Anxiety sufferers often look for the deeper meaning and causes behind their anxiety. In recent decades there has been a fad for self-discovery. Not just involving people suffering from anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders, but from almost every quarter. Mostly self-discovery is sought by those who feel some kind of unhappiness, inertia or unknown, un-quantifiable dread.
Sadly there has been a lot of rubbish written about self-discovery, and most people never really scratch the surface. The kind of questionnaire’s that one comes across in glossy magazines are not much good to anyone, and likewise most of the psychologically derived analytical questionnaire’s are aimed at the business market, helping them test employees’ aptitude and reliability.
Of course many people with mental issues such as anxiety and depression have sought out eastern methods of self-discovery which generally rely on meditation. These may be more or less effective depending on the persistence of the person practicing. I am a big fan of Inner Guide Meditation, which I have blogged about previously. Certainly any kind of meditation is probably preferable to none for those who are seeking to take a step back and become able to see the world and themselves for what they really are.
Mindfulness meditation can also be useful for self-discovery.
But meditation is not for everyone. Although I recommend it to everyone, not everyone takes to it and not everyone perseveres with it and many people seem to be scared of it or convinced that they can’t possibly meditate due to poor concentration.
I have come across a technique called Watchword (no longer exists?), which has been designed to aid self-discovery and is based largely on Jung’s ideas of self-realization. I won’t describe the process here in detail because I am not a professional psychologist and the website where Watchword is based describes it more than sufficiently. I will say, however, that it involves using a word matrix to identify certain aspects of your being to help you understand more about yourself.
I should just add that Watchword is not sold as a quick-fix cure to anxiety or depression, and if it was I would not be discussing it here because almost all quick or instant cures for anxiety are gimmicks run as money making schemes. Instead there is no mention of anxiety per se, just the idea that through a greater self-understanding you might be able to learn some more about yourself, your problems, your motivations and beliefs. I think it is through this kind of understanding that a greater sense of how to control or remove excess anxiety is found.
