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In the bustling modern world, anxiety has become an increasingly common mental health challenge. Fortunately, ancient wisdom offers valuable insights on how to navigate this overwhelming emotion. Stoicism, a philosophy that emerged in ancient Greece and Rome, provides practical guidance for individuals seeking to cultivate inner tranquillity. The ancient philosophers of which have had a profound influence on the present-day field of psychology and in particular, CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy. This video aims to explore how a stoic would approach and deal with anxiety, ultimately paving the way for a more serene existence.
Anxiety is a complex and multifaceted emotion that can manifest as a feeling of unease, worry, fear, or apprehension. It is a natural response to stress or perceived threats and is commonly experienced by individuals in various aspects of life. Anxiety can arise from a range of situations, such as upcoming exams, public speaking engagements, social interactions, or personal challenges.
While anxiety is a normal human experience, it can become problematic when it becomes chronic, excessive, or interferes with daily functioning. Anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and phobias, are characterized by persistent and intense anxiety that may be disproportionate to the actual threat or situation. These disorders can significantly impact an individual’s quality of life and often require professional intervention and support.
The symptoms of anxiety can vary from person to person but commonly include:
· Physical symptoms: Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating, trembling, muscle tension, headaches, stomach aches, fatigue, and restlessness.
· Cognitive symptoms: Excessive worrying, racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, fear of losing control, anticipating the worst, and obsessive thoughts.
· Emotional symptoms: Feelings of apprehension, irritability, restlessness, a sense of impending doom, difficulty relaxing, and a constant state of tension or unease.
· Behavioural symptoms: Avoidance of anxiety-provoking situations, seeking reassurance, repetitive behaviours (compulsions), social withdrawal, and difficulty making decisions.
It is important to note that anxiety is a treatable condition, and various therapeutic approaches, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), medication, mindfulness techniques, and lifestyle modifications, can help individuals manage and alleviate anxiety symptoms. Seeking professional help from mental health practitioners is crucial for proper diagnosis, guidance, and support in addressing anxiety-related concerns.
CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy is itself derived in part from stoic practice. The ancient stoics were masters of the mind and learned to practice indifference to any and all events, even death itself, or the impending threat of it failed to make a dent in their ataraxia or peace of mind.
To comprehend how stoics handle anxiety, we must first grasp their perspective on emotions. Stoics believed that emotions, including anxiety, arise from our judgments about external events rather than the events themselves. As Epictetus, a prominent Greek stoic philosopher who was born into slavery and allowed to study philosophy by his master. At some point, he became disabled. Celsus, quoted by Origen, wrote that this was because his leg had been deliberately broken by his master. Simplicius, in contrast, wrote that he had simply been disabled from childhood. Whether his infirmity was deliberate or not is unimportant Epictetus emphasised: “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.” According to this view, anxiety is not inherent in the circumstances, but rather in our interpretation of them. We are not our thoughts, these are just things that happen to us, we are not our feelings these are just events that we experience and it’s up to us whether we give them our assent or not, we can instead, simply decide to suspend judgement, by becoming indifferent we maintain peace of mind.
Epictetus famously emphasized the importance of distinguishing between what is within our control and what lies beyond it. He stated, “There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” By acknowledging that external events are beyond their control, stoics redirect their focus to their own thoughts, actions, and attitudes. Anxiety dissipates when one realizes that it stems from futile attempts to control the uncontrollable.
So, the modern advice for anyone suffering with anxiety is to make a list on a sheet of paper and divide it up into three columns marked, ‘things under my control, things not under my control,’ and finally ‘things over which I have partial influence.’
It goes without saying that the things over which you can control you do not need to worry about as you can do anything you like to change a situation should the need arise, likewise it’s foolish to fret or allow yourself anxieties over things that you have no control over, there’s nothing you can do to change it anyway and worrying won’t make a difference, it’s just a waste of mental energy that can cause stress and illness in the present. It’s better to put your energies into your third column and see where you can leverage your partial influences for best effect.
The present moment is made up of a sequence of deterministic events caused by previous events, themselves caused by other prior things in a casual chain as old as time itself leading Marcus Aurelias to state:
“Whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen since the beginning of time. The twining strands of fate wove both of them together: your own existence and the things that happen to you.”
In other words all of your present troubles started in the moment of the big bang, they are not anybody else’s fault and neither are they your own, to a stoic free will is only limited, most things come about because of circumstances beyond our control, we however have the freedom to react to them in a way that is good for us or bad, our reaction to events is something under our own control.
You cannot control the universe, other people or events, but in some cases, you can influence them and that’s where we must focus our energies. The only place where we can reign supreme and uncontested is within the confines of our own minds. Our present circumstances, whatever they may be, whether deemed good or bad by ourselves or others is the fault of the big bang, which is modern day parlance is just as apt as saying that it’s the will of the gods or rather one particular God, the creator of all things, the architect of the stars and the shaper of the mountains. So, if you believe then you might conclude that it’s all God’s fault, but not even God decides what goes on within your mind. How you react is down to you. In this regard, God is blameless…
To look at it another way, the anxious man, the angry man, the stressed man, the unhappy man believes himself to be right whilst the rest of the universe is wrong!
The Stoic School began when a Phoenician merchant named Zeno of Citium either (according to legend) survived a shipwreck in which he lost all of his luggage or heard that the ship that was carrying his luggage had been wrecked taking with it the bulk of his worldly possessions.
In the wake of this unlucky and tragic event he simply said, ‘Fortune commands me to be a less encumbered philosopher.’ He wasn’t overwhelmed by sadness, neither was he consumed by loss or even angry at himself and the choices that he’d previously made that led to the loss, he simply shrugged it off and maintained his peace of mind. The luggage would have been nice, but he could manage just as well without it. To a stoic the past is instantly gone, the future not yet arrived so peace of mind or ataraxia is only available in the present moment. Within the present moment we are always free to reject anxiety and accept things as they really are, the result of the natural order of things. There is nothing bad in nature and therefore nothing bad in reality, because both reality and nature are one and the same. It is within this present moment that we can choose not to be angry, anxious, upset and so on, thus, a key principle in stoicism is to embrace the present moment and accept things as they are. This notion is beautifully captured by the philosopher Marcus Aurelius, who stated, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” A stoic understands that anxiety arises from clinging to desires, worrying about the future, or regretting the past. By focusing on the present and accepting it without judgment, one can alleviate the burden of anxiety.
We will deal with the future when it becomes the present and not beforehand. There is no need to worry, everything that we need to cope with unforeseen events is already inside of us, we have the rational faculty or logos, beloved of the stoics because it separates us from all of the other animals.
Rationality forms the bedrock of stoic philosophy, offering an antidote to anxious thoughts. Stoics practice rational deliberation and critical examination of their fears. They question whether their anxieties are based on facts or merely products of their imagination. As Epictetus advised, “If you wish to be a writer of tragedies, you must yourself be aware of the nature of the things you are attempting to portray.” By understanding the nature of anxiety, stoics can challenge their fearful thoughts and bring clarity to their minds.
Stoicism also places great emphasis on self-discipline as a means to build resilience. Seneca, a prolific playwright, a writer or letters and a man who lived his philosophy asserted, “He who indulges empty fears earns himself real fears.” By cultivating discipline, stoics aim to detach themselves from anxieties and become masters of their minds. They recognize that anxiety is often the result of fixating on things beyond their control. Through discipline, a stoic learns to focus only on what they can influence, empowering themselves to navigate adversity with composure.
Whenever we need to think on future projects, problems or issues, lets first look at the present moment and should we wish we can deliberately imagine what can go wrong in a process called ‘Premeditatio Malorum,’ the active and deliberate premeditation of evils. In other words, we employ our mental energy to think about what could possibly go wrong in the near future in a process of negative visualisation and having identified potential issues can work diligently in the present to mitigate or prevent them from ever occurring. This is not the same as worrying and neither does it bring with it anxiety, rather it is a deliberate and wilful attempt by the mind to apprehend future dangers and be prepared for them. By indulging in this practice, you will soon learn that most of the things that you would normally worry about never, ever come to pass, likewise the opportunity to put some real mental energy into potential threats to your endeavours will sooth and calm you in the present moment. Before soldiers go into battle it’s natural that they will feel anxious, after all their lives are on the line, but soldiers who apprehend future dangers and strategize ways of overcoming them tend to feel much better in the present moment about their odds and potential for victory than those that don’t.
Stoics advocate for the cultivation of inner equanimity in the face of anxiety-inducing situations. As Seneca proclaimed, “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” Stoics strive to detach their peace of mind from external circumstances, developing a sense of calm regardless of the chaos around them. By anchoring themselves in their own virtue and reason, they fortify their inner resilience against the storms of anxiety.
In a world filled with uncertainty and anxieties, stoicism offers a transformative approach to finding serenity within oneself. By embracing the principles of stoic philosophy, individuals can learn to navigate anxiety with wisdom and resilience.
