Overcoming Angst: Gaining Trust and Courage

By Dr. Stephan Peeck
Institut für Logotherapie und Existenzanalyse Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany

Translated by Tom Edmondson for meaninginministry.com

Translation note about the word “angst”: The German word angst is known and used by speakers of English. This is both helpful and unhelpful. In German angst ranges in meaning from “anxiety” to “fear.” In English we generally use the word angst to describe anxiety in an existential sense. For us, angst/anxiety is a fear of the unknown. The meaning of the word “fear” is more concrete. If I encounter a bear in the woods, I experience fear because I am afraid of the bear. But if I feel fear of something unknown, that is anxiety.

As used in this paper, the word angst carries the full range of meaning in German: fear and/or anxiety.  More often than not it means “fear,” but not always. For this reason, I have decided to leave it untranslated since choosing one over the other may detract from the nuance of meaning intended by Dr. Peeck. Therefore, I leave it to the reader to decide from context how to render the word angst. My hope is that the reader will find the “extra work” enlightening.

On Angst

Angst is probably one of the most central psychological problems that people have to deal with. In my 35 years of therapeutic work, I have seen time and again that at the bottom of the most diverse disorders, as well as many other psychological problems that cannot be immediately described as psychological disorders, there are ultimately two core issues: lack of self-esteem and angst. There are certainly other basic issues that plague people deep down, but the two phenomena just mentioned - angst and lack of self-esteem - seem to me to be the most significant. In recent years, I have been able to give lectures here on the subject of self-acceptance and self-rejection. This evening, the subject will be angst and its opposite poles: courage and trust.

 First of all, no one needs to be ashamed of their angst! All of us, without exception, are afraid. And anyone who thinks or says that they are not afraid should forget it, they are simply suffering from a certain lack of knowledge about themselves. Angst is a phenomenon that is an indispensable part of life; angst is an existential factor. We have always had it, currently have it, and will always have it throughout our lives. The key question is not how do I get rid of my angst, but rather, how can I deal with it so that it influences my life less in a negative way so that my trust courage in life become ever stronger.

 The Essence of Angst

First of all, I would like to circle a little around the nature of angst. As already mentioned, there is no such thing as an angst-free life. No progress, no matter what kind, can eliminate angst. The experience of angst is completely independent of the respective culture in which people live, completely independent of the level of a person’s development or even of their humanity. What certainly changes are the objects of angst, i.e. what a person is afraid of in each case. And the respective coping strategies with which people try to master their angst will also vary. But the angst itself remains. 

It is important to see that angst is by no means only negative. Angst, for example, has an important warning function for humans, it warns us of real dangers and motivates us to look for ways out. Angst also drives development in a wide variety of areas of life: it mobilizes forces when we really need them, angst makes us look for counterforces to angst, such as trust and courage, angst is also a challenge for inner maturation and personal development, etc.

But angst also has a very negative effect on us. It minimizes self-confidence, it impairs intellectual learning performance, it has an overall distorting effect on our perception of reality, it strongly blocks our curiosity and exploratory behavior, it prevents us from developing our full or even partial potential, it makes us feel much smaller and less capable than we really are. And angst is rampant! It likes to spread across more and more areas of life. At the end of our lives, we will certainly realize that we could have easily have saved ourselves from at least 80% of our angst. 

Masks of Angst

Each of us will know this: experiencing angst is always a holistic experience, it includes body, soul, spirit and also relationships with other people with whom we live; it is therefore expressed in all dimensions of human life. But not everyone will be aware of the "numerous counterfeits," as Kierkegaard once called them, behind which angst likes to hide. Angst is hidden behind many masks, so that sometimes we don't even recognize or notice the angst itself.

Typical physical masks can be heart-complaints of all kinds, shortness of breath, choking, sweating and perspiration, various gastrointestinal disorders, urge to urinate, sleep disorders, trembling, waking up at night, dizziness, dry mouth, high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels, a diffuse, general weakness, muscle tension and much more. 

In the psychological area, angst can hide behind a diffuse feeling of being constantly threatened, the constant lurking for danger, overvalued hedging tendencies, little ability to stand firm, a very strong need to lean or cling, flattery, need for fusion or strongly symbiotic needs. Angst can also be behind decision-making weakness, hidden claims to power or comfort. Continued worrying is also often a mask of angst, just like a very narrow, limited view of the world or narrow religious thinking and feeling. Angst can also be the central root for lovelessness, loneliness, isolation and hopelessness. Angst also likes to hide behind jealousy, great demands, envy, nervousness, restlessness, erratic and rapid fatigue. This list could certainly be continued much further. 

Typical of the Experience of Angst

It is also typical of the experience of angst that one tends to generalize: all people are bad, the whole of life is dangerous, you can't trust anyone, etc. In addition to generalizations, the anxious person often also suffers from a very distorted perception of reality: "I saw clearly in your look that you don't like me!" In reality, the other person had nothing against me.  

Often, people do not know the real name of the object of angst, so they do not know what they are actually and really afraid of. They then think that they are afraid of this or that, but in reality, they are afraid of something completely different. This is something typical of the angst dynamic: angst wafts away in the unconscious. It has long since detached itself from the events that once triggered it. Since people cannot really stand such a diffuse angst, the psyche has the tendency to turn this diffuse angst into a concrete angst of something.

For example, one client of mine was very afraid to go outside and even more afraid to leave the safety and comfort zone of the Hamburg city area. This zone was still somewhat familiar to her. But everything else seemed dangerous to her. In reality, she was just as little afraid as anyone else to leave Hamburg. In reality, as working with her showed, she had been very afraid of her very strict and sometimes brutal father in the past. And this angst then attached itself to something completely different, namely, going outside. The original angst of the father thus manifested itself in the form of agoraphobia.

Forms of Angst

The formal forms of angst are now very diverse. There is a diverse, normal experience of angst that people have to deal with in their everyday lives: the angst of the very exhausting day that will come tomorrow, the angst of a decision that you have to make, the angst of a necessary discussion with another person that is overdue, the anxious angst of whether the money will last until the end of the month, etc. These are all real angsts (concerns) that have no clinical value.

 In addition, there are also angsts that are pathological, i.e. indicate a mental disorder. These are, for example, panic attacks that can appear out of the blue; phobias of all kinds, such as the angst of being indoors (claustrophobia), the agoraphobia just mentioned, the angst of injections (this is probably the most common phobia), the phobia of certain animals (big or small), the angst of elevators, bridges and 1000 other things.

There are also social phobias, i.e. the overvalued angst of other people, or more precisely, of others of getting into an embarrassing situation; of attracting unpleasant attention; of embarrassing oneself or of being judged negatively; of blushing in front of them or even losing control over the excretory functions, of having to vomit, etc. After all, there is also such a thing as a generalized angst disorder. People who suffer from this suffer from constantly angst-filled thoughts, from constant angst for their own health and the health of people close to them, from constant anxious brooding with regard to private and professional situations, from constant worrying. The contents of these angsts are quite normal, the intensity of the constant angst is no longer normal. It's simply overvalued. 

Origins of Angst

But where does angst come from? There are very different findings and theories.

Angst can ultimately have its origin in physical causes. This aspect should never be overlooked. Not every angst problem has a psychological background. There are also physical causes of angst, such as vasovegetative and endocrinological regulation disorders, organ weaknesses or organic malfunctions can also trigger angst, such as malfunctions of the heart, thyroid gland, liver, spleen, inner ear, etc. These physical causes should always be clarified by a doctor.

Angst can also have its origin in early parent-child relationships. A child experiences that his real inner feelings, strivings, drives, wishes, thoughts, etc. are not wanted, but are punished. And so a fear of punishment, loss of love, violence, of being abandoned, of being separated, of being helplessly at the mercy of others, develops.

Angst can also have its origin in what can be called sanatorium families or fortress families. In such family settings a child is taught again and again that life is dangerous, one is overprotected, constantly protected from the evil world , or one is told that what happens here in the family is nobody's business out there in the evil world. We stay here completely among ourselves.

Of course, traumatic experiences can also lead to angst, which in the worst case can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

 Angst can also be based on a feeling of deep meaninglessness, in the angst of nothingness. Kierkegaard once called angst the vertigo of freedom. Freedom is always also freedom of choice. And I can also make wrong choices in decisions, and that makes you afraid. Angst can also ultimately be based on the angst of feeling inferior.

The simple fact that we are all finite beings with death at the end of our lives can also be a cause of angst.

The fact that in life we always become guilty of other people, of ourselves and of God, can also be a deep-seated cause of angst. 

Angst can ultimately also be based on what can be called the basic personality structure. This theory assumes that people are unique, individual beings on the one hand, but on the other hand they also have something like a basic personality pattern that is supra-individual and share it with other people. There is, for example, the psychoanalyst Fritz Riemann who distinguishes four basic patterns with the types of angst that go with them: the angst of devotion, the angst of self-realization, the angst of change, and the angst of necessity and finality. 

In this context, the Enneagram should also be mentioned, which distinguishes not four, but nine basic personality patterns. Here, too, certain basic angsts are assigned to each basic personality pattern: the angst of being judged, of being unloved, of being rejected, of being abandoned, of being threatened and overwhelmed, of being at the mercy of others, pain of having to subordinate oneself and angst of separation.

Angst can also be based on a lack of love, on a lack of "yes" to life. The more I say "yes" to life despite everything, the less angst will be able to rule me. The more I withdraw from life – denying life – the more I leave the direction in and over my life to angst, among other things.

The fact that none of us knows exactly who or what ultimately protects and carries and holds our lives can also be a deep-seated cause of angst. However, the deeper a person can believe that a good God holds his life in his hands on the basis of life, the less angst will be able to eat away at him. Yes, in short, angst can make us do anything that restricts, threatens, hurts or destroy our inner or outer living space. And as you can see, these can be very diverse things. 

Help with Angst

When it comes to aids with which we can counter our angst, it is worth briefly recalling what has already been said above. There is no such thing as an angst-free life. Any help against angst can only ever be about assigning angst the place it deserves: the place on the periphery of our lives and not in the middle of our existence. 

In my experience, in order to effectively counter angst, regardless of its kind and manifestation, it is important to counter it on a wide variety of levels: on the physical, psychological, mental/spiritual/spiritual and social level. It is also important to deal with it in both dimensions of the human being, in the conscious and in the unconscious. And it is important to meet it with recognition and action. And finally: you always have to weigh which are the means of choice and which means are not suitable to remedy angst. In particular, I mean that you have to see whether it makes sense, as they say, to deal with angst in an uncovering way, i.e. to uncover the causes of angst in addition to the counterforces that need to be mobilized, or whether it makes sense to concentrate primarily on strengthening the counterforces to angst. These are all considerations that must be made individually and anew in each individual case. In the following, I would like to develop a whole range of tried and tested aids against angst. 

Seek Medical and Pharmaceutical Help

Anyone who suffers from severe angst is strongly advised to consult a doctor or specialist, among other things they can do. This means either the family doctor, who may refer you to other doctors, such as an internist or a psychiatrist. I don't just say that, but I mean it very seriously. Whenever there are really stronger angsts, medical and, if necessary, medication help is a central component. If angst, as mentioned above, has a primarily physical cause, then you can try whatever you want with psychological and spiritual aids, but none of this will help, since the cause of the angst lies primarily in the physical area. 

But even if the cause of the angst is not primarily physical, but psychological, medical and pharmaceutical help can sometimes be indispensable. In order for psychological/spiritual help to be effective at all, a severely anxious person must first be able to calm down to such an extent that he or she is not only flooded and shaken by his angsts.

Two typical attitudes can sometimes get in the way of those affected. As an example of one attitude, an interlocutor of mine should be mentioned here. This woman was literally shaken by her angst. She sat at home for hours just shivering in her armchair, and when she came to me for a conversation, a deeper conversation was not possible because of all the trembling and crying and despair. My attempts to persuade her to visit a psychiatrist initially failed because of the following basic attitudes, which she expressed as follows: "I have to do it on my own." And: "If I take pills, then I become addicted to the stuff and I'm no longer myself." Both are bad postures. Some things you can't do alone, and medication is not always addictive. And they don't always alienate me from myself. On the contrary, they can certainly help me to be more myself than I ever was. After the client had made her way to the psychiatrist and had taken medication for a while, albeit quite reluctantly, her condition improved considerably, and real conversations could begin and also go into depth.

The other bad attitude regarding the doctor's visit and the possible intake of medication is the following: “The doctor will fix it; he should give me the right pill and then it will be fine.” No, the doctor will not fix it at all, he can only help me to fix it myself. And the pill alone won't fix it either. I can't avoid the inner work on myself, whatever it may look like now. 

Strengthen Motivation

Anyone who wants to overcome a more noteworthy inner problem needs a strong motivation to do so. C.G. Jung once said: "The human soul is inherently conservative. Only the sharpest need can frighten them." Unfortunately, this is true. Often, we live in our rut as long as we can still stand it somehow, until it is no longer possible. Often only then do we look for ways out. And that also applies to angst.

 However, if you are smart, you don't do this to yourself, but counter angst before it has driven you further and further into a corner. In other words, don't get used to angst! Don't just resign yourself to the tune: "That's just the way it is with me". The answer is: “No, that is not simply the case, but I will let it be that way – at least in part.”

The motivation to overcome angst can be strengthened, for example, by imagining what it would be like if angst determined my life less and less. How much freer and easier would my attitude to life be? How much more dilated and freer would my body, especially the stomach area, the heart, the solar plexus, feel comfortable then? How much better would I sleep at night? How much further would my everyday spaces of disposal probably be if angst didn't have such a grip on me? I could take the train again and just go anywhere, I would no longer hide from other people, but would face them as a matter of course and say and do what I want to say and do. The constant worrying about whatever would fade more and more into the background and joie de vivre would be more of a guest in my life again. My God, imagine that: instead of angst, to have joy in life again!

 And then it was worth remembering times when life was the way I imagine it. The important thing about both, coloring and remembering the good times, is that you make it as meaningful and emotional as possible, that you visualize it really deeply - and not just take a quick look at it in your mind. 

A dangerous enemy that could get in the way here, in addition to inertia, is resignation. "Don't kid yourself," it says, "yes, yes, I know, all these little psychological tricks; don't listen to this chatter, it doesn't help anyway. You see it – how long has angst been plaguing you? Well, you see, this has been going on for many years. You just have to live with it. That's how it is with you." 

Resignation is the premature, powerless and defiant abandonment of the search for meaning, and overcoming--or at least reducing--my angst problem is profoundly meaningful. Of course it is important to recognize your resignation and hopelessness and to express it: “It is also a part of me. But only a part.” That is why these questions are important in this context: “Is that really true? Is there only hopelessness and resignation in me, is there no other positive and constructive feeling left in me? Have I really given up completely?” 

A conversation partner of mine, who was physically healthy but still suffered from a massive angst that she could get cancer or already have it, answered these questions in the affirmative. "I've already done so much therapy - and yes, it has helped. But look where I stand since these stressful situations with father, my sister, and job loss due to Corona have taken me back. I'm back exactly where I was many years ago, constantly afraid of getting cancer. I still get on elevators and commuter trains, but only with really great angst. The panic attacks also start again. I'm slowly giving up!" Instead of arguing with her or talking to her, we went into the imagination, i.e. into the inner world of images or symbols, the world of the unconscious. 

We journeyed to the resigned Inge (her name) and the hopeful Inge. After a short relaxation exercise, I asked her to let her initial landscape come. It was a meadow with a large, strong, and healthy tree in the middle. She was quickly absorbed in the imagination, saw the tree and also the landscape around it. However, the weather was quite gloomy and stormy. I first asked her to send for the allied figures (inner allies) she knew. These were the inner healer and the inner lion. Both figures came, but unlike usual, she couldn't really feel their charisma.  

I instructed her to simply ask her inner self, her mind, to show her what is blocking the flow of energy from the healer and the lion to her, and it was not long before she appeared to herself. She was about the same age as she is today but looked like a castaway. What did this sight trigger in her, I asked her. Answer: deep shock and also deep sympathy. I asked her to go to herself and give this shipwrecked Inge what she needed. She comforted her for a long time. Then the healer and the lion came and gave her comfort. That took quite a while. Little by little, the weather began to brighten. Then I asked her to call the hopeful inner Inge. This was not long in coming, either. When she was near her, I asked the client to describe the charisma of this Inge. "Very relaxed and very confident," she said, and she didn't think of new hope and new courage, but she felt both. 

So we can draw motivational power when we dive into the depths of our unconscious. There it is true that we are more than just the feeling of resignation, for example. 

Seeking Counterforces to Angst

Imagine a river on which a ship sails. On the bottom of the river is a more or less large and sharp-edged reef. As long as the river now carries enough water, the ship does not care whether there is a reef on the bottom of the river or not. As long as the water level of the river is high enough, the ship sails over the spot with the reef completely unscathed and cheerful. The reef only becomes dangerous to the ship when the water level drops and is too low. 

And so it is with angst: it may be that there are many things at the bottom of our soul that frighten us and radiate a feeling of angst into our mind. But as long as we have strong counterforces against angst, we are on the safe side. 

But what are these opposing forces? In my opinion, the central counterforce to angst is trust. Of course, also courage – but I believe that trust is ultimately the reason to be able to be courageous. Only when I have sufficient confidence in life that everything will somehow go well, do I have the courage to dare to do things and move forward. In this context, by trust in life I mean the trust that “life” will meet me and will meet me despite all the adversities that I have encountered, that “life” will carry me through all of this and protect and carry and hold me despite everything.

But how can we gain such confidence in life? My answer may surprise you. We don't have to win this trust in the first place. Rather, it is already there in the depths of our minds. And this is not only the case for one person or the other, or only for those who grew up under happy living conditions. No, this basic trust in life is there in the depths of every human being, it is there. You don't have to laboriously bring it into a person. Rather, it is the case that people sometimes need help in bringing it out of themselves. In other words, people sometimes need help in unearthing the treasure of deep trust in life that is there deep in their unconscious, in being able to experience it, feel it and make it fruitful for their lives. 

Now, of course, one can object that what I am telling you here is pure dreaming and say that it probably misses the reality that many people experience every day. No, this is not blind idealism and by no means pure wishful thinking. It is the experience I have gained in 35 years of therapeutic work. To put it in the words of my old teacher Uwe Böschemeyer: "Our depths are bright."

 Note to reader: starting at this point Dr. Peeck begins to talk about “imaginations.” He is referring to a technique called wertorientierte imagination, which is a technique pioneered by Uwe Böschemeyer for taking a client consciously into their subconscious. Through this process, the client encounters their inner values as images and symbols. Whenever words like “imagine” and “imagination” refer to wertorientierte imagination, I will italicize the word to indicate this meaning. For more information on wertorientierte imagination, see other papers I have translated by Dr. Stephan Peeck and Dr. Heye Heyen, or read a book by Uwe Böschemeyer.

Of course, I am also aware that many disturbing layers can lie over this trust in life, which lies in our depths. Disruptive forces exist that can sometimes be so strong that a person can no longer penetrate to the forces present in his depths. But that doesn't change the fact that they are there. As I said, I don't just suck this certainty out of my fingers or have made it up from literature or myself at my desk. No, I have experienced it again and again in many tens of thousands of imaginations that I have done with people. And these were and are often people who have not had it easy in life so far.

I would like to illustrate with two examples. A woman suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder due to very significant trauma. As you can imagine, angst and panic attacks are an essential part of this problem. This was also the case with my client. We have been talking for a long time now, the curve of improvement, albeit with real ups and downs, is slowly, slowly going up. So far, we have done a lot of imaginations. In one of these imaginations, we wandered into the land of deep inner serenity and detachment. It lies on the water of the sea and allows itself to be carried by water. She feels the benefit of being carried and is also illuminated by the warming sun from above. She can relax relatively well, let go. Nevertheless, tension remains in body and mind. Then, all of a sudden, and without any further stimulation from me, she sinks into the depths of the sea.  

At first, I was not quite comfortable hearing this, because in the depth of the sea (i.e. in the depth of the unconscious) there are all kinds of things to be found: really good and also really frightening things. But I did not interrupt them, I just let it happen. After some time I asked her how she felt. Her answer was very brief: "Good," she said. I was reassured and asked her to just let the good experience happen. This went on for quite a while, then she also said very briefly: "It's enough." Then she came back and opened her eyes again.

In the follow-up conversation, she first apologized for her long silence and the brief words. And then something beautiful happened. She now told a little more eloquently what she had experienced there in the depths. She had slid deep down into a spring at the bottom of the sea. And being in this spring everything was only good. There was no pain, no angst, no restlessness, nothing, absolutely nothing, in the way of negative feelings, but only good ones: joy, lightness, peace, freedom – simply everything good! Every time we imagine, we wander anew to this source – and every time we experience the same thing: everything is good. This interlocutor can also imagine very well with herself alone and also wanders to this source at least once a day. And there, too, she experiences this deep inner peace again and again. 

How should we imagine the lasting effect of this experience? Here one must by no means fall into blind enthusiasm but rather keep things in perspective. With C.G. Jung, one could perhaps say: “In this source, the client encounters forces that are present in the collective unconscious, i.e. forces that can be found, as it were, in the human unconscious.” These forces, however, cannot be integrated into our conscious attitude to life in such a way that they would become habitus. They cannot be fully integrated. You have to visit them again and again.

 If I try to say it from a theological perspective, then I would say: “In such an experience, the divine radiates into the mind of the client. Through all the disturbing layers, she encounters the radiant and deeply loving world background, she encounters the love of God.”

 For their concrete lives, this does not mean that all angst is gone. However, it does mean that the angst, if it regularly visits this source, can spread much less in its everyday attitude to life.

A completely different example. A man who had quit his job of his own accord first received unemployment benefits. Now, however, time was slowly running out and unemployment benefits were moving dangerously close to running out. He had not yet found a new job. He was married, had two small children and was the sole breadwinner in the family. In short, it all depended on him.

 Angst began to take possession of him more and more. In an imagination we wandered to the figure of deep inner trust. After a longer relaxation exercise, he found himself lying on a lake. I asked him to just wait for the form of deep inner trust. But no figure came. Then, quite surprised, he felt that something was pushing under him from below. He lay on the lake with his arms outstretched and precisely adapted to his body shape, he perceived that a figure had pushed itself under him. He couldn't see it, but he felt that this figure was carrying him with very gentle force. He let himself be carried deeper and deeper, let go more and more and felt: “I am not sinking.” This experience touched him very much. This person did not imagine much with himself alone at home. However, the memory of this experience helped him again and again over many an angst-filled hour. And: pretty much at the last minute, before Hartz IV threatened to kick in, he found a new job.

A counterforce to angst is not only trust. We can journey to many other forces in the depths of our unconscious to counter angst. There is, for example, the inner lion, a symbol, i.e. a force field, of courage and vitality. When an imaginer encounters the inner lion, he often feels a lot of power and warmth that flows through him. One can journey into the land of deep inner hope and call the figure of hope there. These are often figures flooded with light who give the person feeling hope and confidence. Or, you can journey into the land of inner freedom. There, people often feel physically how the body sensation, which is narrowed by angst, is loosened and expanded. You can also call the good supporting hand. In it, people very often experience a feeling of deep inner security, a feeling of deep inner support in life.

 So that there are no misunderstandings: Imagining is not a miracle cure, but an intensive existential work. It is by no means enough to make two or three imaginations for a moment. Imaginative work is an intensive process that takes time to have an effect. When people ask me how long such a process takes, I answer, “Always longer rather than shorter.”

What am (or was) I Afraid of?

I said above that you have to decide anew from interlocutor to interlocutor whether you should primarily only strengthen or strengthen and uncover. The two examples just mentioned illustrated the strengthening work, i.e. the search for counterforces to angst. And in the case of the client with post-traumatic stress disorder, this was and is also the most sensible way.

 However, as far as the situation allows, it is always good to also work in an uncovering way, i.e. to ask: “Where does the angst in my life actually come from, what is its origin, what was I really afraid of once? What actual angst is behind my phobia or behind my panic attacks or my angst of whatever kind?”

 Here's another example. The woman I already mentioned briefly above in connection with an imagination for motivation, comes to the interview because of an angst of cancer. She was and is physically completely healthy, at least as far as cancer is concerned. There were and are no signs of an actual or an imminent illness. Nevertheless, she is literally eaten away at intervals by the angst that she might have cancer. Elevators and airplanes were and are not exactly her friends either. Her mother, however, had died of cancer. This affected her very much at the time. 

While telling her life story, it quickly became clear where her angst came from. She had grown up in a family in which she was only devalued and made small over and over again. Her father in particular has never been interested in her. On the contrary: he only circled around himself, around his ailments, his sufferings. And when something didn't suit him, he became short-tempered, angry, and threatening. As for mother, she had to be mothered rather than being a mother to her. In summary: she had learned in her childhood and adolescence that she was of no importance at all, her task in life is to serve others, to be there for others, to follow others under all circumstances, and nothing else. And that's what she did. In the family she had sacrificed herself for her sick mother. Again and again she had tried to please her father through docility and kindness. And to this day she takes care of her very sick sister far beyond her strength. 

What was she really afraid of? She was afraid of her father's devastating rage; she was afraid of being worth nothing; she was afraid of her massive self-aggression, which was gradually intensified in her by the devaluing experiences in the two first decades of her life by her family. But no, the self-aggression in her was not based on the experiences in the family. Self-aggressive forces are a primal phenomenon in life, each of us suffers from them. However, how strongly they can push themselves into the center of our self depends very much on the circumstances under which we grew up. And she was afraid of her very own desires, drives, feelings, precisely because she had experienced again and again that they count for nothing, that it is very threatening to give in to them. 

But what can be done about it? Doesn't it just make it worse by becoming aware of all this again? No, it doesn't – but always under the condition that the uncovering of the connections is justifiable for the respective person, that he is sufficiently stable to be able to endure it. It is helpful to understand these connections, to see through them. It is about a tangible awareness of how everything used to be – how it really was. It could be helpful here to let the images of father, mother and other essential caregivers come before your inner eye and then try to perceive calmly: 

·      What does father/mother radiate? What kind of atmosphere did father/mother spread at home: an atmosphere of well-being, freedom, joy, lightness or an atmosphere of angst, threat, narrowness, angst, constant worry, emptiness, etc.? Next it was worth asking: what must that have done to my young mind at that time? What traces has this left in me? And how did these traces run through my life? What have they done to me?      

It can then also be worthwhile to take the frightened child from back then very carefully in your imagination in your arms and simply give closeness and love to him/her. At that time, the child was at the mercy of all this alone. Today I am with him as an adult and can comfort him. And you could also start to ask yourself: “Is there really only angst in me when I look at this little frightened child? Isn’t there also anger, indignation, rage against those who have frightened this child so much?” If that is the case, it would certainly be worthwhile to let this anger become really big, to express it to oneself, to write it off one's soul, possibly even to express it very clearly directly to the caregivers from the past. 

Very often, however, there is resistance to really becoming aware of this outrage. Very quickly the objection comes: Father/mother also had their history, they didn't have it easy in life themselves, back then the times were completely different, etc. It is very important here to make it clear: the small child of that time did not care at all whether times were different than today, it did not matter at all whether father or mother also had a hard time. The child of that time has suffered. It finally wants to be seen and listened to in its suffering and its need due to the injustice that has befallen it. And it wants to be able to vent its anger and not be abandoned by me and silenced again. The others did that enough back then. Only after this has been sufficiently done, one can gladly let the situation of the parents of that time work on and understand them from the perspective of one's adult self.

 It is also good to look at oneself and ask oneself: "From when was it no longer fatefully necessary for me to bow to the pressure of my father and the angst of my mother again and again?" From what point on could I perhaps have mustered the courage to defend myself and, if necessary, to go into confrontation? If you then conclude: It was simply not possible for me to behave differently than I did at that time, then you should definitely be clear: 

·      Today I am an adult. Today I am no longer a child. Today I can behave differently than I did then. This is very important: in today's encounters with the people who instilled angst into my mind at that time, I should stand up clearly and distinctly, no longer meet them as afraid, but very, very clearly, and be who I really am, say what I really want to say.

To make it clear with the example of the client mentioned above: for her it was very important to no longer let her father order her around, not to let herself be carried away by his whining to false pity, not to let her sick sister make her feel guilty anymore, but to be able to see and maintain her own limits. In other words, feeling permission to live their very own lives and to actually do so was central to overcoming angst.

Now it may be that the illumination and processing of the origins of angst solely through the conversation conducted in consciousness ultimately only leads to the fact that one now knows more, but emotionally nothing changes. If this is the case, then it would also be good to descend deeper into the unconscious with the help of the imagination.

For example, you would journey to the wounded inner child. Such a wounded inner child often sits frightened and huddled in a corner. In contrast to the consciously conducted conversation, the imaginer experiences the misery of this child emotionally much more closely. It is then important for this child to lovingly turn to himself and with the help of the inner allies, such as the inner comforter, the inner lion, the inner healer, to take him comfortingly in his arms, to give him what he needs now that I am experiencing him. This often leads to very deep and emotionally strong experiences of being comforted, of being seen and understood, of being wanted and loved. And then you also call up the inner angry one, the inner border guard, the inner conflict-strong one and with these forces you approach once again, for example, the father who humiliated me and with the help of these forces you stand up straight before the father. As a rule, the father then first inflates to a huge size and then becomes smaller and smaller and finally disappears.  It is very touching to see what a deep inner liberation is triggered in the imaginative realm by this.

To prevent misunderstandings once again: this is not done with a few imaginations, it requires – depending on the strength of the angst – a whole series of imaginations, always connected with the conversations conducted entirely in consciousness.

Seek out Angst-provoking Situations and Do Not Avoid Them

Another help for coping with angst-triggering situations should be seek them out as far as is justifiable and cannot be avoided. This does not mean that one should seek angst, only that one should not avoid the angst-provoking situations when they occur, but to face them. It is good to be very clear about one thing: in a way, there is nothing more dangerous than constantly “playing it safe.” Of course, it is good to protect yourself against dangers in a sensible way, no question. But we often also protect ourselves in an overvalued way and that's unhealthy. Why? Because with every unnecessary hedge, you always carry angst around with you in your luggage instead of trusting.  

Overvalued security only seems to stabilize, in reality it stabilizes only one thing: angst. And since angst tends to proliferate, the person who secures himself in an overvalued way is gradually harassed a little more by his angst. Goethe already knew that. Goethe is said to have suffered from an angst of heights and is known to have liked to travel. He is said to have often climbed higher and higher towers, especially when the opportunity presented itself, to overcome this angst.

But even independently of Goethe, the following applies: if you feel uncomfortable in the presence of other people and easily develop angst there (i.e. have a more or less strong social phobia), you would do well to expose yourself to these situations. If you tend to put things off out of angst instead of tackling them, you would do well to tackle them. Anyone who is afraid to express themselves or express their opinion in the presence of other people should open their mouths and not remain silent. I myself, for example, used to be a very self-insecure person. I trained in the Hamburg subway in the morning ...

A conversation partner of mine was, among other things, afraid of flying and afraid of confined spaces. In a behavioral therapy she had once done, she was put – with her consent – in a really cramped cubicle for 30 minutes. She was told: “Please don't daydream away into another beautiful landscape, but stay mentally where you are in this narrow cabin.” The angst that came then was huge, but she endured it. And then it was all over. According to her own statement, this drastic treatment had really helped her. 

Of course, when it comes to stronger angst, such measures should not be taken alone, but under therapeutic supervision. And that alone will not help if you only try it this way. In that case it may well be that the angst only shifts to another object. You should combine this with the above-mentioned aids. 

Dereflection

The following can also help. People who suffer from panic attacks should concentrate on something completely different from angst when such an attack comes, as sensual as possible. Specifically, you could, for example, concentrate on the leaves of a tree and look very closely, but really very closely, to see whether all leaves are really the same green and distinguish the shades of green from each other. You can also feel the trunk with your fingers and count the bumps you feel. The same can be done with the bumps that are in a woodchip wallpaper or ... The crucial thing here is to direct the inner perception as much as possible to something other than angst.

A small example from practice: Ms. Ohl's story...... The whole thing is called dereflection.

It is not Just Feelings of Angst that Cause Anxious Thoughts

Of course, the feeling of angst also colors our thoughts. But the game also works the other way around. Constantly worrying and anxious thoughts also make anxious feelings. In order to show the angst within its limits, it is correspondingly helpful, gently but resolutely, to steer your thoughts away from all the worries you are constantly worrying about, from all the bad things that could happen, what dangers lurk everywhere, etc. However, directing away such thoughts alone is not enough, you have to direct them to something else. For example, you could always be aware of what has gone well today and also in my life as a whole, rather than what has gone wrong. One could ask which diseases have not only come, but which have also left. A doctor, for example, once told me quite casually that he – after he had seen and learned in his studies and practice what can go wrong in the body – that he was always amazed at what so often did not go wrong but went well! Instead of feeding yourself with new horror stories about all the bad things in the world, you could also go in search of the stories of life that tell of the fact that – even if it didn't look good – it went well: that I found a new job, for example, after a period of unemployment;  that although I no longer believed the fear; I found a new partner; that I passed the exam despite all my angst, etc.

Finding Meaning

In this context, I would like to remind you once again of the imaginations of the source deep on the seabed described above, in which one client immersed herself during the imagination, or of the figure of trust that pushed itself among the clients lying on the lake in an imagination. Such experiences strengthen in a person what could be called a non-specific hope. This refers to a basic hope that is not directed towards concrete things, but palpably hopes that in life--one can also say, in the hand of God,--I am deeply cared for, protected, and carried in my life. And those who feel such hope are much more willing to direct their thoughts not to the frightening, but to the successes in their lives.

 All these questions can be small impulses to find out what status the meaning barometer shows in my life: does it look ok or does it indicate that it is time to look for meaning in my life again? One thing is certain: the more meaningful my life is, the less angst can spread.    

I will summarize my presentation: 

There is no such thing as an angst-free life. So the decisive question is not how do I get angst out of life? Rather, it is, how can I live with angst in such a way that it affects my attitude to life less and less.

 Angst has good and negative effects on our lives.

Angst has very different manifestations.

Angst likes to hide behind very different masks.

 Angst distorts the perception of reality quite considerably. It minimizes self-confidence. 

There are very different theories about the origin of angsts

Aids to Overcoming Angst are:

Medical/pharmaceutical assistance

Strong motivation

Counterforces to angst

Uncovering the origin of My Angst

Not avoiding angst-inducing situations, but seeking them out

Practicing dereflection

Not only feelings of angst cause angst-filled thoughts, but the game also works the other way around

Finding meaning.