Questions Part II

As my research comes to a close, I don't think I have an adequate amount of questions than I did in the beginning of this journey.

I do want to see if I could ask my psychology professor could help me by his knowledge and opinions. Ironically, the chapter that we've been learning in class deals with psychological disorders. So, it ties in with what I've been researching. Some questions I can ask him are as followed...

1. In your own words, what is insecurity?
2. In your own words, how do we establish self-image?
3. How common do you think insecurity is?
4. What can insecurities lead to? Other diseases?
5. If someone were to have insecurities that they feel that it does affect their life negatively, what would you suggest to them?
6. Psychologically, how does one develop an insecurity? Mentally?
7. What are some effective ways to overcome insecurity that you see have worked? Medicine?
8. How does society play a role in insecurity?
9. Do you think religion can help maintain self-image?

I know that I've already answered most of these questions by the research that I've done, I just wanted to see it through the perspective of a professional. 

Wikipedia Help

Knowing that insecurities and fears can transform into other harmful disorders, I chose to find out more. Firstly, I wanted to see what Wikipedia said about insecurity.

• The article states, "However, resilience concerns over-all coping, also with reference to the individual's socioeconomic situation, whereas the emotional security specifically characterizes the emotional impact." Even Wikipedia supports my understanding that insecurity comes from an individual's social status.
• Next, it also states, "A person who is insecure lacks confidence in their own value, and one or more of their capabilities, lacks trust in themselves or others, or has fears that a present positive state is temporary, and will let them down and cause them loss or distress by "going wrong" in the future." This is a great explanation of the symptoms of an insecure person.
• It can even lead to bullying, aggression, and arrogance.
• Chemistry wise, people are naturally supposed to be unhappy; therefore, certain Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor or stimulants can reverse this. 
•  Solutions include "self-help programs, substance abuse treatment programs, and psychotherapy to physical exercise and spiritual or religious devotion"

Next, I searched self-image.

• Those with insecurity issues have poor self-images of themselves.
• It goes on to say that stereotypes and prejudice is a factor in self-image which is where bullying may come from. Those that negatively stereotype a person, the more fulfilling they feel in their own self-image. 
• It says that poor self-image starts at a young age. And to fix that, one can produce "communication, reassurance, support of hobbies, and finding role models"
• Moreover, they suggest that exercise can promote healthy physical and psychological stature. 

 Both of these searches not only effectively supported my understanding of insecurity, but it added to it. I didn't think about how poor self-image can lead to bullying even though I've heard that personally. Another factor I found interesting was that Wikipedia suggests that people turn to religion to maintain their self-image, yet on my other searches I found that this doesn't work. 

Real Life Experiences

Next, I wanted to find real-life experiences of insecurity and fears. From past posts, I know that insecurities and fears can produce other disorders, such as anxiety or eating disorders. I wanted to look into if there were any stories that involved my research topic.

Surprisingly, I found a website that is called "I Battle Insecurity Stories, Real True Stories of Real Experiences." This website had plentiful stories from real people that have and are willing to overcome insecurity.

For example, a lot of posts relate to their insecurities to depression. Their insecurities are so potent that it spiraled into a worse condition. Most posts relate their insecurities to relationship issues. They feel as though their insecurities get the best (or in this case, worse) of them and it affects their personal relationships. But the main theme of it all is the strain that society and their peers puts on them on a daily basis. The more they feel as though they are being judged, the more insecure they feel. And the more insecure they feel, the less motivation and happiness they develop.

This website gives me perfect examples on how my research topic relates to the real world. It gives a sense of reality and that people who obtain insecurity can overcome it.

Berjikly, A. (2009, June 29). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.experienceproject.com/group_stories.php?g=201759

Organizations

Next, I wanted to see if there were any organizations that help the cause. I know that insecurities are found in most people all around the world, and I also know that there are people out there that want to help.

I found
http://www.way2hope.org/overcoming_insecurities-nervousness.htm 

• This organization was proposed by Glen Williams, the Director of E-Home Fellowship Co, and the webmaster of way2hope.org. 
• This website has been visited by thousands to help with any life problems since 2001.
• In the article Overcoming Insecurities and Nervousness, it explains the definition of insecurity and nervousness, the signs/symptoms of them, and how to control and overcome them.
•  Most importantly, I wanted to look at the solutions. It said, "No one sees your mistakes like you do" This was eye-opening for me because we put so much pressure on ourselves to be the most perfect person, and we always regress to our mistakes. Instead, the author suggests that instead of asking, "What if?," we should ask, "So what!" 
• The next strategy that Williams suggests that "[t]he bigger the insecurity, the more you have to confront it.  You won't believe the power you'll get from doing all the things that fear kept you from in the past.  This will build your self-esteem like nothing else."

To be honest, the approach to "face your fears" is pretty cliche. All the same, this example shows that cliche does work. 

Books

After researching academic appropriate sources, I wanted to see if there were any books that could help me with my research topic. I looked up “Insecurity” and “fear” on Google.

I noticed that there were an abundant amount of self-help and how-to books. Attached is a snapshot of the "shopping" results I found on Google. 

If I didn't find the article before about how we rely so much on consumerism, I would go directly towards one of these books to see what they said about how to help. However, I do realize that every person is different and I cannot just assume that reading a how-to or a self-help book will lead to depression or even more anxiety disorders. I cannot just assume that everyone that reads and follows a how-to or self-help book will become even more worse in the future. I have to acknowledge that in order to move forward with my research. 

So with that said, I found (but did not buy or check out) a well-written book about insecurity called

Watts, A. (2011). The Wisdom of Insecurity. (2nd ed.). Random House Digital Inc.

• Copied from the inside flap of the novel: An exploration of man's quest for psychological security and spiritual certainty in religion and philosophy.
• This book is full of quotes to inspire individuals to move on from the past, minimize yearning and planning for the future, and focus on the present.
•  On amazon, the book has a 4.5/5 stars which means that the people who read this obviously had a positive impact on them.

This book is only one out of plentiful books that help with the inner self that pertains to insecurity and fear. How-to and self-help books are a spiritual strategy to minimize insecurity and fears because they are written by professionals that may or may not teach that for a living.

Religion

I observed that when I looked up “how-to” books on insecurity and fear, I saw that there were a numerous amount of sources that were related to religion (mostly Christianity). So, I decided to see if there was a connection between insecurity and fear. Unfortunately, after searching "fear" with "religion" and "insecurity" and "religion," I couldn't find any perfectly related articles. However, I did come upon an article that studies the relationship between exposure to traumatic events and judiasm in Israeli teenage students. 

Korn, L., & Zukerman, G. (2011). Affective and Behavioral Changes Following Exposure to Traumatic Events: the Moderating Effect of Religiosity on Avoidance Behavior Among Students Studying Under a High Level of Terror Event Exposure. Journal Of Religion & Health, 50(4), 911-921. doi:10.1007/s10943-011-9502-8

• The study showed that high levels of exposure terror were linked to high levels of insecurity, emotional distress, and avoidance behavior.
• After the survey that they conducted, those that were religiously involved had lower levels of avoidance behavior but had no effect on levels of insecurity and emotional distresss.

This study shows that religion may not have an effect on insecurity at all. However, I wanted to find more articles that contradicted what this study showed.

I actually happened to fall upon this article that compared religion to humility. I never really thought about it before but the more humor you have, the more you can laugh about yourself in hopes to lower insecurities.

Saroglou, V. (2004). Being religious implies being different in humour: evidence from self- and peer-ratings. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 7(3), 255-267. doi:10.1080/13674670310001606469

•  Here, most of the abstract, " In study 1 (self-reports), men's spirituality and religiosity were found to be negatively related respectively to the use of hostile and social humour. In study 2 (self- and/or spouse-ratings), there was weak but meaningful evidence that both religious men and women did not tend to use hostile and earthy humour nor, to some extent, social humour. Religious men tended to use self-defeating humour, a finding partially due to their high insecurity in attachment. Moreover, religiosity and/or spirituality was found to be related to between-spouse similarity in many humour styles. The discussion points out the willingness of religious people to share similar values and ways of enjoyment with their partners as well as the fact that the 'discomfort' of religion with humour seems to encompass a large number of humour styles."
• The results express that religion and humor have a moderate relationship with one another. In relevance to my research, insecurity does not have as much as a connection to religion. 
• I noticed that this article does have words such as, "to some extent," "partially," and "seems to." If I want to rely on an article that could help with my research, I want cold, hard facts and not just probable results.

Overall, between the two articles I found, insecurity/fear do not have a relationship with one another. 

Medicine

As I've mentioned earlier, I wonder if doctors in the biological field have found ways to solve or minimize insecurities/fears.

I came upon this article:
Fendt, M., Bürki, H., Imobersteg, S., Lingenhöhl, K., McAllister, K. H., Orain, D., & ... Chaperon, F. (2009). Fear-reducing effects of intra-amygdala neuropeptide Y infusion in animal models of conditioned fear: an NPY Y1 receptor independent effect. Psychopharmacology, 206(2), 291-301. doi:10.1007/s00213-009-1610-8

This article explains an experiment to see if Intra-amygdala Neuropeptide injection works in hopes to reduce fear. Because fear is controlled in the amygdala, scientists wanted to see if the infusion will "affect the expression of conditioned fear." The results presents that it does effectively "decrease the expression of conditioned fear measured by conditioned freezing and fear-potentiated startle."

This experiment is reasonable because if a person has a fear, his/her amygdala has a decrease or increase in neurotransmitters, so the neuropeptide should maintain homeostasis and this experiment showed that it did. This experiment shows that fears are developed (and can be solved/diminished) biologically and psychologically.

Another article I found was that according to Coupland, R. (2007). Security, insecurity and health. Bulletin Of The World Health Organization, 85(3), 181-184. ...

In order to have stable health (mentally and physically), one must have security. The article then goes on to say that the government should be persuaded to make new policies to enhance people's security.

Of course insecurity is crucial for one's health, I just overlooked that fact and found a scholarly article to broaden my knowledge on insecurity. Granted, this article is more about armed violence than inner insecurity; however, it brought up a good point. Education and the change of new policies can help society learn and apply decreased fear and insecurity.

Therapy/Psychological Solutions

I've learned other solutions to minimize or abolish insecurity and fears, but since this topic is psychology based, I proposed to find psychological solutions instead. 

I found this article: 

Dadashzadeh, H., Yazdandoost, R., Gharraee, B., & farid, A. (2012). Effectiveness of Cognitive - Behavioral Group Therapy and Exposure Therapy on Interpretation Bias and Fear of Negative Evaluation in Social Anxiety Disorder. (English). Iranian Journal Of Psychiatry & Clinical Psychology, 18(1), 40-51. 

• This article was actually linked to a social phobia (which I determined as I believe the most common fear in the culture of the world. It even states, "
  It is very common; according to one estimate it is the second most prevalent psychiatric disorder"). The experiment that was made challenged two different therapies for social anxiety disorder: group therapy (which is only made for nonspecific determinants for groups) or a specialized cognitive behavioral group therapy. It turns out that both groups were equal in effectiveness to help social anxiety disorder. 

This article supports the fact that therapy is an efficient way to help social anxieties; nevertheless, there are some factors that need to be taken accounted for when helping with my research topics.

1. I don't know if group therapy is better than one-on-one therapy with a psychologist/psychiatrist.
2. This is only for social phobias and not for any other insecurities although the society does play a big role in this situation.

Next, I looked up "interpersonal" and "therapy" after having a hard time looking for some sort of therapy to treat insecurities and fears.

I found an article named,

Salzer, S., Leibing, E., Jakobsen, T., Rudolf, G., Brockmann, J., Eckert, J., & ... Leichsenring, F. (2010). Patterns of interpersonal problems and their improvement in depressive and anxious patients treated with psychoanalytic therapy. Bulletin Of The Menninger Clinic, 74(4), 283-300. doi:10.1521/bumc.2010.74.4.283

• This article uses psychoanalytic therapy to help with people that have interpersonal problems that relate to depression and anxiousness. The result proves that the subjects have reformed themselves and even built better relationships.

 All these studies do link to my research topic and on top of that because it's hard to just treat insecurities as a "real" psychological disorder; depression, anxiousness, and social anxiety disorder are really close to it.

Questions/Conclusions Part I

Now that I have a basic understanding on what insecurities and fears are, I'd like to reflect on what I've learned.

• Insecurities/fears have both a genetic and conditional learning factor that play a role in the development.
• Based on Maslow's theory, one cannot truly extirpate materialistic influence on insecurities/fears.
• Insecurities/fears are commonly associated with anxiety disorders, and because of that could be solved in the same fashion.
• Insecurities/fears can not only affect the inner self but other relationships as well.
• Insecurities/fears have been known to be associated with social phobias.
• Society has an immense impact on insecurities/fears because of the pressure that it puts on individuals.

There are definitely some more unanswered questions that I have...

1.  What is the relationship between insecurities/fears and stress? How does this affect interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships?
2. Are there any biological solutions to this problem i.e. medicine?
3. Are there any books that can help with this problem i.e. self help? What are the pros/cons to self-help books? (This may be answered with the consumerism article).
4. Are there any TV/talk shows that have had specials on this subject? Any movies?
5. Are there any known or unknown life changing stories that can inspire people to follow?
6. Does this relate to any religion? Buddhism? Christianity? Judaism? Does it matter?

Associated Disorders

I've noticed when searching up fears and insecurities, I've seen a lot of my searches linked to anxiety disorders. So, I chose to see how it connected to my topic.

Muris, P., & Dietvorst, R. (2006). Underlying Personality Characteristics of Behavioral Inhibition in Children. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 36(4), 437-445. doi:10.1007/s10578-006-0014-9

• This article studies a certain amount of fear can actually lead to an anxiety disorder.  It says, "The present study investigated the hypothesis that behavioral inhibition is characterized by a specific constellation of two underlying personality characteristics, namely high levels of neuroticism and low levels of effortful control." 

These two factors which are found in self-conscious people who have low self-esteem which understandably can introduce an anxiety disorder.

Another article I found was

Lainga, S. V., Fernyhougha, C., Turnera, M., & Freeston, M. H. (2009). Fear, worry, and ritualistic behaviour in childhood: developmental trends and interrelations. Infant & Child Development, 18(4), 351-366. 

• This article states that fear, worry, and habitual behavior start an early age. Those that showed these emotions and behaviors delineates that fear and worry were positively correlated. This means that the more you fear something, the more you worry about it, and vice versa. However, habitual behavior had a stronger relevance to anxiety than fear did.

This study further depict that although fear may drive to anxiety disorders, it does not mean that it's a more serious and absolute reason for anxiety disorders. Again, fears can change over time and it does depend on the type of person, their genetics, their sensitivity to a particular fear, and age.

More society and Establishment

I now know that society places a great amount of pressure amongst individuals and their self-esteem/insecurities. I decided to look more into the society aspect of our self-esteem and insecurities.

I found this article named:

Goodwin, J. (2000). In praise of insecurity. Lancet, 355(9220), 2086. 

• The article states that the solution to low self-esteem is education. To teach people at a young age the importance of high self-esteem can transfer to the adult life. Classes were spread throughout the country and homework assignments made students' self-esteem levels soar. One thing I liked about it, the article said, "Life is a series of subtle contests with other people." The article concludes that we need to own up to our thoughts and say it with pride. Once we're not afraid to act, think, and behave on our own we'll have higher self-esteem.

I agreed with this article a lot. I know now that because we're afraid to speak our minds because of others' judgement on ourselves. 

 

Next, I wanted to find common insecurities and fears that people have. 

I found an article named

Rose, R. J., & Ditto, W. (1983). A Developmental-Genetic Analysis of Common Fears from Early Adolescence to Early Adulthood. Child Development, 54(2), 361. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.ep8876011

•   A study was made to see if fears and anxieties were caused environmentally or biologically. They did this by administering surveys about common fears within more than 2,600 subjects (along with same-sex twins). Factors that were measured were if the fears were developed by age, and sensitization. Common fears were disregarded because it was too difficult to measure on the cause of it. Other studies stated that some fears' intensities differed among different ages. Studies on how fears were contracted and changed over time (age) explains that genetics does have an impact. Because genetics are passed on from generation to generation, the gene that expresses fearfulness (how much or how little they have) can be passed down. The article also goes on to say the cause of fears biologically.

 There are a lot of factors that play along with insecurities and fears. And because of this, there is no absolute explanation on how fears are established. Either experience or genetics can explain insecurities and/or fears, but not always.