6 Strategies to Overcome Fear and Anxiety

You’ve experienced fear of thunderstorms, the dentist, a stranger at your door, or losing someone close to you. Fear is a natural response that tells us to be cautious. Anxiety is a form of fear that is more concerned with worry and the future than with the present.

When fear and anxiety become a pattern in our lives, they become a problem. If your plugged drain in the kitchen sink is a problem, do you ignore it? Of course not. You call a plumber or try to fix it yourself. When fearfulness causes harm to your physical and mental stability, and you find yourself avoiding things that might create more fear, don’t ignore it. When anxiety becomes a debilitating thing that leaves you cowering and sick, don’t try to push it away.

The following 6 steps may be your ticket to getting rid of fear and anxiety disorders in your life.

Step 1: Learn More About Your Fear

This is the most difficult phase, but it is also the most important. You can’t conquer a phobia that’s been buried deep into your mind. You must confront it. When you turn your face toward someone, you see them and learn about their appearance and behavior. You see aspects about your fear that you didn’t know before when you turn toward it (rather than away from it). This awareness will assist you in overcoming it.

Try maintaining a diary for two or three weeks to help you confront your anxieties and anxiety. Keep track of any trends you find. When you hear the doorbell, do your palms get clammy and your stomach clenches? Do you have greater anxiety symptoms in the morning or in the evening? What do you usually do when you’re afraid? Make a note of anything that stands out. Writing down your fear patterns and symptoms might assist to clarify them. They aren’t as large and overwhelming as they formerly were.

Most importantly, understanding everything there is to know about your fear can help you devise a strategy to overcome it.

Step 2: Use your Imagination in Positive Ways

The ability to imagine is a great thing. It provides you with power, creativity, and the capacity to think creatively. Unfortunately, when your active imagination encourages you to think about unpleasant things, it may be a dangerous instrument. Your anxieties might be exaggerated by your imagination, making your situation appear much worse than it is.

Rather of allowing your mind to take you down the dark hallways of dread, utilize it to overcome it.

How do you go about doing that? Choose a time when you are comfortable and not worried. Close your eyes and visualize yourself in a circumstance that would typically make you fearful. Imagine yourself in a crowded airport if you’re worried of getting lost in a crowded building. Now visualize yourself calmly managing the problem. You don’t go into shock and start crying. Instead, you look for an information desk or a sign that will assist you in regaining your bearings. You envision yourself pulling into the proper parking spot, opening your car door, and driving safely home without any mishaps.

The tranquility you felt in your imagined scenario may really help you cope with the real-life situation more quietly.

Step 3: Use Your Brain in a Different Way than Usual

Fear and anxiety develop from a specific portion of your brain, allowing emotion to take precedence over rational cognition. Try to engage a different area of your brain when you feel your scared feelings coming on. Consider the subject of numbers. A clinic nurse may ask a patient to assess his pain on a scale of 1 to 10. For anxiousness, use this scale. When one is absolutely peaceful and ten is your worst symptom, how nervous are you? Stop and think. Do you have a fear level of 7? Excellent. You can try to get it down to a 4 or a 3. To reduce your fear level, try the following step.

Step 4: Focus on Your Breathing

Breathing is more vital than you may realize. Short breaths are usually the first sign of nervousness. Short breaths trigger a cascade of unpleasant physiological reactions that quickly escalate into an anxiety attack. Controlling your breathing is essential for combating anxiety attacks.

Deep breathing, fortunately, is not difficult. Stop and concentrate on your breathing after you’ve realized you’re feeling scared. Take a deep breath in and gently exhale. Ensure that your exhalation is longer than your inhalation. Deep breathing isn’t simply a psychological trick; it forces your body to physically calm down.

Step 5: Practice Mindfulness

You’ve probably heard of mindfulness, but what exactly does it entail? Mindfulness is a type of meditation that helps you become more conscious of your fears. As you learned in Step 1, awareness aids in the reduction of anxiety and dread.

Use these mindfulness techniques during less severe bouts of dread and anxiety. Sit down and consider what is occurring to you as you see your fear sensations emerging. This is similar to keeping a mental journal. Keep an eye on the symptoms as they appear. Nothing should be done about it. Simply sit and observe yourself as the situation unfolds. Being passive increases self-awareness and keeps you from performing the things you normally do when you’re afraid. It can help you get out of a rut.

Step 6: Use Nature as Your Therapist

Speaking with a therapist might help you work through your concerns and anxieties. However, you may not always be able to visit your therapist. Instead, go for a stroll outside! Natural beauty, such as that seen in parks, backyards, or anywhere green is growing, can assist to alleviate fear and anxiety feelings. People are calmed by nature, which lowers stress levels and shifts moods from nervous to relaxed. Furthermore, walking or jogging outside forces us to utilize our brains in new ways, which can lead to a shift from illogical scared ideas to more reasonable thinking that can help us conquer the anxiety.