Elayna Wagnild
12/11/12
Professor Veltri
Psych 244b
Anxiety
Anxiety is common. Many people experience anxiety at some point in their
lives. Some people experience anxiety more intensely, or more frequently than other
people, making it part of their lives- part of their personality. Several personality
psychologists have theorized what causes anxiety. The theories involve conflict,
inhibition, anxious, one’s self-conception, distress and worry. I used these words, as
well as ways to cope with anxiety, to create a modern dance.
The different theories of anxiety I looked at come from the textbook
Personality Psychology- Domains of Knowledge About Human Nature by Randy J.
Larsen and David M. Buss. There are several different theories within this textbook
explaining why anxiety develops in people. The first theory is from Jeffery Gray.
Gray developed the theory of behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral
activation system (BAS). He says that people with a more reactive BIS are more
perceptive to signals of punishment or frustration. They are more susceptible to
negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, and sadness.
Another theory comes from Sigmund Freud. Freud’s theory involves the id,
ego, and superego. He says that when the three parts of the mind are in conflict with
each other, the person experiences anxiety. Freud acknowledged three different
kinds of anxiety. These include objective, neurotic, and moral anxiety. Objective
anxiety occurs in reaction to fear: a real external threat. Neurotic anxiety occurs in
reaction to a conflict between the id and the ego. Moral anxiety occurs in reaction to
a conflict between the ego and the superego.
Carl Rogers was another theorist who addressed anxiety. He focused on the
idea of self-actualization. For Rogers, anxiety forms in response to an “experience
that does not fit with one’s self-conception.” George Kelly is the last theorist that I
will discuss. Kelly focused on the constructs people build. He believed that anxiety
formed in response to one’s personal construct failing. People become anxious when
an event is unpredictable, out of their control, or when they do not know what is
happening. There are many more theories of how anxiety develops. For my project,
though, I focused on these and interpreting them into movement.
I have been dancing since I was three years old. Through my dance
experience, I have learned several ways to cope with anxiety. They were not taught
to me with the intension of coping with anxiety, but through research I have found
that the things I have learned in dance are commonly taught to patients who
experience anxiety. Some of the major techniques I have learned through dance are
breath control, or deep breathing, meditation, mindfulness, and problem solving.
These are all listed in the book Thoughts and Feelings by Matthew McKay, Martha
Davis, and Patrick Fanning as major ways to help deal with anxiety. They also
appear in many dance classes. These mechanisms deal with relaxing, being present
in the moment, and figuring out ways to deal with stressful, or anxiety inducing
problems.
As much as dance can help deal with anxiety, some kinds of dance, or just
some days in dance, can also cause anxiety. Some techniques I have learned, and
then brought into dance to help with anxiety are, worry control, understanding your
thinking patterns, and thought blocking. These coping mechanisms are also in the
book Thoughts and Feelings. These three mechanisms deal with paying attention to
your thoughts, understanding your thoughts, and stopping the negative thoughts
from appearing.
The coping mechanisms I have just discussed have been shown to lessen
anxious feelings. Matching these coping mechanisms with the theories of anxiety I
discussed earlier, I can see how they help. Many of the theories deal with the
thoughts people experience, and the conflicts within those thoughts. It makes sense
then, to cope with anxiety, one would relax and learn how to avoid such thoughts.
For my dance, I developed the first part based on the theories of anxiety. I
took many of the different coping mechanisms and brought them into the second
part of my dance. Many people deal with anxiety for different reasons, and cope with
anxiety in their own ways. For me, I dance.
Annotation of dance:
Reaches: Conflict between id and ego. The id won.
Walking: Worrying the wrong choice was made.
Reaches: Another conflict occurs.
Breathing: Relaxing to step away from the anxiety.
Dancing and stopping: The dance movements are negative thoughts. The stops are
understanding and changing the thoughts. The last sets of movements are positive
thoughts.
Sitting: The end pose shows an understanding of how to deal with the anxiety.
Bibliography
Larsen, Randy J., and David M. Buss. Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge
about Human Nature. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2010. Print.
McKay, Matthew, Martha Davis, and Patrick Fanning. Thoughts and Feelings: Taking
Control of Your Moods and Your Life. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger
Publications, 2011. Print.