have combined to make the world a more terrifying place
What can we do about this?
Terror!
psychology - physiology - control
Definitions of anxiety, fear, worry, panic & terror
In highly threatening situations our anxiety increases, with 3 main consequences:
- Heart rate and blood pressure increase (sympathetic nervous system activation
- Activation of the "fight or flight" adrenocortical stress hormone system
- Perceptual changes - overestimation of the danger, over-focussing, obsession
Controlling the Effects of Terror:
Heart rate and blood pressure and Acute Stress hormone responses can be reduced by autogenic and breathing techniques. Repeated exposure (with appropriate support for constructive coping) to frightening situations results will also progressively reduce reactivity.
Distortion of Perceptions reduces as physiological responses are reduced, but often requires a mental effort also to "let go", "de-focus", "gain perspective". The first step is to become aware that physiological effects of the perceived danger are "feeding back" negatively onto our quality of perception of how real and important the threat is. Even if the threat is very real, if there is mothing we can do about it, we might choose to widen or change our focus of attention.An approach to stress called "perception-focused coping" focusses on correcting:
- perception of how threatening or hopeless our situation is
- self-perception of how capable, strong or resourceful we are.
- perceptions of how supportive or unsupportive other people (God, Life, etc) are
The ultimate terror relief strategy!
There is a saying in Yoga...
"LET GO - LET GOD"
Echoed of course that wonderful stress-busting popular (Beatles) ballad...
"When I find myself in times of trouble... "LET IT BE" ...there will be an answer..."
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© Copyright 2002 - 2007 Michael J. Meredith