Coping with Fears

This article is informational only and is not meant to be taken as medical advice.

Reach out to your primary medical professional if you are in crisis

If you are in immediate crisis, call the National Crisis Hotline (United States)

Call: 988 or 1-800-273-8255.

5 Ways To Overcome Your Fears

Fear is known as one of the seven universal emotions experienced by humans. Fear is an emotion that presents itself in response to a threat of harm, whether physical, emotional, or psychological, and whether that threat is real or imagined.

Typically fear is viewed as a negative emotion, though in many instances, it serves the vital purpose of activating us to cope with potential danger. Moreover, fear can dominate one’s thoughts and emotions in times of crisis and uncertainty. Thus, learning to manage and overcome fear is a vital skill to help people navigate life.

1. Relaxation Techniques:

Relaxation techniques are forms of stress management that work to decrease the effects of stress on the mind and body. This can be especially useful when anxiety and panic can override and overwhelm.

When practiced, these techniques can improve mood, reduce stress hormones, slow breathing, decrease heart rate, and reduce frustration, all of which can be associated with fear. Relaxation techniques can include yoga, massage, aromatherapy, music, and art, among others.

2. Ask for Help:

One of the best ways to overcome fear is to seek help. When experiencing a fear-inducing situation, it can be tempting to isolate ourselves because of shame or concern for ourselves or others.

But whether it is helping to cope with the fear or helping conquer the fear, reaching out to others to get support ensures that fear doesn’t get the best of you and does not cause you to cave under stress or make poor decisions. Others can provide the emotional support needed to help us process our feelings and develop coping methods to remain strong and overcome fear.

3. Visualization:

Visualization is a process of mind mapping or imaging that can be very useful in dealing with fear. When faced with a situation or stimulus that causes fear, visualizing the steps you can take to overcome

the situation or tackle the trigger creates muscle memory in the brain.

Then, by the time you get ready to do the action, your brain is more likely to follow the pre-ordained steps, eliminating the fear of the unknown and ensuring greater chances of success.

4. Meditation:

Meditation is the practice of focusing on a specific thing (breathing, body sensation, or object) as a means of developing self-awareness, inducing calm, and increasing attention. Meditation can be used to combat fear by intentionally choosing to focus on something other than the trigger causing the fear and regularly engaging in the practice as a means of redirecting and gaining control of your thoughts. Through meditation, you can manage and calm your fears and thus manage distressing situations.

5. Affirmations:

An affirmation is a phrase or sentence designed to influence the conscious and subconscious mind. The ultimate effect is a change in our thought processes, habits, environments, behaviors, and actions. For example, when faced with fear, the goal should be to speak affirmations that encourage, uplift, and pivot from the ‘scary’ trigger, thereby reinforcing positive thoughts and positivity directly combatting the fear.

It is possible to overcome fear rather than allow it to get the best of you. When you enact intentional coping methods, you can alter your response to fear and navigate life with more ease and simplicity. And we all want more ease within our lives, don’t we?

You are amazing and strong. You are here for a purpose.

Remind yourself that you have a 100% success rate of getting through the tough stuff!