Ended soon
Fears and phobias can be devastating. Though some fears are easily managed and avoided, others feel as if they are controlling your life. Perhaps you can’t go on holiday because of your fear of flying or your fear of enclosed spaces is forcing you to take the stairs every day. Confronting your fears is extremely difficult, but it’s the only way to begin to get over them. Avoiding the things you’re scared of often just reinforces your fear. When you confront it, you usually see that there’s nothing to be scared of. Whereas avoiding your fears allows you to keep convincing yourself that your fear is logical.
Getting over a fear or phobia is a hard task, but there are hundreds of coping techniques and therapies that can help you.
Keep Confronting Your Fears
Avoiding the things that make you scared and anxious only serves to amplify your fears. When you expose yourself to something you’re scared of you can begin to desensitise yourself. Much like you might be frightened by a violent or scary film that no longer scares you after watching it a few times. Make sure that you don’t push yourself too hard and take a break to relax if things are getting too much.
Analyze Your Fear
If you’re a logical person, think about why you are scared of your fears. Ask yourself where the fear comes from and what you are actually scared of. If you’re scared of heights, is the fear of falling or of feeling unstable? Are you scared of elevators because you feel trapped or because you’re scared of it breaking down? Ask yourself what’s the worst that could happen. Not in an absolute worst-case scenario, but what is likely to happen in reality. You can compare the situation to something you’re not scared of. Say you’re frightened of flying but don’t mind being in a car. Yes, it’s possible for a plane to crash but it’s so unlikely as to be negligent. Being in a car, on the other hand, is statistically much more dangerous, yet it’s not a source of worry for you.
Therapy
There are a few different types of therapy that could help you overcome severe fears and phobias. Simply talking about your fear can be incredibly helpful, whether it’s with a licensed therapist or just a friend. Some people turn to hypnotherapy, a form of psychotherapy where the therapist attempts to alter your thoughts and behaviours while you are in a hypnotic state. It is hypnotherapy Bournemouth therapists often recommend for overcoming phobias.
Learn to Embrace Fear and Overcoming It
We all have to be scared sometimes. No one leads an absolutely fearless life. Rather than try and avoid any and all things that make you scared, accept the fact that fear is a reality and a necessity. Being scared is an unpleasant feeling, but overcoming a fear is a joyous one. You don’t have to be an adrenaline junkie, but you can learn to scare yourself a little bit every day until fear is part of your life. Not as something you suffer but as something you overcome.
