Anxiety

by Lida Prypchan

Very few people free themselves from anxiety, though at least Siegfried, the hero of The Ring of the Nibelungen, was born completely free from anxiety.  But it was a rare privilege.  Worries are the historical baggage of humankind.

As typical examples we have the company director who observes that another takes over his position because he is younger, or the student who nervously counts the days until an exam that is crucial for his future.

As can be seen, anxiety in itself is not abnormal; it is simply an all-embracing response by our personality when facing situations that threaten us.  Subjectively, it is characterized by a state of uncertainty, apprehension, tension, and helplessness when facing a threat that we perceive in a vague and imprecise form.

However, it is not necessary to think that everything about anxiety is negative, because in some cases, and depending on the person, it becomes a prod that drives us to attaining something that really matters to us.

But anguish becomes irrational when we exaggerate the response, that is, when in all or in the majority of our activities we allow it to destroy our thoughts, and there it is true that the matter is complicated because this extreme anxiety could easily lead us to depression or even to suicide.  As to its origin, it has been demonstrated that anxiety has genetic roots, but to a larger extent the environment in which the individual operates influences this.  That is why today’s society, with excess population, traffic, crowding, neurosis, and the struggle to "keep up with the Joneses", produces excessive stress on the inhabitants of these societies.

In the specific case of Venezuela, having few men prepared to deal with the large demand for qualified men to meet the needs of the country, we see that these few do the work of many.