Being the most common feature in our times qualified our times to be probably called an era of anxietyowing  to  its  contradictions  and  challenges,  the  lack  of  opportunities  for  self-fulfillment,  over  stress  and  poor social  relationships  and  values,  which  leads  to  a  sense  of  tension  and  anxiety  associated  with  our  inability  to predict what will happen in the future.

Future anxiety is one of the anxieties that simultaneously emerged with Toffler’s launching of the term Future  Shock  (1970);  Zaleski  (1996)  indicated  this concept  which  refers  to  a  state  of  apprehension,  fear, uncertainty  and  anxiety  of  undesired  changes  expected  to  occur  in  the  future.  This  fear  of  the  future could include a variety of anticipated threats including physical threats, such as illness or accident, or emotional threats, for example the loss of one of the family members. These threats vary in terms of severity, and future anxiety may include the individual’s fear of failure in achieving his/her goals and aspirations.

Full story at Institute of Education Sciences

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#1  Shame and “Social Image”
First, let’s discuss shame and social image.  The experience of shame is important in discussions of social phobia because the socially phobic client is fearful of being shamed in many situations.  As you know, shame is an affect related to a client’s conception of his public image at the time that he is being observed or believes he is being observed.

The client’s notion of his social image may be accurate or inaccurate; but if he believes that his image has been tainted, and he cares about the observer’s opinion of him, then he is likely to feel shame.  Sal stated, “The possibility of being thought of as weak, inferior, or inept is just as bad as actually being talked about in these terms.”  In other words, what others think of Sal is the crucial ingredient of shame induction— irrespective of whether they communicate this opinion.

The key factor in the activation of shame is exposure to observation by one or more persons.  This affect was triggered when Sal realized that he had been observed violating specific social norms, expectations, or demands, especially in relationship to appropriate appearance and behavior.

Sal’s perceived  “deviant” appearance or behavior were judged (he assumed) to be reflections of his weakness, inferiority, ineptness, character flaw, or immaturity.  The public sanctions for lack of conformity, by and large, made Sal feel inferior, depreciated, and immature.  The actual social consequences may consist of covert depreciation or open expressions of disapproval, ranging from mild mimicking to overt ridicule.It should be noted that if a client like Sal manages to conceal his “substandard” behavior or engages in a shameful activity in private, then he does not feel shame.

A client who feels shame sees himself as relatively helpless in attempting to counteract his depreciated public image.  Sal believed he was subject to painful group reprisals, such as public humiliation and ridicule, and is powerless to ward off these attacks.  The social opinion is absolute, finalistic, irrevocable.

It was futile for him to try to modify or appeal the group verdict.  Sal stated, “Any protestations only increases their enjoyment of my embarrassment.”  Sal acknowledged his “inept” behavior by statements such as “I made a public display of myself,” and hung his head or attempted to hide to avoid their gaze.  In his mind, the antidote for shame was to vanish from the shameful situation.  Sal often made statements such as, “I should like to fade away,” or, “I felt like merging into the woodwork.

For #2 Fear of Loss of Love or Abandonment go to Phobias Course.

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A phobia is an overwhelming irrational fear of an object or a situation. Most people have at least one phobia that they simply choose to live with. Phobias don’t become a problem unless they interfere with your everyday life.

If you live in a small town where the biggest building is two stories tall, for instance, having an elevator phobia probably won’t cause you any unpleasant complications. Suppose, however, that you live in New York City and work on the 46th floor of a skyscraper? That makes a fear of elevators a more immediate problem, one that needs to be dealt with.

Fortunately, most phobias can be easily resolved using relaxation techniques to decrease anxiety and graded exposure to slowly get you used to being around the thing that you fear.

The first step in overcoming a phobia is learning to relax your body. Sit or lie in a comfortable position and, starting with your toes, tense and release each muscle group until all of your muscles are completely relaxed. If you have trouble achieving this state on your own, it may help to play soft music or sounds of nature in the background. There are also several CDs available that can guide you through the relaxation process.

Now that you know how to relax and let go of your anxiety, the next step is addressing the elevator phobia. Make a list of five situations involving elevators and number the list from the least threatening thought to the most threatening thought. For instance, being in a lobby with a bank of elevators might be least threatening. Actually riding an elevator up a floor or two might arouse more anxiety, and staying in the elevator all the way to the top of the building might be the most frightening thought.

Once you have your list, start with the first item, in this case walking into a lobby with a bank of elevators. You may feel your muscles tense; take time to consciously relax them. Do this for a few days until you are able to remain relaxed while looking at the elevators. Then move on to the next step on your list and so forth.

If you take your time and make sure you are able to remain completely calm through one task before going onto the next, you’ll soon find yourself able to enter an elevator without fear and ride it up to the floor where your office is located.

Related course:
http://www.onlineceucredit.com/ceus-online/pho-phobias/continuing-education.html

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