal dialogue can make the pressure in that tank even greater. But the air can’t go anywhere so it keeps building up dangerously.
But rather than blowing up, all this energy finds its way inside you. It penetrates into the fiber of your being and transforms you. That’s what happens when anxiety takes over.
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You’ll stop trusting yourself and self-sabotage
Anxiety turns you into a different person, someone who goes against their own principles and expectations. As time goes on, your mental discourse will turn more and more negative until you simply sabotage yourself. That anxiety-controlled inner voice will cast doubt over every single thing that comes into your head.
Your goals, desires, and plans for the future will also be put under the microscope of this insidious anxiety. It’ll that you’re going to fail again and again. It doesn’t matter how much effort you’ve put into a given task or project. In the end, you’ll doubt yourself so much that you’ll end up giving up.
Your relationships will suffer
When anxiety takes over your brain and your life, it starts to chip away at your relationships with other people, too. When your brain is focused on other things all the time, you’ll start to neglect those around you without even realizing it. It’s hard to pick up on other people’s needs when you’re feeling anxious, pressured, and uncomfortable.
It’s hard to stay intimate, optimistic, and resolved when there’s an emotional whirlwind going on inside you. Without a doubt, what that does is wear away at your bonds with family members and create constant problems. It also affects your social life because it’s difficult to be a friend and make friends when anxiety is ruling your mind.
Everything loses its interest when anxiety takes over
If you’re living with this level of anxiety, inertia will take hold. You’ll simply go to work and come home. You’ll have conversations where you talk, respond, smile, and listen. Ultimately, you’ll do the things you used to enjoy, pretend to have fun, and may even seem happy. But in the end, you always return home feeling empty inside.
Anxiety disorders flood your brain and body with noradrenaline and cortisol. What those hormones do is make you stay alert 24/7, as if you have to be in permanent survival mode. That makes it absolutely impossible to enjoy something or relax. Your anxious brain leaves no room for serotonin or endorphins.
This leads you to become a stranger to yourself. You can’t have a good time with anything, and nothing feels like it has any purpose or meaning. All you can do is wander through that existential emptiness. But you can’t let it keep controlling you, as it’ll exhaust you both physically and psychologically.
Thus, don’t hesitate to ask for help. There are no simple cures for anxiety disorders. The only way to get through one is with specific strategies and mental techniques. But it is possible!
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Stillness in the Storm Editor: Why did we post this?
Psychology is the study of the nature of mind. Philosophy is the use of that mind in life. Both are critically important to gain an understanding of as they are aspects of the self. All you do and experience will pass through these gateways of being. The preceding information provides an overview of this self-knowledge, offering points to consider that people often don’t take the time to contemplate. With the choice to gain self-awareness, one can begin to see how their being works. With the wisdom of self-awareness, one has the tools to master their being and life in general, bringing order to chaos through navigating the challenges with the capacity for right action.
– Justin
Not sure how to make sense of this? Want to learn how to discern like a pro? Read this essential guide to discernment, analysis of claims, and understanding the truth in a world of deception: 4 Key Steps of Discernment – Advanced Truth-Seeking Tools.
Stillness in the Storm Editor’s note: Did you find a spelling error or grammar mistake? Send an email to [email protected], with the error and suggested correction, along with the headline and url. Do you think this article needs an update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading.
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