True Freedom Anxiety and Expectations

With freedom comes anxiety, according to psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in his book Escape from Freedom (1941). He believed we don’t know what to do with freedom once we get it and find new controls and structures to reduce our freedom. Those with long prison histories often return to prison, unable to create structure and consistency outside of prison. Addicts will tell you that getting clean is hard, but staying clean is even harder. We all have, at some point, tried to implement change in our lives, but found it difficult to break our habitual unhealthy patterns of thinking and behaving. Why? It’s our ego’s self-protection, default mode of mind to avoid anxiety-provoking situations, including the experience of our own feelings. In other words, there is some kind of payoff for us to engage in these unhealthy habits of thought and behavior, otherwise it would be easy to quit, right? Therefore, “freedom is a practice,” according to Thich Nhat Hanh. Making space for and reaping the benefits of freedom within our mind has to be practiced. According to Fromm, the best use of freedom is self-actualization, knowing and being who you are, not what our ego believes we should be. Although there is an abundance of research pointing to the benefits of self-acceptance, such as greater emotional resilience, more accurate self-concepts, as well as less narcissism and reactive anger, it remains, for many of us, one the most elusive and difficult attitudes to maintain towards oursel...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Anxiety General Habits Happiness Mindfulness Personality Relationships & Love Self-Esteem Authenticity Avoidance Coping Skills Eckhart Tolle Ego expectations Guilt Perfectionism Present Moment Resilience Self Acceptance Source Type: news