Aristotle

The feeling of fear is familiar to all of us. It is characteristic of every normal person. And this, I must say, is a very useful feeling if a person knows how to control it. But when fear begins to control a person, then his life turns into a continuous torment, because this unpleasant emotion creates severe discomfort for him and limits his possibilities. Therefore, many people want to get rid of fear in order to live a full life and enjoy it, as well as in order to realize their potential, which often remains unfulfilled in many people due to fear. In this article, friends, I will tell you about how to get rid of fear, or rather, from those negative feelings that it causes in us. I will help you transform your fear from your enemy into a friend and ally.

But before I tell you about how you can deal with your fear in order to take control of it and begin to benefit from it, I would like to explain to you what the meaning of fear is and how it works to smoothly lead you to the right thoughts. After all, we understand that each feeling and emotion has its own purpose, which must be taken into account when working with them. Fear is a manifestation of the instinct of self-preservation, the task of which is to keep our lives safe and sound. Useful, you see, instinct, but, unfortunately, it does not always help us, because with its help we are too straightforward, and one might even say, we perceive the surrounding reality in a primitive way. Therefore, to this instinct, as, indeed, to any other, it is necessary to connect the mind in order to control it. Reason and instincts should work in tandem, then they will be of great benefit to a person. But the work of instinct without reason, alas, is not always useful and appropriate. Sometimes this work is only to our detriment. But, the essence remains the same - we need instincts for life, they generally move us, without them we could not live. Therefore, it will be better if they do not work quite correctly than not work at all. And fear, in any case, is useful, even if it is not quite appropriate than its complete absence. But we need to understand how it works, then we can tame it. For that, let's see what the meaning of fear is.

What do you think, friends, what does fear need from you? I'll tell you what he needs - he needs your attention. This is the first thing he needs. Then, your fear needs - the study and assessment by you of those threats that it, guided by the wisdom of evolution, informs you about. Attention, analysis, evaluation - this is what your fear requires of you. But not only. The most important thing that he needs from you in the end is your decision and actions to implement it, thanks to which you will be able to neutralize the threat to your security, if it is relevant. Your fear wants you to take action based on its threat signals, it needs your reaction, either primitive, in the form of running or wanting to fight, or more reasonable, taking into account all the subtleties of this or that situation in which you find yourself. But in any case, there must be a reaction. Otherwise, the signals in the form of emotions of fear will not stop. Agree, this is a very reasonable manifestation of nature - simple in its idea, but effective in its impact on a person. If not for fear, we would have died out long ago. And thanks to him, we are careful and avoid many dangers and threats to life. Fear makes us value our lives.

And now I will ask you a very interesting and very important question, dear readers, taking into account the above - are you doing all the actions that your fear requires of you? Probably, I will not be mistaken if I assume that you do not always do them, and not all of them. I'm right? That is why fear is a problem for you. It's natural for us, believe me. Many do not know how to listen to their fear and even more so to communicate with it, and I often do not do this either, because there is no time. But, you know what, we need to do this - we need to listen to our fear, we need to hear it, we need to understand it and we need to respond to it. We need to be able to negotiate with our fear, otherwise it will not leave us alone. He will do his job until we take care of him, until we listen to him and take the actions he needs. Fear is responsible for our lives, and this is a very responsible job, which is why it is so strong. People, of course, can deceive nature by ignoring their fear through various methods, for example, through suggestions or through other specially evoked emotions. But why should we do this, why deceive nature, why deceive fear? In doing so, we deceive ourselves. We must understand that a person is afraid of everything that in one way or another threatens his life, which does not allow him to satisfy his natural needs. People are afraid of death, disease, hunger, poverty, loneliness, rejection by other people, they are afraid of missing something, not being able to catch something, and similar things. People have many fears, and if you think about each of them, it turns out that most of these fears are quite justified. For example, is it possible to ignore the fear of everything that threatens our lives? I think it's impossible. We must value our life. And there are many things that threaten our life with you in this world, and it is not always easy for us to satisfy our needs. And we must do this, because nature requires it from us. Therefore, fears will accompany us constantly, throughout life, in one form or another. We should give them a simple, understandable and pleasant look for us - we need to learn from our fears of vigilance and caution. But we do not need panic and passivity, so we need to modify the fear that generates them.

How can you deal with fear? The dialogue with fear must be built as follows - he speaks, and you answer, or rather, act. But you must act wisely. Sometimes, however, there is no time to think - you must either run away or take other actions in response to fear. But often there is time to think and understand what is happening, so you need to think first, and only then act. What does fear tell you? What he must say is that he sees some kind of threat, which, judging by the multimillion-dollar experience of evolution, as well as your own life experience, threatens your life and your interests. How can he tell you this? Naturally, not in words. With all due respect to a reasonable person, people don’t understand words well, and often they don’t understand them at all, no matter how hard you try to explain something to them, such is a person. But in the language of life circumstances, through discomfort, through pain, suffering - it is very easy to communicate with a person. Thanks to this, a person, at least, begins to turn his attention to the one who comes into contact with him in this way. And when fear wants to get through to the mind of a reasonable person, it gives him discomfort in the form of mental and sometimes physical pain, he makes him suffer, makes him suffer, trying in this way to explain to the person the importance of his message. Fear points out to a person certain probabilities that can harm him and the importance of certain causal relationships that a person needs to take into account. Therefore, you need to find out how relevant the threat that fear signals is and, if it is relevant, find an adequate response to it. Fear always has a reason, the only question is how serious it is. And if it is serious, you need to draw the right conclusions. For example, at night on the street - you were attacked and robbed or beaten, what conclusion can be drawn from this? The conclusion is simple - walking the streets at night is unsafe, and generally undesirable, since a large number of crimes are committed at this time of day. How many people in such situations draw similar conclusions and learn the lesson presented to them by life? You yourself perfectly understand that not many, despite the power of the human intellect. There is nothing to say about someone else's experience, even fewer people learn from it. What, then, should fear do to protect a person from such threats? To create discomfort for him, which will cause terrible inconvenience to a person when he again tries to step on the same rake. The language of fear is very simple - it prevents us from living calmly when it sees that we are in real or potential danger. And until we deal with this danger, fear will not leave us alone.

To better understand the meaning of the work of fear, put yourself in the place of the one who created the person, endowing him with different feelings, including the feeling of fear. Think about how you would solve the problem of teaching a person the ability to learn, at least from your own mistakes? How would you solve the problem of human security in order to protect him from various threats, both known to him and potential? Think about it, and you will understand that fear is not a problem, but a real boon for a person. The problem is more the fear of the fear than the event that causes it. After all, what is a person afraid of? What he does not understand, what really threatens his life and his interests, and what he invents and imagines for himself. Therefore, in order not to feel fear, you just need to understand the incomprehensible, protect yourself from a real threat, learn to defend your interests in order to satisfy your natural needs and deal with your thoughts so as not to be afraid of what you do not need to be afraid of. It's so simple. But this is just in words, but in reality, in order to cope with fear, you need to be able to do a lot of things correctly. Most importantly, you need to be able to find the cause of fear in order to respond to it correctly. And this is analysis, reflections, assumptions, comparisons, evaluation, search and even inventing what is not, in order to understand what can be. Is anyone ready to do this kind of work? Does everyone have time for it? In fact of the matter.

Thus, fear, as an innate quality, as a basic emotion, expects from us the correct, convincing response to its signals. And now let's ask you another question, imagining ourselves in the place of the creator of this useful emotion - what actions of a person can convince us that he hears and understands us, that he is ready to take into account our signals and take the actions we need to protect myself? Think, being in the place of fear - what would you expect from a person? First of all, of course, a person needs to understand the essence of the threat that we signal to him through fear and develop an action plan to neutralize it, and then begin to implement this plan. Only in this case will he convince us - his fear - that he hears and understands us. A person can also avoid the threat - moving away from it as much as possible, this will also require appropriate actions from him. Simply put, at the sight of a threat, a person needs to make a decision - to run or fight. A simple and clear rule. In some cases, you can still adjust to the threat so that it ceases to pose a danger to a person, you can join it to become part of it, you can even use it for your own purposes, using various methods. But for this you already need to be a more flexible, smarter, more literate person. Or, you can simply ignore the threat, using autosuggestion and thus muffle your fear. In general, there are different options for responding to a threat and all sorts of problems, because of which a person feels fear. But until a person finds the right solution that allows him to decide on the real or imaginary threat because of which he feels fear, we, being in the place of this fear, will not leave him alone. That is why so often fear is so strong and so long. People just don't work on it, so they have to test it.

And now let's put ourselves in the place of a person who wants to get rid of fear and ask ourselves the question - why do we, why, friends, do you need to get rid of it? What exactly is stopping you? And does it interfere? Maybe everything is quite the opposite, maybe fear is trying to help you, suggest you a safer solution to a particular problem, or, in any case, asks you to think about it? It all depends on what causes fear in you. You need to study the nature of your fear in order to understand whether it is good or bad for you. Understand that there is no problem with fear - there is a problem with a person's misunderstanding of himself, with his misunderstanding of life and the world in which he lives. This misunderstanding itself is already a cause for fear. Thunder rumbles - it's heaven falling to earth - scary. There was a solar eclipse - the gods are angry, too scary. Not knowing how to solve a problem, how to face a threat, how to get what you need, how not to lose what you have, all this also breeds fear. A person sometimes cannot even really explain what and why he is afraid, he just feels the fear that fetters him and does not allow him to live in peace - this, friends, is the fear of fear. Fear itself is just one of the warning lights that warns us of danger - this is information that needs to be accepted and understood, that needs to be studied in order to understand. We can ignore all sorts of potential dangers, of which there are a great many, so as not to go crazy with fear, being afraid of everything that theoretically could threaten us, but not responding to the threat that fear is trying to notify us about is fraught with extremely negative consequences. So the instinct of self-preservation should be taken very seriously, it is a very important instinct. After all, it is he who drives us. Only some people are guided by its higher manifestations, while others are guided by its lower ones, this is the whole difference. You do not need to be brave to deal with your fear, you need to be smart in order to understand its nature and negotiate with it, that is, to respond competently to it so that it does not cause you discomfort.

Work with fear always begins with the study of its causes with a view to their subsequent awareness. Often people experience unreasonable fear, seeing a threat to themselves in what it really is not. Man is a suggestible creature, so you can frighten him, you can instill fear in him, you can make him be afraid of something that does not exist, for example, some devils. And since it is possible to instill fear in a person, then it is possible to instill in him the thought of the absurdity of his fear, or of the usefulness of his fear, or of its meaninglessness. There are also threats that, although real, are so unlikely that they simply do not deserve too much attention from our side. For example, if I tell you that a meteorite can fall on Earth and destroy us all, should you be afraid of this? Of course, you can experience fear from such information, imagining the consequences of a meteorite fall, which you can talk about so beautifully that such a story will make a very strong impression on you and you will really get scared. But this fear is meaningless, because you are unlikely to be able to protect yourself from such a threat, so you don’t need to focus on it - you need to switch to something more important. Therefore, it is better to ignore this and other similar fears based on unlikely threats, deliberately depriving them of our attention, than to react to them. This can be done in several ways, one of which, in the most difficult cases, is to carefully switch a person's attention from one fear to another - more relevant and correctable.

When people who want to get rid of fear turn to me for help, I very carefully study and analyze the reasons that cause them fear, discuss them with them, and when it is relevant, I help people find ways to get rid of the problems that cause them fear. and threats. In some cases, I simply instill in them the meaninglessness of their fears, when this is true, and switch their attention to something more pleasant and interesting, and if this does not help, then I switch their attention to other types of threats that generate in them new fears, which in turn replace, do not complement, but rather replace old fears, and which, most importantly, are subject to healing. Thanks to this work, I often manage to save people from very strong fears with which they live for years, and sometimes all their lives. To you, friends, for self-healing, to get rid of your fears, you need to start listening to them, study them, analyze them, and then look for a suitable way to respond to the threats that cause them. You must prove to your fear that you have taken the necessary measures to protect yourself from the threats it tells you about. Or, if the threat is irrelevant, you need to calm your emotions through logical reasoning so that the information that comes to you from your fear in the form of strong negative emotions that cause you discomfort moves from the subconscious level to the conscious level. And when everything is clear to you - what kind of fear you are experiencing, why you are experiencing it, what you can do with it - you will first lose the fear of fear, and then the main fear. And to ignore your fear by awakening other emotions in yourself - replacing the emotions of fear, I do not recommend you, although I know that many people practice just this method of getting rid of fear. I stand for a dialogue with nature, with instincts, with feelings and emotions, and not for opposing them.

So that you can better understand the work of fear and how you should properly respond to it, let's give you another interesting analogy. Imagine yourself as a king in some fortress, and imagine that your scout comes to you and tells you that he has noticed an enemy army, which, with a high degree of probability, wants to attack your fortress. What are you going to do? Being a wise king, you will firstly thank your scout for the good work, and then begin to take measures to protect your fortress from the enemy, in order to at least play it safe, and as a maximum, prepare for a real battle. So, the scout is your fear, and the king is your mind. When you listen to those who warn you of a threat, even if it is not obvious, you are acting wisely, but when you ignore such warnings and even more so try to get rid of those who persistently warn you of danger so as not to feel discomfort and do nothing, but continue to live the same life, staying in your comfort zone, then you ... And you know what, friends - decide for yourself who such a person can be. In any case, if you are afraid, then there are two reasons for this - this is your lack of understanding of how to counter some kind of threat, or your lack of understanding of the reasons for your fear, when you yourself do not know what and why you are afraid.

I can put it even more simply by talking about the role fear plays in our lives. Man is a machine whose efficiency, as well as its service life, depends on how well all its systems work. Fear is the security system of this car, but the mind is, friends, the passenger of the car is you. If you want to control your car, be able to process the information coming to you from its various systems [sense organs], otherwise, the car will be controlled by itself, through external stimuli. Or rather, it will be controlled by external circumstances and other people. Whether your fear is relevant or not relevant in a given situation is up to you to decide. But, it is up to you to decide this, on the basis of reasonable conclusions made with the help of your reflections and reasoning, and not rely only on natural instincts that cause you certain feelings. If your fear tells you that height is a danger to you, because you can fall and die, then you, in turn, in order to get rid of this fear, must provide certain evidence that this situation, dangerous from the point of view of your instincts, is under your control that despite the obvious danger, you are able to protect yourself, able to save yourself from falling. You must explain this to yourself, and then your fear will understand it. Otherwise, a completely reasonable question will arise for you - why, for what reason are you putting your life in danger? For sensations? For some dubious purpose? But do you really need these sensations, or, perhaps, it is better to experience other, less acute, but more reasonable sensations? Or, how much is your goal worth the sacrifices that you are willing to make to achieve it? You should be asking these questions in order to have a constructive dialogue with your fear.

To study, analyze, understand your fear is not so difficult, with a serious approach to this task. Anyone can handle it. But this takes time, and most of us just do not have enough of it. You can delegate this work to specialists to save your time and avoid unnecessary mistakes. But do not forget that you yourself are also able to cope with your fear, I tell you this for sure. Believe in yourself, in your abilities, in your strengths, and take the time to study your fears, as well as to find solutions to confront the threats that your fears signal to you, and then you will get rid of any, even very strong fear, as from a negative emotion that gives you great discomfort, and you will gain a reliable ally and wise adviser in his person.

The modern rhythm of life dictates its own conditions and makes people constantly experience a lot of different emotions and feelings. But not all the emotions we experience have a beneficial effect on us. Anxiety and fear sometimes make our lives simply unbearable.

If a person constantly experiences increased anxiety, suffers from obsessive thoughts, insomnia, constant panic attacks, then this indicates that his nervous system is out of order.

How to stop feeling fear and anxiety? And is it possible to get rid of these destructive feelings? Today we will try to find answers to these and many other important questions.

Many people think that “fear” and “anxiety” are concepts that can be equated. But this statement is not true. Anxiety can cause real inner panic, and it can also manifest itself in the form of slight excitement. It all depends on the level of its intensity. Fear is always associated with some specific object or situation.

For example, if you are walking down the street and see that a car is driving straight at you, then the first feeling that you will experience in this situation will be fear. But if you walk down the street and just think that at any moment you might be run over by a car, then you will experience anxiety.

To successfully overcome fear and anxiety, you first need to figure out why people experience them. One of the prerequisites for the emergence of anxiety and fear is excitement, which appears due to internal conflict and is its consequence, regardless of age, social status and worldview of a person.

Causes of anxiety and fear:

• self-doubt;
• insecurity about someone or something;
• difficult childhood (too emotional parents, parents who demand the impossible from a child, constantly comparing with other children in their favor, etc.);
• sedentary lifestyle;
• irrational nutrition;
• serious mental trauma;
• various annoying stimuli;
• an unfamiliar environment that a person views as potentially dangerous;
• unpleasant and painful life experience;
• character traits (asthenia, pessimism, etc.);
• somatic diseases caused by hormonal disruptions, endocrine disorders, a sharp decrease in blood sugar levels;
• bad habits (alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.).

Scientists have proven that the fair sex, in comparison with men, is several times more likely to experience anxiety and fear.

Fear, anxiety, anxiety, panic attacks are manifested as follows:

• pulse quickens, breathing becomes intermittent, blood pressure jumps;
• emotional excitability increases;
• physical weakness appears, the person begins to tire quickly;
• limbs begin to tremble;
• a person ceases to feel the world around him and himself;
• there is insomnia, causeless stomach and muscle pain;
• there are malfunctions in the work of the genitourinary and digestive systems;
• chronic headaches appear;
• in women, the menstrual cycle is disturbed.

Fear and anxiety not only negatively affect a person’s mental health, but also significantly undermine his physical health. When you feel anxiety or fear, you drive yourself into a corner and kill your nervous system.

How to get rid of anxiety and overcome fear: useful tips

When you think that the whole world is against you and that nothing good awaits you ahead, clearly and firmly tell yourself to stop now. The more you dramatize and exaggerate the situation in your life, the worse for you!

Consider that terrible tragedies are taking place in the world, in comparison with which your problem is no problem. Many people who have had to go through really scary moments in their lives look to the future with optimism, appreciate every minute they live and no longer worry about trifles, although before a broken car or the absence of their favorite chocolate bar in the store caused them real panic. This is exactly the case when it is worth learning from the mistakes of other people, and not waiting for life to teach you a personal lesson.

Children in Syria

When you feel that the state of anxiety covers you from the head, and baseless fear fetters you and makes you helpless, breathe deeply and calmly. Then try to discard all emotions and assess the situation objectively.

If nothing works out for you, close your eyes and imagine for a second that everything you fear has already happened in your life. Feel it fully, experience all those emotions that you are so afraid of, and then just accept it. Understand that there are things in life that we have no control over.

If you are constantly worried that your loved ones could die at any moment, try to sort out your feelings. Tell yourself that you cannot influence the coming of death in any way. When the time comes, we will all die. The sooner you realize this, the better. But do not be upset because of this and experience anxiety every day. Psychologists strongly recommend not to dwell on death, but to enjoy every day you live and sincerely thank the Universe for this.

If you do this, you will stop wasting the emotional and physical resources of your body on stupid experiences. A famous philosopher once said: “If a problem can be solved, then there is no need to worry and worry. If the problem cannot be solved, then why worry and worry? Problems come and go, but we only have one life.”

3. Always be busy with something

Danger will scare you as long as you don't know it. Once you know what the problem is and understand how to solve it, you will stop worrying and being afraid. But what to do if the reasons are not yet clear, and you are already tired of experiencing a constant feeling of anxiety?

Work! Do everything possible so that you do not have a minute of free time left. When your mind is completely filled with useful activity, you will experience neither anxiety nor fear.

D. Carnegie wrote in one of his works that a person who constantly experiences anxiety should work from morning to night. Only in this way can he forget about fear and start living a normal life.

4. All people are afraid of something

When we are scared, we think that no one else can understand us and our feelings. But there are more than 7 billion people on Earth, and our fears are not something unique and incomprehensible. Every person in a certain period of life had problems with courage, communication with the opposite sex, sex life, finances, etc.

If you start attending group therapy or find people with whom you can discuss the problems that have arisen and see understanding in their eyes, then it will be much easier for you to get rid of anxiety and fear. And in no case should you be ashamed of your feelings!

5. Start acting like you're not afraid of anything anymore.

It has been scientifically proven that the physiological reactions of the human body are closely related to emotional reactions. Pretend that you are feeling great. And it doesn't matter that you feel completely different now.

Live with a smile on your face, act and speak as if you are full of vigor and energy. Very soon you will be surprised to notice that your internal state is improving. Tighten your will and turn the next attack of fear into an attack of courage.

If you are worried about what will happen to you in the future, then you should listen to the words of the philosopher T. Carlyle. He once said that people should not try to look into the vague future, but actively act now and move in the direction that can be clearly seen.

Although everyone understands that it is foolish to waste their precious time worrying about the past, many people do just that with some sadistic pleasure. We constantly think about the mistakes we made in the past and about future events that may not come.

Live in the present, enjoy every minute of your life and hope that everything will be fine. Don't ruin your life in the present.

Getting rid of fear and anxiety: several effective methods

Method number 1. Be an observer

Do not give in to fear, but observe it as if from the side. You need:

• localize your fear;
• feel it.

Think of your fear as a kind of energy that fills certain areas of your body. Breathe calmly, deeply and slowly, mentally direct your breath to the areas occupied by fear.

Try not to think about your fear. Objectively and calmly observe how your fear is formed. You must be aware of it not as part of your own "I", but as a foreign body, which you need to get rid of immediately. If you become an impartial observer, it will be much easier for you to control anxiety and fear.

Method #2. Relax and breathe

Relax your body every time you start to feel anxiety or fear. Try to feel each of your muscles, and then relax it. Breathe evenly, quietly and calmly.

Inhalations and exhalations should be long. If you breathe with your diaphragm, your nervous system will calm down much faster. Diaphragmatic breathing helps stop the body's natural "fight or flight" response that occurs instantly when a person is afraid.

To relax, you need to focus on your breathing. Keep count of your inhalations and exhalations. The longer you inhale or exhale, the faster you can calm down. The optimal duration is 5-10 seconds.

But remember that you should be comfortable breathing. If you start to choke, you need to shorten the duration of your inhalations and exhalations.

Method number 3. Recall the times when your fear turned out to be empty

This method will help you deal with feelings of anxiety, repetitive and petty fears. If you are afraid that your behavior has offended a person or made a bad impression on him, then you just need to remember all those cases when your fears turned out to be groundless.

Very soon you will realize that you have nothing to fear, since your behavior does not offend anyone. But if you offended someone, is it worth it to torment yourself like that? You can always reconcile and build relationships. Own mistakes can be corrected, there would be a desire.

Method number 4. Don't forget about other people

Remember that your fears, anxieties and problems are not the center of the entire universe. We do not live alone in this world, each person has his own worries. Therefore, you should not focus only on yourself and think that no one can understand you and help you.

We come to a world whose laws we have to unconditionally accept, since we cannot influence them in any way. Birth, development, death, disease, decay are all part of the life cycle.

We must be in harmony with ourselves and the world around us. Our existence is part of the natural order. To understand this, you need to constantly improve yourself and develop yourself as a person.

Method number 5. Meditate

Meditation will allow you to tune in to a more positive and happy way. She will help:

• come to terms with the fact that nothing is perfect in our world;
• start to look at many things differently;
• get rid of negative emotions;
• find peace and inner harmony;
• free yourself from fear and realize that it is not an integral part of your personality.

Meditative practices will make you a calmer and more balanced person. If you meditate systematically, you can easily relieve nervous tension, relax deeply and look at the world with completely different eyes!

Fear is a natural and necessary emotion for life, or rather an affective state. Healthy fear ensures self-preservation. This is a sign of intelligence and fantasy, the desire to live. Justified fear, such as the fear of a fire due to an electrical appliance left on, is helpful. Like pain, it warns us of a possible or emerging problem. But what if the fear is out of control and interferes with life? Read on.

Like any phenomenon, fear can be viewed from two sides, positive and negative:

• The negative power of fear is that, being uncontrollable or turning into anxiety, behavioral disorders and the like, it spoils the life of an individual.
• The positive power of fear is that it provides development. From the fear of ignorance, schools appeared, from the fear of death and injury in road accidents, mechanics improve cars, the fear of poisoning makes us carefully process and store products.

The difference between fear and anxiety

Fear is an emotion that is closely related to another one - anxiety. Sometimes these definitions can be confused. However, there are 3 characteristics that distinguish between these concepts:

1. Fear is more specific, for example, there is a fear of heights. While anxiety does not have a clear outline.
2. Anxiety is a subjectively significant emotion. It is caused by things, values ​​that are significant for a particular individual. Anxiety arises against the background of a threat to the personality itself, its essence, worldview.
3. Before anxiety, a person is often helpless. For example, if uncertainty causes anxiety during an earthquake, then a person cannot influence this.
4. Anxiety is a constant phenomenon, fear is caused by a specific situation.

Specificity of fear

We can distinguish between real and false fear:

• The first we experience in critical situations. For example, when the car got into a snow drift and is about to roll over.
• False fear - imaginary feelings about what did not happen (“What if I get into a skid?”). We need to fight against false fears.

When we experience fear, there is an increase in sensory attention and motor tension. That is, we observe more actively and are ready to quickly run (act).

Uncontrolled and unprocessed fears turn into phobias and anxieties, which provokes personality neuroticism.

Signs of fear

Signs of fear include:

• anxiety;
• anxiety;
• jealousy;
• shyness;
• other subjective states;
• uncertainty;
• physiological changes;
• avoidance of the object of discomfort.

Reasons for fear

Among the reasons are:

• self-doubt and other disorders;
• childhood psychological trauma;
• constant stress and often recurring critical situations;
• the instinct of self-preservation.

The last reason encourages normative fear.

As noted by V. A. Kostina and O. V. Doronina, fear can be hereditary. Moreover, women are more likely to have social fears, and men - the fear of heights. By inheritance, the fear of heights, darkness, fear of doctors, punishment, loss of loved ones is transmitted.

How dangerous is fear

With fear, a number of physiological changes occur in the body. The work includes the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and adrenal cortex. As a result of activation of the hypothalamus, corticotropin is produced. It in turn includes the nervous system and the pituitary gland. It triggers the adrenal glands and produces prolactin. The adrenal glands secrete cortisol. Along with this, adrenaline and norepinephrine are produced. Externally and internally, all this is manifested:

• pressure increase;
• increased heart rate and respiration;
• opening of the bronchi;
• "goose skin";
• decreased blood flow to the organs of the digestive and reproductive systems;
• pupil dilation;
• the release of glucose into the blood;
• fast burning of fats;
• increased acidity in the stomach and decreased production of enzymes;
• shutdown of the immune system.

That is, the body comes into tension and becomes at a low start.

In real danger, this allows you to think faster, see better, hit harder, run faster. But if the fear is imaginary and constant, then the body does not benefit from everything that happens to it at this moment. That is why, against the background of fear, psychosomatic diseases develop:

• stool disorders,
• bronchial edema,
• dyspnea,
• chest pain.

Thus, there is a vicious circle. For example, you are afraid of getting sick, but against the background of fear you get sick. In addition, the more often you experience fear (stress), the less you can rationally assess the situation, which results in chronic phobias.

Just don't say that now you have a fear of fear (that was not my goal). In any case, we'll deal with it now. Read on.

The most popular fears: description and solution

One of the most popular fears is the fear of death (of one's own or loved ones). This is the most controversial phenomenon:

• On the one hand, it can reach such proportions that a person will close within four walls and simply rewind the allotted time.
• But on the other hand, this is a normal fear that makes us look around when we cross the road.

The only way to deal with it is to accept it. All people are mortal. It makes no sense to experience death several times in your thoughts and darken yourself with this all your life.

Other popular fears include fear of others, of oneself, of time, of fear.

Fear of others

The basis of fear is criticism, moreover, yours in the first place. To overcome this problem, try not to criticize yourself, but to praise. It is human nature to project our shortcomings or problems onto others, that is, in people we notice and scold what we do not accept in ourselves. And, as it were, we play ahead of the curve until it is noticed here. That is, we are afraid that our shortcomings will be noticed. This also includes:

• pickiness;
• resentment;
• revenge;
• unpleasant character traits (conflict, deceit, dishonesty, avoiding problems, indecision).

If you notice this in people and are afraid to experience it for yourself, then you probably already experienced it in your face a long time ago. On the same basis, there is a fear of seeming ridiculous, falling under the evil mood of someone. Solution to the problem: show yourself what you want to see in others.

Fear of self

We are talking about the fear of one's own ailments, imperfections of the body, loss of strength and the like. For such a problem, the solution is to achieve harmony of the body, brain and soul. This is a very difficult and wide path. Simply put, this is getting rid of psychosomatics.

Learn to listen to your body and accept the fact that it is a system capable of self-regulation, if it is not interfered with by imaginary fears. Have you ever said: “I don’t understand how I could do this. Now I won’t repeat it on purpose”? Here is the answer.

Fear of time

Learn the principle of "here and now." Fear of the passing time is often accompanied by self-flagellation due to postponing something for later or to the will of fate. You need to learn how to act and take responsibility for your actions.

• Get rid of laziness.
• Embrace the principle of "everything has its time," but in the context of your fulfilling your life plan and creating favorable conditions, and not waiting for the intervention of external forces.
• Scroll through the situations in your head before doing something in practice (of course, only with a happy outcome).

Fear of fear

First of all, learn to call a spade a spade. Not "I'm nervous", but "I'm afraid of something". Basically, it's about the fear of the unknown. Read about overcoming it in the paragraph “From fear to freedom” of this article.

1. Learn to overcome your fears and use them for good. There is no need to be ashamed of fear, but you need to overcome it and resist. The optimal method in this case is the “wedge by wedge”. It's important to face your fears. If in alcoholism treatment begins with the acceptance (voicing, recognition) of the problem, then the correction of fears begins with a confrontation.
2. When working with fears, it is important to understand that it will not work the first time. You must be aware that it will not be easy, but it will be worth it. In case of failure, prepare an alternative plan (people with fears are best at coming up with workarounds), but use it only as a plan B.
3. Pretend you're not afraid of anything. Imagine that you have to play a role on stage. After a while, your brain will believe that you really are not afraid of anything.
4. Fears about the future are the least justified. You create your own future, so pay attention to the present. Fears about him are much more justified. By torturing yourself with something from the future, you spoil your whole life. You exist, you don't live.
5. Accept the fact that our life consists of white and black stripes, sometimes gray. Troubles, difficulties and uncertainties will often appear. It is important not to be afraid to face it, but to be sure that you can handle it. To do this, you need to be the master of your life.
6. Most fears come from childhood. But, firstly, a child and an adult perceive the same things in different ways. Secondly, often fear or disagreements with a particular person are projected onto an object. For example, you have problems in your relationship with your parents, but you are afraid of the dark (you were once locked in a closet). Then there is only one solution - to let go or discuss grievances.
7. Have you noticed that fears are always directed to the future (even if they are based on the experience of the past), and fears develop through imagination? So why not redirect your forces, for example, to creativity? Learn to switch attention. Understand that working through future events that most likely will not happen, you spend real physical, intellectual and psychological strength. Don't you feel sorry for this?
8. Fear of the unknown is the most unjustified. You do not yet know the object (phenomenon) itself, so how do you know that you need to be afraid of it? Try it. Haven't been on a plane? Try it. And then decide whether you will be afraid or not.

I want to make a reservation that you can not rush into the pool with your head and neglect your safety. That is, living a full life without fear does not mean going snowboarding, getting hurt and remaining disabled. Living without fear means making decisions yourself and being responsible for them, understanding all the risks and possible consequences.

The body is able to heal itself. Your task is to bring him out of a state of eternal tension. And that's what relaxation is for. We are talking about conscious relaxation of the body, replacing negative emotions with positive ones. But once again I remind you that you need to get rid of only unhealthy fear.

Plan of Healing

To overcome fear, you need to consistently solve a number of problems.

1. Change faith in the bad (this is fear) to faith in the good. There is a recipe for everyone here: someone turns to nature, someone to spirits, God, their own old pleasant memories.
2. Next, find support in someone and give it yourself.
3. Learn to listen to your body and trust your intuition.
4. Find the root cause of false fear.
5. Make up your recipe for courage. These are detailed aspirations (desires) and ways to achieve them. It is important to describe not only what needs to be done, but also what you can do.
6. Refocus attention from the result to the process.

You can read about each of these points and how to do them in L. Rankin's book Healing from Fear. The paper gives practical recommendations on meditation, the search for inner strength, the development of courage. For each element (beliefs, courage, search for causes, etc.), a whole list of techniques with a description is presented. The author presented so many techniques in one edition that I think you will definitely find something for yourself there.

From fear to freedom

If you are still reading this article, then you are probably trapped in your own fears and are looking for a way to freedom. Right? Well, he is. Includes 5 items:

1. Exit from the unconscious. It takes more energy to avoid the risk than the risk itself. A person is driven by the thought “better reliability than regrets.” In order to step over this stage, ask yourself the question: is your comfort zone really the same for you? Imagine who you could be if it wasn't for your fears.
2. Getting out of your perceived comfort zone. At this stage, a person is driven by the belief that uncertainty is the only constant and clear in his life. That is, a person understands that he infringes on himself, but remains in the old place. At this stage, it is important to stimulate yourself with praise. You are a brave person and will be able to get out of your zone.
3. At the third stage, a person is not afraid of uncertainty, but does not look for it either. Doubt more, be curious.
4. The search for the uncertain, the unknown, the new. Learn to see possibilities.
5. Acceptance of uncertainty as such (in the concept of the world). Realize that anything can happen, but any event has a meaning.

The fifth stage is the final one. This is the very freedom without fears that you need to enjoy. However, this is the most unstable stage. Your freedom must be constantly reinforced and maintained by practice. Otherwise it is easy to lose it.

Emergency help

1. If fear caught you by surprise, then you can quickly find inner strength by switching attention. As you become aware of your fear, direct your attention to your most intense passion, desire. Focus on it. Want it so much that there is no room for fear. Even if the objects of passion and fear are from different "worlds". Convince yourself that you will quickly deal with what scares you, and then do what you want.
2. The second way to quickly overcome fear is to imagine what it deprives you of. Usually people evaluate only one side: what fear saves them from. Imagine how much fear stifles your potential, your individuality, originality.
3. Practice self-indulgence. Repeat daily in front of a mirror, “I am the master of my life. Everything that happens (both good and bad) depends on me. There is no place for fear, as well as meaning in it.
4. If the fear is clearly defined, then thoroughly study all its aspects. Look him in the face. Find the positives.
5. The most non-standard and categorical method of struggle is concern about the consequences of anxiety. This is a dubious way, but it exists. Imagine how the situation will worsen from your experiences (after reading this article, you know what your body experiences during a period of fear). Oddly enough, from the realization of "playing against yourself" you will calm down. But I must say right away that the method is not suitable for everyone. You can go into even more self-torture. Be careful!

Childhood fears

Despite the individual nature of fears (although, as we remember, they are not as subjective as anxiety), they are based on the actual need of age. Therefore, we can generally classify fears by age:

1. Up to six months - fear of sharp and loud sounds and movements, loss of support.
2. From six months to a year - fear of dressing up, changing habitual, strangers, heights.
3. From a year to two - fear of doctors, injuries, separation from parents.
4. From two to three years - fear of the dark, parental rejection, animals, loneliness, nightmares.
5. From three to seven years - fear of insects, water, heights, fairy-tale characters, misfortunes, disasters, fires, schools.
6. School period - fear of harsh sounds, death, physical violence, loss of loved ones. Along with this, social fears arise that persist in the future (fear of being late, not coping with the task, getting punished). If you do not work out these fears, then there will be a fear of not living up to expectations, of looking stupid; relationship problems.

Age fears are normative if the child does not drop out of life (sociable, open). They will pass on their own. But if the child avoids communication, is constantly scared and worried, then professional correction is needed.

Children's fears can be imitative or personal. In the first case - copying someone's behavior, in the second - their emotions under the influence of difficult situations.

In addition, fears can be short-term (up to 20 minutes), quickly passing (leave after a conversation), protracted (up to 2 months, even with corrective work).

Children's fears: what to do?

You can fight children's fears with the help of fairy tale therapy. As part of this, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the book by R. M. Tkach “Fairytale Therapy of Children's Problems”. In the work one can find not only a description of the method, but also the material (plots) of the fairy tales themselves.

1. Do not shame the child for fears, but ask about them. For example, what he saw, and how it looked, what it came for.
2. Accept the child's fear and tell a real or fictional story of personal fear and overcoming it.
3. Do not close the child in a dark room for the sake of punishment, do not scare the child with Baba Yaga or the "evil uncle" who will take him away. This is a direct path to neuroses and fears.
4. Ask what the child is watching or reading. Discuss it together.
5. To overcome specific fears, use fairy tale therapy or ridicule of fears.

Ridicule involves the visualization of fear (on a piece of paper) with the subsequent addition of funny (for a child) elements to it.

I also recommend the book by S. V. Bedredinova and A. I. Tashcheva “Prevention and correction of fears: a textbook”. It presents many practical options for therapy with children to overcome fears. Listing methods here, I think, does not make sense. The manual describes puppet therapy, and art therapy, and a correction program, and much more (with indications and contraindications for each method, features of the implementation). The phenomenon of children's fears themselves is also described.

Results and literature on the topic

Fear is the echo of the animal in man, the primitive. Previously, this emotion was justified even when it was constant. But in the modern world, this prevents a person from living. The situation is even more aggravated if fear is intertwined with anxiety, shame, guilt and other emotions.

The danger of fear is not contrived. It not only creates psychological discomfort, but also destroys the body on a physical level. In part, the phrase “Whoever is afraid of something will happen to him” is true. And this is not about the supreme forces, the attraction of misfortunes and ailments. The point is that, experiencing fear, our body radically changes its work: there is an excess of hormones (with prolonged excessive influence, they provoke imbalance and intoxication, destruction of organs), the digestive and reproductive systems fade into the background, the activity of the cardiovascular system is gaining momentum . A person can actually get sick.

It is necessary to get rid of fear (I remind you, false fear). But only children's fears can go away on their own. Adults will have to consciously break themselves, rebuild their belief systems, challenge themselves constantly, make a plan of action.

I recommend reading another book: D. T. Mangan "The Secret of an Easy Life: How to Live Without Problems." The author reveals his own concept, according to which we are a complex mechanism that requires flogs to enable or disable systems. The book is a practical guide to restructuring your thinking, including getting rid of fears. For each problem, Mangan suggests using a unique password. These are the words to be used in difficult situations. And from them, supposedly, the situation will turn in your favor. I myself have not tried this approach, so I can’t say anything good or bad. But in my opinion, the very idea of ​​the concept is interesting.

In the fight against fears, as in any business, the main thing is the beginning! You yourself will not notice how the fight will become easier. Gradually it will no longer be a struggle. Well, the result in the form of complete mental freedom is the highest reward. I wish you success in the fight against inner demons!

Fear is a natural human emotion that occurs under certain conditions. The personality is in constant development, knowledge of something unknown, new. Some people are open to new experiences, some are fearful and anxious.

Anxiety and fear are often synonymous in the context of the same situation. Anxiety occurs in a person during experiences, fear can also relate to any experiences, or arise suddenly. These emotions and feelings can protect us from something, but also interfere with our active life. Therefore, the logical question is: “How to overcome the feeling of fear and anxiety when they are excessive?”

Fear and anxiety are not the same concepts. They have a significant difference. Sometimes the nature and even illness of a person depends on their manifestation. Excessive anxiety, various phobias can lead to a personality disorder, a pathological perception of the environment.

Fear is a defense mechanism of the psyche that tries to protect us from danger. This feeling is transmitted to some extent by inheritance, when already small children are afraid of snakes or wasps, heights and so on. Since childhood, parents have been claiming negative, terrible consequences if a child climbs higher than it should, waving his arms in front of a wasp.

Fear has changed over time, such fears arise that no longer save us from problem situations, but, on the contrary, prevent us from performing any functions, achieving our goals. Excessive fear of any object or situation is already a phobia. This condition negatively affects the state of the psyche, even the somatic health of a person. The emotion of fear arises in the situation that has taken place.

Anxiety is like a warning about danger. A person feels anxiety not about the event or situation that has taken place, but before it. This emotion refers to the mental process of imagination, when a person thought up problems for himself, because of which he began to worry. Many people confuse anxiety with intuition. Intuition refers to hypersensitivity, can orient a person to good and bad in her life. Anxiety focuses a person on the expectation of something bad, negative, problematic. This may be an individual feature of a person, a consequence of education, problems with the physiological health of the patient.

Reasons for fear and anxiety

Any mental disorder, diseases of organs and systems, may be accompanied by anxiety. Especially a person suffers from unreasonable anxiety in diseases of the nervous system.

Some types of temperament are also characterized by the appearance of anxiety in different situations. For example, melancholic or choleric people may react with anxiety to new changes in life. For melancholics, in general, each new difficult situation seems beyond his strength, problems are impossible, and conflicts are eternal. Anxiety in them appears more often than in phlegmatic or sanguine people. These are features of temperament, and if they do not interfere with a person’s life, they are taken as the norm.

Unreasonable anxiety, which arises unintentionally, refers to a symptom of neurosis. In this case, it is not just about distracting a person from a causal situation, but about psychological or medical assistance.

So, the causes of anxiety and fear are:

1. A threat to something important and significant for a particular person, this significant can be realized by a person, or be in the sphere of the unconscious.
2. Biological theory says that anxiety can arise due to an imbalance of genes in the brain.
3. Reflex response to a specific stimulus. It often occurs after a psychological trauma.
4. Insufficient or excessive physical activity can also cause increased levels of anxiety and fear.
5. Improper nutrition leads to such symptoms. For the normal course of mental processes, a sufficient amount of vitamins and trace elements is necessary. If they do not constantly enter the body, a person may develop anxiety.
6. A hormonal disorder in the body, a harbinger of a heart attack, a drop in blood sugar levels, neurosis, schizophrenia, alcoholism - all these conditions are accompanied by anxiety and the possible appearance of fear.

What can a person be afraid of?

Everything, anything. The occurrence of phobia and anxiety can be associated with different objects or life situations. In medicine, the following main types of anxiety are distinguished:

How does this condition manifest itself?

This is a debilitating state for a person. When anxiety overcomes, a person does not rest, but is constantly immersed in his thoughts. Such constant brainstorming leads to the fact that the brain does not rest, it is constantly loaded with work. Anxiety and fear are manifested by physiological symptoms:

The mental state of a person also suffers, he is constantly tense internally. He is even more worried about the feeling of insecurity, uncertainty, helplessness that appeared along with anxiety. The concentration of attention decreases, irritability, intolerance appear. A person's self-esteem suffers, he begins to avoid communicating with people. A person feels loneliness, concentrates on his shortcomings, hence there is a lack of realization in the profession, a violation of communication, problems in his personal life.

You can’t stop worrying and being afraid with a wave of your hand. Overcoming an anxiety state is a process that requires considerable effort on the part of the person himself, and the doctor, as well as the surrounding understanding relatives. An attempt to "pull yourself together" to get rid of fear may be unsuccessful, perhaps even exacerbating anxiety about the inability to cope with your emotions. What kind of help can be obtained from specialists to solve the problem of anxiety?

Treatment and help: how to get rid of anxiety and fear?

Treatment and care for this condition includes the use of medication and psychological assistance.

medical treatment

The regulation of cognitive processes in the manifestation of anxiety and fear, assistance in the somatic manifestations of this condition, is carried out through the use of the necessary medical means. They affect the human nervous system, reducing its excitability, some of them have a sedative effect.

Psychotropic drugs are used for treatment, which are able to suppress anxiety, relieve the severity of fear, emotional stress. Some of them have a positive effect on cognitive processes, improving mental performance.

There are drugs with moderate sedative properties, some of the anxiolytics do not suppress the activity of the nervous system. Nootropics are also used for manifestations of anxiety.

Psychotherapy

The main task of a specialist psychologist or psychiatrist is to determine the psychological cause of such behavior. After exploring the depths of the subconscious, he brings to awareness the cause of anxiety. After that, the question becomes how to deal with this feeling?

The specialist helps to identify a person’s irrational beliefs, forming clear and rational ones from them, allowing you to take a fresh look at your problem. The doctor in the process of work helps a person:

• define the problem;
• formulate the goals of its solution;
• work out solutions;
• talk about how to apply certain solutions;
• evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen solution.

The doctor should not dive into the content of the problem, it is important to pay attention to the thinking and emotional reactions of a person. He needs to explain to the client the importance of changing the way of thinking, to show readiness for changes in life.

With anxiety, active sports, positive communication and good deeds to others help. So a person can remove the symptoms of the disorder, overestimate their actions.

Almost everyone in life has a moment when a person begins to worry, worry and worry. There are many such reasons and every day every inhabitant of the planet Earth experiences a feeling of anxiety. Today we will talk about the psychology of fear and anxiety, and also look at ways to deal with anxiety.

Personal anxiety

If personal anxiety is too high and goes beyond the normal state, then this can lead to disruption in the body and the appearance of various diseases in the circulatory system, immune and endocrine. Anxiety, from which a person cannot get out on his own, greatly affects the indicators of the general condition of a person and his physical abilities.

Each person reacts differently to a given situation. Most often, a person already knows in advance what emotions he will experience if some event happens.

Excessive personal anxiety is a certain violation of the adequacy of the manifestation of emotions. When a person experiences this type of anxiety, he may begin to: tremble, a sense of danger and complete helplessness, insecurity and fear.

When some unfavorable situation occurs, a person begins to gesticulate unusually, an oppressed and excited facial expression appears, the pupils dilate and blood pressure rises. A person stays in this state almost all the time, because personal anxiety is a certain character trait of an already established personality.

Of course, in the life of each of us there are unplanned situations that unbalance and make us feel anxious. But in order for the body not to suffer from an increased level of anxiety later, it is necessary to learn how to control your emotions.

Anxiety symptoms

There are many symptoms that accompany anxiety, we list the most common:

• reactions to severe stress;
• constant feeling of lack of sleep;
• stomach problems;
• chills or paroxysmal sensations of heat;
• heart palpitations;
• feeling as if you are having a mental crisis;
• constant irritability;
• problems with concentration;
• constant feeling of panic.

There are some of the most common and well-known types of anxiety that people often experience.

Panic disorder - most often accompanied by recurring panic attacks, fear or some discomfort may suddenly appear. Such emotional disturbances are often accompanied by a rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, chest pain, increased sweating, fear of dying or going insane.

Many people who experience anxiety suffer from such attacks. People with panic disorders begin to avoid absolutely everything around them, they do not go to places where there is even a small chance of getting injured and being left alone.

Generalized anxiety is also a well-known disease that is persistent and not limited to normal environmental circumstances. A person who suffers from this type of anxiety often experiences: anxiety about future failures, fidgetiness, inability to relax and tension, nervousness, sweating, dizziness and difficulty concentrating.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is the activity of the subconscious mind, trying to protect the body from a possible unfortunate event. This creates a vague feeling of anxiety and fear.

The occurrence of this phenomenon is due to the fact that a person expects danger in various things. Associative reflexes arise in the brain with a possible source of threat. It is important that there may not be a threat, that is, a false association occurs, but the response of the organism is quite real:

• increase in cardiac output, number of heartbeats;
• quickening of breathing;
• sweating;
• nausea.

With a long course, these symptoms are joined by:

• sleep disturbance;
• loss of appetite;
• feeling short of breath;
• apathy.

The apogee is psychosomatic disorders, depression, deterioration in the quality of life, personality disorders.

The difference between anxiety and fear

The above changes are realized by many people who are in an anxious state. But the understanding of anxiety itself, that is, the causes of the above physiological changes, is far from accessible to everyone.

This is the difference between anxiety and fear. With fear, a person specifically and very accurately knows the cause. Fear begins directly during danger and this is an understandable reaction, while anxiety is a deeper, incomprehensible phenomenon.

Adaptive and pathological anxiety

Adaptive anxiety appears as an organism's response to possible changes in the environment, for example, before an important event (tests, interviews, first date ...). This is a completely natural process that can slowly and imperceptibly flow into a pathological one. At the same time, there is no longer a threat, but there is anxiety, it has nothing to do with real events.

Real life examples

Anxiety can also be seen as thoughts running ahead unreasonably. That is, a person imagines himself in the place where he is currently not.

For example, students during a couple fall into this state when the teacher wants to start a survey and looks into the magazine.

The only question in this situation is “why?”. Because while the teacher is in thought and does not know whom to ask. There are many options for the outcome of this situation. If you think logically, then such a phenomenon as anxiety is completely inappropriate in this case.

But here you are out of luck, and it so happened that the teacher's eyes fell on you on the list. A person who runs ahead can be shackled and, in the worst case scenario, reach a loss of consciousness. But in fact, nothing has happened yet. The teacher didn't even ask a question. Again, why?

It is important to always ask yourself the sobering question “why?”.

The student was raised by the teacher, but so far he did not ask a question - there is no reason for alarm.

The teacher asked a question - there is no cause for alarm. In this case, you can try to answer it.

You did not answer, the teacher gave you a negative mark - there is no reason for alarm. You need to think about how to fix an unsatisfactory grade. Because the deuce in the magazine can no longer be removed, but you can get a few positive points.

Consider another situation that everyone has been in - waiting for a bus. In addition, if you are late, then waiting becomes unbearably exhausting. But your concern will not speed up the bus, which is quite logical. Then why worry?

Fighting Anxiety

If you feel the symptoms listed above, then often ask yourself the question “why?”. This question will direct your thoughts in the right direction. It is much easier to deal with it, because the genesis is clear, that is, the origin and cause of fear.

When there are too many fears and anxieties, they seriously complicate the life of any person, do not allow them to relax and focus on really important things, so you need to try to fight them. Everyone is concerned about the question of how to overcome fear forever. In fact, it is impossible to completely get rid of fear and there is nothing wrong with that. Fear is necessary, this emotion is necessary for a person to survive. In order to be a completely mentally healthy person, fear is necessary.

But here's to make sure that fear does not literally bind hands and feet. There are several steps towards managing your fears.

Non-judgmental attitude

The more attention a person pays to fighting fear, the more it paralyzes him. It is necessary to stop judging fear, because there is nothing good or bad in the fact that a person is afraid. You do not need to consider your fear as an enemy, on the contrary, you need to treat it positively. Let this be your powerful weapon.

Explore your fear

Fear needs to be explored. You need to spend your inner energy wisely, with the help of this energy you can control your fear. Try to switch from fear to something else, each person will be able to do it differently, you need to find your own way, which will be most effective.

Practical training

Overcoming fear should not be the main goal, otherwise internal resistance will develop, which will interfere with all processes inside a person and will only aggravate the feeling of fear anxiety. In order to develop self-confidence, you need to make some effort. First, get out of your comfort zone. Before you start an active struggle, you need to ask yourself the question why all this is being done, why this struggle is needed and what it will lead to.

On a piece of paper, you need to make a list of all your desires, which it is precisely excessive anxiety that prevents you from realizing, and then begin to gradually realize this list. The first time will not be easy, but this is a very useful training and, most importantly, incredibly effective.

Fears must be in life, but at the same time they should not complicate this life too much. A person should be in a comfortable state and feel good, be able to control fears and prevent them. Anxiety should not be excessive, and you need to learn how to deal with it.

12 tips to get rid of anxiety, fear and worry

Exercise stress

If something worries you or you are frightened, engage in physical activity. Work out with dumbbells, run or do other physical exercises. During physical activity, endorphin is produced in the human body - the so-called hormone of joy, which uplifts the mood.

Drink less coffee

Caffeine is a powerful stimulant of the nervous system. In large quantities, it can turn even a healthy person into an irritated, nervous grumbler. Keep in mind that caffeine isn't just found in coffee. It is also found in chocolate, tea, Coca-Cola and in a number of medicines.

Avoid annoying conversations

When you are tired or tense, such as after a tiring day at work, avoid talking about topics that can get you excited. Agree with your family members not to talk about problems after dinner. It is especially important to get rid of disturbing thoughts before going to bed.

"White noise"

The generator of "white noise" perfectly promotes a healthy sleep. Get this device and enjoy quality sleep. After all, lack of sleep can provoke stress and simply makes a person tired and irritable.

Experience analysis

If you have many different things and problems that worry you, make a list of those worries. Assign possible consequences to each individual alarm. When you clearly see that nothing very terrible threatens you, it will be easier for you to calm down. In addition, it will be easier for you to think through all the options for solving your problems.

Watch funny movies and laugh more. Laughter releases endorphins and helps relieve stress.

Looking at what terrible things can happen to people, your own problems will seem like nothing to you. After all, everything is known in comparison.

Don't create unnecessary problems for yourself

Many people are very fond of looking ahead and prematurely drawing conclusions about the bad outcome of certain events, phenomena, and so on.

Solve problems as they come. From the fact that you worry about what may happen in the future or not happen at all, the end result will not change.

You will only annoy yourself with such thoughts. If you are suddenly worried about something that might happen, ask yourself two questions: how likely is it to happen, and how can you, if you can in principle, influence the course of events. If you have no control over what's to come, don't just worry. Fearing the inevitable is stupid.

Introspection

When something worries you, try to remember similar situations in the past. Think about how you behaved in similar situations, how much you could influence the problem and how the problem was resolved. After such an analysis, you will come to the conclusion that nothing lasts forever, in this case the problem. Very often problems are solved even without our intervention.

Detail your fears

The enemy must be known by sight. Analyze all your fears and anxieties to the smallest detail, study the likelihood of a problem or a specific situation, think about how you can avoid the problem and how to solve it. In the course of such an analysis, you will not only be seriously prepared to face the problem, but also find out that the likelihood that something that you fear will happen to you is not at all great. Based on specific data or numbers, you will realize that you are simply winding yourself up.

Eastern wisdom

Take on the development of one of the Eastern methods of relaxation, meditation or yoga. These practices contribute significantly to complete relaxation, both physically and mentally. Also, during classes, the already known endorphin is produced. Work with an instructor, or learn one of the techniques yourself with the help of relevant literature or video lessons. It is recommended to cheer up in this way for 0.5-1 hour every day.

Share worries with a friend

Fear of the future (futurophobia)

Fear of the future is a constant feeling of anxiety in a person associated with upcoming events in his life. This fear appears under the influence of daily stressful situations in conjunction with positive emotions (desired relocation or the birth of a child).

Futurophobia is the individual's endless doubt that he is able to overcome all the obstacles and problems that await him in life. Often a person begins to understand the groundlessness of this fear. However, more often it all comes down to the fact that he cannot find the origins of his doubts. After that, the internal state of a person worsens, and the fear itself returns with renewed vigor.

At its core, fear of the future is the fear of the unknown. A person does not know what can happen tomorrow, how to act in a given situation. Because of this, the feeling of security is reduced to a critical point, replacing it with constant anxiety. At this moment, the fear of the future appears.

How to overcome the fear of the future?

Specialists have developed a strategic plan that contains methods for increasing and replenishing the reserve of strength for psychological stability, self-confidence in one's own abilities, as well as for developing the ability to adequately respond to various events.

Analyze

Initially, you should analyze what situation causes fear and what it is connected with. Here it is very important to remember when disturbing thoughts first began to visit and whether they are based on a real danger or a subjective one. The more precisely the form of fear is determined, the easier it will be to analyze all the facts that should be recorded daily.

At this stage, it is good to visualize fear in some way, even if it is a drawing of an abstract form or with some kind of name. This method allows you to throw out all the experiences, and possibly fears.

Also, it is very important not to discuss the emotions themselves. They can be expressed as your own feeling. This will help relieve the general tension in a situation where fear manifests itself to others. A frank conversation about your fears will help unite in resolving this issue. It is best to have a social circle in which you can feed on positive energy.

Find a Solution

The next thing to do is to list, prescribe a step-by-step solution with the sequential execution of certain actions. This process requires determination and willpower, which is very important for removing the paralyzing and numbing influence that causes fear of the future in a person.

In the event that fear haunts a person for a very long time and he is unable to overcome his fears on his own, which prevents him from living a normal full life, it is better to contact a specialist (psychotherapist) who will prescribe medication.

How to get rid of anxiety and relax: 13 grounding exercises

Grounding exercises are designed to reconnect with the present, here and now. The main goal is to tie your mind and body together and make them work together.

These exercises are useful in many situations where you feel:

• overloaded;
• overwhelmed by difficult memories, thoughts and feelings;
• are in the grip of strong emotions;
• experiencing stress, anxiety, or anger;
• suffer from painful memories;
• wake up from nightmares with a pounding heart.

The exercises are based on using the senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch - to connect the mind and body in the present moment. These are basic human feelings that remind us that we are here and now and we are safe. Use only those that you feel comfortable doing.

#1 - Remind yourself who you are

State your name. Say your age. Tell me where you are now. List what you did today. Describe what you will do next.

#2 - Breathing

Take 10 slow breaths. Focus your attention on your breath, each inhale and exhale. Count the number of exhalations to yourself.

#3 - Feel

Splash some water on your face. Note how you felt. Feel the touch of the towel you used to dry your face. Take a sip of cold water. Pick up a cold can of cola or lemonade. Feel the cold and wetness of the surface of the bottle. Pay attention to the bubbles and taste of the liquid you drink. Now take a large mug of hot tea in your hands and feel its warmth. Do not rush to drink tea, take small sips, savoring the taste of each.

#4 - Nightmare

If you wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, remind yourself who you are and where you are. Tell yourself what year it is and how old you are. Look around the room, mark all familiar objects and name them. Feel the bed where you are lying, feel the coolness of the air, name any sounds you hear.

No. 5 - Clothes

Feel the clothes on your body. Notice if your arms and legs are closed or open, and notice how your clothes feel when you move around in them. Notice how your feet feel in socks or shoes.

#6 - Gravity

If you are sitting, touch the chair below you and feel the weight of your body and feet touching the surface and floor. Notice how much pressure your body, arms, and legs put on the seat, floor, or table. If you are lying down, feel the contact between your head, body and legs as they touch the surface you are lying on. Starting at the head, notice how each part of your body feels, then move down to your feet and the soft or hard surface they rest on.

#7 - Stop and listen

Name all the noises you hear around you. Gradually shift your attention from nearby sounds to those that come from a distance. Look around and note everything that is directly in front of you, and then to the left and to the right. Name the characteristic features, details and features of large objects first, and then smaller ones.

#8 - Get up and walk around the room

Focus on every step you take. Stomp your feet and notice the sensations and sounds as your feet touch the ground. Clap your hands and rub your hands vigorously. Listen to the sound and feel in your palms.

#9 - Temperature

Going outside, pay attention to the air temperature. How different (or similar) is it from the room temperature you were just in?

No. 10 - See, hear, touch

Find five things you can see, five things you can hear, touch, taste, smell.

#11 - Dive

Dip your hands in something that has an interesting or unusual texture.

No. 12 - Music

Listen to an excerpt of instrumental music. Give it your full attention.

No. 13 - Garden

If you have a garden or houseplants, stay with them for a while. Plants, and even the soil itself, can be a great "grounding" cure for anxiety and worry.

Treatment

If the above methods did not work, it is worth contacting specialists who will conduct competent therapy and prescribe a course of treatment. The main thing is not to start this process, that is, be guided by the principle "the sooner the better."