I would like to distinguish between two related psychological states that I believe are rarely, if ever, distinguished. The first is fear, and the second is what I call “blockage,” as to my knowledge it does not yet have a name. Fear is an emotion with which we are surely all familiar; blockage is also familiar, though it is not often discussed, and when it is, it is considered as either part of fear, or as merely a failure of free will. Blockage is what makes action impossible. When a man is afraid to approach a woman, that is fear; when he does not approach women, even though he wants to, that is blockage. Although these two things are related, they are not the same – one may be afraid of women, but approach them anyway; also, one may find oneself completely avoiding certain activities without actually experiencing the emotion of fear. One is simply blocked. A pernicious but common misconception about blockage is that it is something over which a person has immediate and absolute control. One may be afraid independently of the will, the story goes, but whether or not to act is “up to you.” What is really being said here is that blockage has no cause; after all, what has a cause cannot simply be the product of free will, and advice like, “You just have to do it” is meaningless if blockage has a cause external to the will. I claim that, in fact, blockage does have a cause. When we see a pattern in nature (including human nature) we assume that pattern has a cause. Only when something is found to be random under even the closest scrutiny- as in the case of quantum mechanical measurement – are we allowed to claim that it has no cause. And blockage is by no means random – in fact, it follows very clear patterns, both in and between individuals. Whereas fear is unpleasant and troubling, blockage is debilitating; thus, it is incumbent upon us to understand this state and, as nearly as possible, find a cure.

Sometimes people say that one who cannot act is “too afraid,” thus implying that the solution to the blockage is to become less afraid. We can see this to be a false diagnosis, however. One may be as afraid as can be imagined, and yet act; likewise, one can be only slightly afraid of it, and yet be blocked. The fact that these two scenarios can occur in the same person in two different contexts is strong evidence that blockage is not merely a “weakness of the will,” but a complex conditioned psychological response in its own right. A coward is not one who is afraid, but one who is blocked. I do not imagine any coward ever was or could be cured by insisting that they “grow a spine,” or by any related advice. I think many have attempted (including this one), and I think they (we) have all failed.

Since making this distinction in my mind a few days ago, I have made it my foremost goal to “unblock” myself. I made a list of things I have not done because of being blocked, and have made it a point to do at least one of them every day. This has been much more effective than my previous, failed strategy of doing one thing I am afraid of every day. Focusing on inaction as the problem instead of fear has given me the freedom to feel afraid, or not, and act anyway. Two different problems, two different solutions. And I finally updated my blog!