Specific development

Investigation of the source and specific development of human anxiety is badly handicapped by technical difficulties. Sustained, accurate observation and measurement of human psychosocial development is possible only in principle, not in fact.

In terms of the cognitive component of the disorder, social phobia typically develops as a result of fear of negative evaluation and the generalization of this anxiety to one or more social situations. In other words, the perceived threat of social examination involves either shame and embarrassment.

Questions about panic resemble existential challenges. Is this suffering intended? Does panic exist to inform consciousness of some failure to act or is panic the effect of defective bodily governance, requiring, like an old-fashioned clock, some readjustment of wheels and weights? Can panic be transcended by action, choice, reflection? Is it me? Not me? Can it be analyzed separately from the self that experiences it, reflects on it, creates it?

Like other species, humans are preprogrammed to develop certain fears very readily, even without any traumatic experiences of them. At certain stages young children usually develop fears of sudden noise, movement, strangers, and animals. Most of us dislike being stared at, or being near the edge of a cliff, or being pricked or cut by a dentist or doctor. No one likes being separated from his or her loved ones, and their death is a pain we all have to bear eventually. Many people also have to endure calamities like fires, tornadoes, or floods. Fortunately the human spirit shows considerable resilience in the face of such adversity.

After repeatedly experiencing acute anxiety in a variety of contexts, the individual may develop an overall sense of becoming less and less able to competently manage anticipated episodes. Anxious persons seem to have lost, or perhaps never have had, the ability to generalize their skills in one area to deal effectively with contingencies in another. As a result, they may require that everything be carefully planned or resolved to the last detail, before they will take the risk of starting any new undertaking.

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