Anxiety can take a variety of forms and has several predisposing causes one of which is the phenomenon known as "Locus Of Control" (or LOC). LOC has two components, "Internal" and
"External". Locus is the latin for "place" and therefore LOC means "that place from where control on the self is being exerted". Simply stated, Internal LOC is the situation in which the
individual realises that the stressors which present themselves are coming from within the self and are, therefore, controllable by the self. That is to say that if one feels under stress but
believes that such stress is self-induced then the remedy is inbuilt within the individual and so, with appropriate training and often without any training, it can be adequately brought under control by oneself or alternatively it might -and often does- effect a spontaneous recovery without any outside help or effort on the part of the indivual concerned. This is perfectly correct in the
majority of cases although there are obviously some situations such as civil and criminal laws, social norms and values, etc.... in which stress does come from the outside but the average, healthy individual realises the difference and is able to respond
accordingly.
In the case of External LOC the individual tends to believe that all stressors are coming from outside the body, are completely beyond one's control and are therefore,difficult or even impossible
to control. The belief is that whatever one does would make absolutely no difference because the individual has no control over events, either public or private. This situation in itself causes an anxiety syndrome and is self-reinforcing, that is to say that the person believes the sequence of events to be completely beyond one's own control and will occur despite anything one does to counteract such situations. As each situation occurs the previous view, of lack of internal LOC, becomes reinforced bringing about a further negative effect upon the functioning of the individual. There thus develops a kind of fatalistic attitude which is completely overwhelming and is, therefore, very difficult for the individual to overcome without outside help and the
psychological tools with which to combat such situations.
There are several procedures with which to combat this erroneous thinking process and one of them, the one which I prefer above the remainder, is that of, first of all combatting this erroneous thinking process with training in the reduction (eventual elimination) of erroneous thoughts, followed by a procedure called
"Systematic desensitization" which is more easily achieved by combining it with a process called
"Progressive Relaxation". I do not say it is easy but some procedures are less difficult than others with which to effect a more rational thought process.
Perhaps we should have a look at Progressive Relaxation next because, although it is quite a simple procedure to induce, it is a fairly elongated induction procedure and, sometimes, takes an individual several inductions before achieving an adequate level of relaxation. Others of course achieve an adequate level on the first or second attempt and once having become adept at the procedure it takes only a few minutes on subsequent occasions to achieve a similar depth of relaxation.
Patrick Mitchell