A Lacanian Reading of Anxiety
Many people describe anxiety as something that “starts small” and then inexplicably grows. A passing worry about work, a brief concern about a relationship, a fleeting bodily sensation — and suddenly the mind is consumed. Sleep is disturbed, concentration collapses, and life begins to organise itself around avoiding the next wave of unease.
From a Lacanian perspective, this escalation is not accidental, nor is it simply a failure of coping skills. In Seminar X: Anxiety, Lacan radically reframes anxiety: it is not a vague emotion, nor a by-product of stress, but a precise signal that something fundamental in the subject’s relation to desire and the Other has been disturbed (Lacan, 1962–1963). When small worries grow, it is because they have touched this structural point.
Understanding this shift — from minor worry to overwhelming struggle — requires moving away from reassurance and toward listening to what anxiety is doing.
From a Small Worry to Anxiety Proper
Lacan makes a crucial distinction: anxiety is not without an object. This object is not a concrete thing we can point to, but what Lacan names objet a — the object-cause of desire (Lacan, 1962–1963). Anxiety emerges when this object comes too close, when the subject is confronted with something of their own desire without the usual symbolic buffers.
This is why anxiety often feels disproportionate. The trigger appears small, but the reaction is intense. The worry is not really about the email, the conversation, or the decision. It is about what that moment exposes: uncertainty, lack, or the impossibility of full control.
In clinical work, I often hear people say, “I don’t know why this affects me so much.” From a Lacanian standpoint, this confusion is expected. Anxiety arises precisely where meaning fails. It is not produced by too little knowledge, but by an encounter with something that cannot be fully named or mastered.
Rumination as an Unsuccessful Attempt to Control Anxiety
When anxiety appears, many people respond with rumination. They think more, analyse more, replay scenarios, and search for certainty. Yet rumination does not reduce anxiety — it amplifies it.
In Seminar X, Lacan shows that anxiety emerges when the subject’s usual symbolic coordinates falter. Rumination is an effort to restore those coordinates. By thinking incessantly, the subject tries to convert anxiety into fear — something with a clear object, something manageable.
But anxiety resists this move. The more the subject thinks, the more the anxiety circulates. The worry becomes repetitive, detached from action, and increasingly bodily: tightness in the chest, restlessness, fatigue.
From a psychodynamic psychotherapy perspective, rumination is not a bad habit to be eliminated, but a defence to be understood. It protects the subject from encountering what anxiety signals — a question about desire, loss, or separation that cannot be neatly resolved.
Avoidance, Control, and the Fear of Exposure
Alongside rumination, avoidance often develops. Situations that provoke anxiety are postponed or escaped. Decisions are delayed. Conversations are softened or avoided entirely.
Lacan’s contribution here is subtle but essential: avoidance is not simply fear of something external. It is fear of what the situation might reveal about the subject’s own position. Anxiety emerges when the subject risks being exposed — not physically, but symbolically — to the desire of the Other (Lacan, 1962–1963).
This is why anxiety frequently intensifies in moments of transition: career changes, relationship shifts, parenthood, or loss. These moments destabilise established identities and roles. The subject is no longer sure how they are seen, wanted, or valued.
In this sense, small worries escalate when they coincide with moments where the subject’s place in the symbolic order feels uncertain.
Anxiety and Early Relationships
Although Seminar X focuses on anxiety, Lacan makes clear that anxiety is inseparable from the subject’s relation to the Other — and this is where transference becomes central.
Early relational experiences shape how uncertainty is tolerated. If the Other was experienced as intrusive, inconsistent, or overwhelming, anxiety may emerge later when separation or autonomy is required. The subject worries not only about outcomes, but about being abandoned, engulfed, or misrecognised.
In therapy, these dynamics often appear directly in the transference. Worries about disappointing the therapist, being misunderstood, or “saying the wrong thing” are not distractions. They are manifestations of anxiety in its pure form — anxiety about one’s position in relation to the Other’s desire.
Lacan insists that anxiety is a guide, not an obstacle. When it appears in the analytic space, it signals that something real is at stake (Lacan, 1962–1963).
Therapeutic Work: Staying Close to Anxiety Without Collapsing Into It
From a Lacanian orientation, therapy does not aim to eliminate anxiety. Attempts to reassure or normalise it away often fail because they miss its function. Anxiety diminishes not when it is silenced, but when the subject can approach it without being overwhelmed.
In psychotherapy Melbourne, this means creating space for anxiety to be spoken — not immediately explained or corrected, but listened to. The therapist pays attention to when anxiety emerges, what interrupts it, and how the subject positions themselves in relation to it.
Over time, this work allows the subject to differentiate:
- What belongs to the present situation
- What belongs to earlier relational patterns
- What belongs to the structure of desire itself
Cognitive and behavioural tools can be helpful here, particularly in interrupting rumination and avoidance. However, within a psychodynamic frame, these tools are used to support the subject’s capacity to tolerate uncertainty — not to enforce control.
Practical Ways to Interrupt Escalation
While anxiety cannot be eliminated entirely, its escalation can be softened.
Grounding techniques help re-anchor the subject in the body when anxiety becomes overwhelming. Rather than analysing the worry, attention is brought to breath, posture, and sensation — limiting the spread of anxiety into endless thought.
Behavioural experiments gently challenge avoidance. Instead of waiting for certainty, the subject acts with uncertainty present, discovering that anxiety does not necessarily lead to catastrophe.
Most importantly, learning to pause rather than immediately respond to worry can interrupt escalation. This pause creates space — a symbolic gap — where anxiety can settle instead of multiplying.
When to Seek Help — and Why Anxiety Can Change
If small worries repeatedly grow into larger struggles, interfere with daily functioning, or feel increasingly unmanageable, it may be time to seek professional support. Working with a therapist Melbourne trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy offers a space where anxiety is taken seriously — not as pathology alone, but as meaningful.
Lacan reminds us that anxiety appears when something real is encountered. With careful therapeutic work, this encounter does not have to lead to paralysis. Instead, it can become a point of transformation — where the subject relates differently to uncertainty, desire, and themselves.
References
Lacan, J. (1962–1963). The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book X: Anxiety (C. Gallagher, Trans.). Unpublished seminar.
Disclaimer
These writings are not therapy; they are general information about therapy. They are not a substitute for therapy or professional psychological advice. While care has been taken to ensure accuracy and reference to published research, therapy and psychoanalytic work are domains of ongoing study. A written text cannot replace the conversation that takes place in therapy sessions, which are dynamic, evolving, and centred on individual experience. Each person’s situation is unique, and meanings can only be spoken and explored within one’s own sessions. If something in these writings resonates with you and you are considering therapy, you are welcome to book a session.