In general, anxiety refers to what happens when people worry about things, such as money, bills, loved ones, or anything tangible. Some people however suffer from a different form of anxiety when they worry about things such as dying, why am I here, about getting a disease, and other abstract things. This is referred to as existential anxiety. It is also called angst, a German word because it was German speaking psychotherapists who discovered it to be a different type of anxiety. The following are three types of existential anxiety treatments.
Existential Anxiety Psychotherapy – Multi-Modal Therapy
A South African psychologist Arnold Lazarus developed a form of psychotherapy called Multimodal therapy. His reasons for doing this were due to the lack of a long-term success rate of patients treated with traditional Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or CBT. This type of therapy bases their treatment and assessment around BASIC I.D. or behavior, affect, sensation, imagery, cognition, interpersonal, and drugs. It is believed that each of these things should be addressed and dealt with in various ways.
Multimodal therapy is not practical for use in anxiety group therapy as it is customized to fit each patients needs in relation to their individual problems. Other treatments used in combination with this method include diet and exercise to promote a healthy lifestyle. Living a healthier life is believed to have a positive effect on the patient. If the patient is not living healthy, this may contribute to his or her anxiety.
Existential Anxiety Psychotherapy – Logotherapy
A Viennese neurologist named Victor Frankl developed Logotherapy. It is sometimes said to follow the work of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. The “will to meaning” is what Frankl focused on while Freud was concerned with the “will to pleasure” and Adler “will to power”. Frankl believed that humanity wants to see order in the cosmos and that his perception of cosmic disorder is what causes psychological problems.
Frankl survived the holocaust and his experiences in the Nazi concentration camp influenced his thinking greatly. He found through his suffering that life has meaning no matter how horrible a life you have. This is mirrored in his work.
Logotherapy is based around Socratic dialogue and self-observation. This anxiety treatment looks at suffering as a way to find meaning in life, for instance, finding love, achieving something, or accepting pain as a part of life. It does not try to instill a life without pain and suffering.
Existential Anxiety Psychotherapy – Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy
Albert Ellis was the developer of Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy or REBT. Asian and Classical philosophers believe the human mind has components that conflict with each other, namely rational and irrational components. Irrational thoughts lead to anxiety and self-destructive tendencies. In REBT, anxiety psychotherapy, the goal is to replace irrational thoughts with rational ones. In this way, the patent can live a more productive and happier life.
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