Many years ago, when I was just a child, I loved to experiment. Moreover, not with physical objects and not with solutions, as in physics or chemistry at school, but with yourself. I wanted (as I understand it now) to determine the boundaries of my capabilities. And understand what I can do and what I can’t. And, if I can, then for how long? For example, while bathing in the bathtub, I liked to hold my nose and dive under the water, counting the time that I managed not to breathe. This activity seemed very important to me. Because if I ever find myself on a sinking ship somewhere in the Indian Ocean, and this ship has already gone under water, then I will have to float to the surface for a long time without the opportunity to breathe air into my lungs. Will I be able to or not? Of course, the older I got, the more I understood that the likelihood of ending up in exotic waters, and even on a sinking ship, was not as high as I thought after watching adventure films and reading relevant books. But knowing your limits (the limits of your capabilities), it still seems very useful to me. No, of course, I don’t think that in our time information about how long you can not breathe, eat or drink is vitally important. Thank God, the need to cope with the respiratory reflex, hunger or thirst does not often arise in modern man (at least in civilized countries). However, there is a condition that is still an inevitable companion of any person. And directly affects his survival. I believe that knowing the limits of one’s capabilities when in this state is extremely important for any person. This state is anxiety. Tell me, how long can you experience anxiety and not try to escape from it? The question is not as simple as it might seem at first sight. It is unlikely that you have an exact answer to this. Therefore, I suggest that you simply observe yourself and remember the results of the observation (a little later I will say why). The value of anxiety as a survival mechanism for a person is undeniable. It is an incentive that helps us avoid life-threatening situations. With its help, the body seems to push us to actions aimed at avoiding (most often it is simply flight) threats to life. Trying to avoid anxiety, we simultaneously avoid the situation in which it arose. Different anxiety stimulates us in different ways. So, if the danger of the situation in which we find ourselves is not perceived by us as very significant, we also do not feel very anxious. More like mild discomfort (if you want, go away, but if you want, be patient). If we consider it (not necessarily consciously) serious, the tension in the body becomes so strong and so unbearable that resisting it is simply useless. And then the man runs. After a successful escape, anxiety goes away and relief comes, which is usually perceived as pleasure. It is this mechanism that helps our body survive. Usually...Different escape routes can be chosen. Sometimes, if physical escape is impossible for various reasons, people choose rather strange ways to get away from their anxiety. So sometimes, for example, they go on binges - in order to cloud their consciousness and simply not notice the alarming situation. Or in illness - to shift attention to bodily pain and, again, as if to escape from contact with an alarming situation. Or go to work - in order to completely puzzle yourself with problems of a professional nature, with the same success... The most offensive thing is that often (though not always) with such an approach the situation is not resolved. A person, unable to withstand the tension of anxiety, seemed to “escap” from danger (for example, by drinking vodka), and received relaxation. But in fact he is in it, it’s just that now he has temporarily stopped noticing the danger. After some time, the distraction of attention, as you understand, passes, and the person’s anxiety returns, along with the awareness of danger. And so he has to run away from her again. And not once, not twice, but sometimes -