What emotions and feelings control us? Love? Despair? Anger? Of course, but it greatly influences behavior - Fear. Fear that you will not be accepted, will be turned away, forces you to please, adapt, or strongly motivates self-development. Fear of loss, fear of poverty, fear of humiliation, actively pushes you towards leadership, victory, power. The fear of loneliness “keeps us” in toxic relationships. There are many fears, the basis, of course, is the fear of death, the main driving force. From birth, a person is “moved” by two energies, the energy of life and the energy of death. By the way, many destructive addictions, for example, addiction from adrenaline hobbies, from prohibited substances, this is increased energy of death. Overeating, workaholism, the desire to meet the standards of society, the use of psychoactive substances, toxic relationships, all this arises under the influence of fear. Only many fears are not realized, one simply feels tension, anxiety, restlessness. It is difficult to understand the reason, the psyche protects against fears boiling in the unconscious. It is easier to freeze feelings, not feel anything, create the illusion of calm. For this there is food, employment 24/7, alcohol, exhausting sports, strict control over nutrition, toxic relationships, the desire for ideality. All this relieves tension and suppresses fear. But fear, at the same time, does not go away; it continues to distort reality and take away vitality. Fear is a natural emotion, it regulates behavior and promotes survival. Imagine, if we are not afraid of anything, how long will we live? Will we be able to adapt to new conditions? Of course, we need to periodically experience fear in order to avoid fatal mistakes. But! Often, we experience fear without a real threat. We focus on an imagined danger, worry, rearrange our lives, stop feeling joy and pleasure. Often this process is not realized, we just want to “hide” in work, food, alcohol. Awareness of our fears, our true emotions and needs is the first step to freedom . It can be difficult to independently realize your true emotions; psychological defense mechanisms work and protect us from traumatic experiences. The help of a psychologist in such a situation is important; it will allow you to carefully approach your hidden emotions, realize them and begin to build your life more consciously.