We have discussed a number of observable reactions to frustration. In order to explain reactions (as well as reactions to other forms of stress), psychologists have introduced the concept of anxiety. Any situation that threatens the well-being of the organism is assumed to produce a state of anxiety.
Conflicts and other types of frustration that block the individual’s progress toward a goal provide one source of anxiety. Threat of physical harm, threats to one’s self-esteem, and pressure to perform beyond one’s capabilities characterized by the terms “worry”, “apprehension”, “dread”, and “fear” that we all experience at times in varying degrees. Since, there is little agreement on a more precise definition we will not attempt to provide one.
Freud, who was one of the first to focus on the importance of anxiety, differentiated between objective anxiety and neurotic anxiety. Objective anxiety was a realistic response to perceived danger in the environment; Freud viewed objective anxiety as synonymous with fear.
Neurotic anxiety stemmed from an unconscious conflict within the individual; since the conflict was unconscious, the person was not aware of the reason for his anxiety. Many psychologists still find a distinction between fear and anxiety meaningful. But, since, it is not clear that the two emotions can be differentiated, either on the basis of physiological responses or the individual’s descriptions of feelings, we will use the terms anxiety and fear interchangeably.
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Just as there are varying degrees of anxiety-ranging from mild apprehension to panic-there are probably varying degrees of awareness of the cause of one’s discomfort. Often individual who is suffering from an internet conflict has some idea why, even though, unable to specify clearly all the factors involved.
Because, anxiety involves a state of tension and discomfort, the individual is motivated to avoid or to reduce it. Over the course of a lifetime, a person develops various methods of coping with anxiety- producing situations and with feelings of anxiety. We will look at some of these coping behaviors shortly, but, first let us examine the concept of anxiety in a little more detail.