Anxiety is a global health problem. Anxiety predisposes individuals to many physical illnesses, mental health issues, behavioral disturbances, and inappropriate reactions. Four critical attributes occurring in all cases of anxiety are identified—model cases, a related case, a contrary case, and an illegitimate case are presented. Empirical referents that demonstrate occurrence of the concept of anxiety are determined, classified, and related to critical attributes. This concept analysis provides an essential conceptual base for instrument development and clinical research on anxiety.
Suppression and Isolations are defense mechanisms that people use to protect themselves from anxiety. Suppression is when a person puts a situation off until a later time. Isolation is when a person isolates their emotion from the situation. I am guilty of both of these defense mechanism. I think I have masted suppression especially in my relationship with my husband.
I have been many situations where my husband and I are not in agreement and we need to sit down discuss the issue. I know there is a problem that I need to addressed. However, instead of addressing the problem, I usually put it off until the weekend or when I feel my heart can handle the heartache if things do not go my way. I somehow find a way to block whatever it is out of my heart and mind until I am in a place where I feel I can deal with all the emotions. I do this because of fear that if I open myself up to all the emotions and try to deal with the situation, I may find myself crippled to the situation and may not be able to meet all my commitments.
About five years ago when I was in college, I use to get into fights with a boy and would end up being an emotional mess. I would not have the motivation to study, do homework, go to class, or even do anything that involved leaving the house. I distinctly remember a fight I have when I was taking Infectious Diseases. The final grade in this class was an average of two exams and a final. The night before my second exam we had the fight, so, I did not study, woke up late, missed the exam, had to drop the class, and lost my financial aid. In order to get financial aid back, I was required to pay twelve credits hours out of pocket. Meaning, I had to confront my father, explain to him how I lost my financial aid, and beg him to take out a loan for me to pay for college. This is a lesson I will never forget. I still feel the flood of emotions and unmotivated when I am fighting my husband. But now, I find a way to block out the emotions or fight until friday night when I know I do not have an exam the next morning.
Another way I protect myself from anxiety is isolating my emotions. I never thought of it as isolation, I use to think I was running away from difficult situations. I have a friend who I thought of as my best friend. I was planning a Kikuyu traditional wedding in NJ on memorial weekend earlier this year. I was expecting that she would be there. About a few weeks before the wedding, she sent me a text and told me that she may be going to Houston TX for memorial weekend because another friend invited her. So I told her to have a great trip. I got angry and removed her from the wedding group texts, and ignored her calls and text messages. Eventually I did talk to her and listened to her explanation and assured her that it is okay and not to worry about it. This is one example of how I say things I do not mean. I think it could be because I do not want to be pushy or controlling. I want people to do things for me because they want to, not because they think it will hurt my feelings if they don’t. So I try to show them that I am okay with whatever they do, regardless of how it makes me feel. Then, I usually keep my distance from that person.
Reflecting on how we handled past situations is a great way to identify the different ways we protect ourselves from anxiety. When we identify the defense mechanisms we use, we can be aware of them in the future. I think defense mechanisms can be a good or a bad thing. They are good because they help protect us from anxiety. However, it wouldn’t be healthy to suppress our emotions and not deal with our situations. We should be honest with ourselves and other about our emotions and feelings.
