“Anxieties are diffuse states of tension (caused by a loss of mutual regulation and a consequent upset in libidinal and aggressive controls) which magnify and even cause the illusion of an outer danger, without pointing to appropriate avenues of defense or mastery.”
According to Erikson, anxiety is the result of a frustration at one's inability to control one's circumstance paired with a denial of one's own abilities. Anxiety is born when a person feels like they're helpless, but it generally occurs in situations where the person is able to do something about their problems. It is a paralyzing feeling, however, because it often convinces the brain that real danger is present.
"In Russian literature there is endless variation in the use of the eye as a soulful receptor, as an avid grasper, and as the very organ for mutual soulful surrender. In regard to the great models of political and literary life, however, the emphasis is on the eye as an incorruptible instrument for the manipulation of the future."
In keeping with his profession, Erikson devotes some time in his book to this discussion of eye symbolism. Russian literature focuses on the idea of the eye as a connection to the soul. It's the physical link to the intangible element of the ego. In political literature, however, the eye becomes the object to manipulate or with which to manipulate because people are so inclined to trust what they see.
"We may accept, then, the evidence of organ-modes in these constructions as a reminder of the fact that experience is anchored in the ground plan of the body."
Erikson recognizes the innate link between the physical and the mental. No matter how distinct the two may appear, they will always influence one another. He see this in the way someone can start to be motivated in their thoughts by one particular organ or another in a type of fixation.
"As we try to think of neuroses as diseases, we gradually come to reconsider the whole problem of disease."
This quote is pretty self explanatory. Erikson was at the height of his career right around the time when mental illness was become more widely accepted. He was responsible for a great deal of change in the way people address mental health issues by forcing them to think about the problems as if they were actual physical diseases for which the person is responsible for treating if possible in order to resume a healthy lifestyle.
