Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Sunday, August 16, 2009

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ: Wrinkles, cancer, homelessness, global warming and all things related to our continued existence revolve around fear. Maslow didn't say it was one of the needs in his hierarchy of needs, but if you look at it closely, it, too, revolves around fear. Fear drives us toward and away from things, people and activities. It is the stuff of phobias, math anxiety and social awkwardness. It also drives movements.

So, how does this darling of the business world figure into several current debates on the national scene? It's all pretty simple. As I used to tell my students, you begin with having a ham sandwich (the need for food), then you need a place to eat the sandwich in a protected environment (your kitchen perhaps) and then, of course, you'd like to share that sandwich with someone you may call your "honey." Once you've got those three things, you feel pretty good about yourself and you can go on to be a creative, vital, pretty swell person, or so you'll think.

What goes wrong here is that while you may be able to afford that ham sandwich, you have other safety needs that go beyond the kitchen. Suppose that while preparing that sandwich you cut yourself so seriously that you need medical care. Ah, here's where the fear factor comes in big time. Now you've got to go to the emergency room where, currently upset fear-filled people tell us, you will be turned away because you don't have the right insurance coverage or you'll have to wait so long that you may lose that finger you cut. Fear in action. How do you respond to the thought that you'll lose your finger because the ER turned you away? You stand up and shout like the guy in "Network" who said he was "as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." Understandable because, unlike crabs and lobsters and some other animals, we can't grow new fingers--at least not yet.

Now, if you lose that finger because of lack of healthcare, you may not find that honey and you won't go on to be that wonderful creature your DNA had in mind for you. The fear is growing as loneliness, hunger and lack of self-esteem loom large.

But, you may be young and healthy and you may not need to go to the ER and you may find you can take care of this cut yourself. If, on the other hand, you're a person with a blood clotting disorder or you have severe diabetes, you may need to go to the ER. Will you be standing in line waiting to fill out all those forms while they unplug someone's grandma in the next room because she's run out of her health coverage? Are you afraid that could happen or that it might even happen to you? Once again, fear in action.

When fear comes on the scene, rational thought can often jump out the window. This is not unlike super anxiety from a fear of dogs or spiders or even birds. Fear drives the survival instinct and if health coverage can be compared to anything, it's survival.

So, fear can rule your life or you can stare it down with thoughtful, careful questioning and maintain the resolve that you can handle whatever comes your way.

http://www.drfarrell.net

Patricia A. Farrell, Ph.D.

Licensed Psychologist

Patricia A. Farrell, Ph.D., LLC

Englewood Cliffs, NJ

201-676-0478