Saturday, March 23, 2024
HomeTreatmentHow To Deal With Fear And Anxiety

How To Deal With Fear And Anxiety

The Truth Will Set You Free

How to cope with anxiety | Olivia Remes | TEDxUHasselt

Feelings of anxiety, fear, and worry can be extremely distressing, even disabling at times. Just remember, they are feelings that come and go. They are often based on a combination of traumatic or distressing events, have been modeled by others important to you growing up, may be genetically inherited and treatable medically, and can be greatly improved just by trying a few of the practices listed above. Know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Normal Fears In Children

Many childhood fears are natural and tend to develop at specific ages. For example, many young children are afraid of the dark and may need a nightlight to sleep. That doesnt mean they have a phobia. In most cases, they will grow out of this fear as they get older.

For example, the following childhood fears are extremely common and considered normal:

0-2 years Loud noises, strangers, separation from parents, large objects.

3-6 years Imaginary things such as ghosts, monsters, the dark, sleeping alone, strange noises.

7-16 years More realistic fears such as injury, illness, school performance, death, natural disasters.

If your childs fear is not interfering with their daily life or causing them a great deal of distress, then theres little cause for undue concern. However, if the fear is interfering with your childs social activities, school performance, or sleep, you may want to see a qualified child therapist.

Evaluate Your Life Wholesomely

One aspect of your life can easily spill into other spheres. For example, when youre stressed, it affects your health, diet, and work. The same goes for driving anxiety. In many cases, the cause of this anxiety is hidden in other spheres of your life.

Evaluate other aspects of your life to see if there are any correlating or causative factors. Stress, for instance, can lead to sleepless nights, feeling lethargic, and inability to concentrate. This can, in turn, impact your ability and confidence to drive.

Recommended Reading: How To Overcome Shyness And Social Anxiety

Use Nature As Your Therapist

Talking to a therapist is an excellent way to work through your fears and anxiety. However, you cant always be at your therapists office. Try going for a walk outside instead! Natural beauty found in parks, backyards, or wherever something green is growing does help reduce symptoms of fear and anxiety. Nature calms people, reducing stress levels and changing moods from anxious to relaxed. Plus, the physical activity of walking or jogging outdoors requires us to use our brains differently, which can cause a switch from irrational fearful thoughts to clearer thinking that can help overcome the fear.

Would you like to know more? Our counselors at Real Life Counseling can provide real help for your fear and anxiety problems. Please contact us to learn more.

Create A Conducive Driving Environment

How to help your child manage their anxiety ...

Your surroundings have a direct impact and influence on your mental state and wellbeing. If you dont feel comfortable in your car, youll likely be anxious whenever you get in it.

There are several ways to overcome this anxiety, with the most effective being getting used to your car.

Get in your car a few minutes before you have to drive and just sit calmly and take in the environment. This will help you feel accustomed to the space, which could then make you relax.

Soothing music can also help you relax. You can put on something relaxing or your favorite genre before and when youre driving. Also, ensure your car is clean and fresh before driving. Clutter can make your mind feel uneasy and increase anxiety.

Loud and rowdy passengers can further aggravate your anxiety.

If theres someone else in the car and you feel uncomfortable, request them to be silent and explain you may not be at ease in an uncontrolled environment. Wearing comfortable clothing also helps improve your control and calmness when driving.

You can get your anxiety attack under control Click the button below to schedule your appointment with a professional for advice and effective treatment options.

Recommended Reading: Can Thyroid Issues Cause Anxiety

Why Wont My Fear Go Away And Leave Me Feeling Normal Again

Fear may be a one-off feeling when you are faced with something unfamiliar.

But it can also be an everyday, long-lasting problem even if you cant put your finger on why. Some people feel a constant sense of anxiety all the time, without any particular trigger.

There are plenty of triggers for fear in everyday life, and you cant always work out exactly why you are frightened or how likely you are to be harmed. Even if you can see how out of proportion a fear is, the emotional part of your brain keeps sending danger signals to your body.

Sometimes you need mental and physical ways of tackling fear.

What Are Common Types Of Fear And Anxiety

Anxiety is extremely common in America: As much as 18% of the population is affected each year. If you have difficulty falling asleep, cant concentrate and replay the same scenarios in your head over and over, these are signs of generalized anxiety. Anxiety can also manifest in a more acute way: panic attacks. Panic attacks come on suddenly and cause shortness of breath, sweating and chills, a pounding heart and an overall sense of dread.

Phobias are another common type of fear as many as 12% of adults experience a phobia at some point. This is an extreme fear of a very specific situation, object or animal. Spiders, heights, public speaking and enclosed spaces are a few well-known phobias.

Whether youre experiencing general anxiety or acute fear, if you let it run unchecked, youll never achieve what you desire in life. Overcoming fear lets you harness the fear response and use it to your advantage.

You May Like: What Is The Best Herbal Tea For Anxiety

Principle #: My Anxiety Reveals What I Value

Matthew 6:25 is perhaps the most quoted verse about anxiety in the Bible because it challenges us to trust God rather than falling into worry and anxiety. What we often miss when quoting verse 25 is that the teaching on anxiety is an application of verses 1924. In verses 1924, Jesus reminded us all that life on earth is short and we cant take anything with us. He taught us that what we value will become what we prioritize. If we value the worlds priorities more than we value Gods priorities, we will naturally be anxious about the things of this world like food, clothing, and stuff.

Because our money, health, reputation, and relationships are valuable to us, we become anxious when what we love becomes threatened. Anxiety provides us a window into what our hearts find truly valuable. When our hearts align with Gods values, we will view the dangers around us differently. Death, discomfort, and dire circumstances dont have the same sting when we have Gods eternal perspective. When Gods values and our values align, we will understand what is most important and live out the purpose we were created for.

Action step: God calls me to overcome anxiety by keeping my focus on what will last eternally.

Use Your Brain In A Different Way Than Usual

How We Cope With Anxiety & Stress | MTV’s Teen Code

Your fear and anxiety arise out of a certain part of your brain, and they allow emotion to overcome rational thought. When you feel your fearful symptoms coming forth, try to use a different part of your brain. Think about numbers, for instance. A nurse in the clinic might ask a patient to rate his pain on a scale of 1-10. Use this scale for your anxiety. How anxious are you when 1 is perfectly calm and 10 is your very worst symptom? Stop and analyze. Do you rate your fear at 7? Very good. You can work on lowering that to a 4 or a 3. Try using the next step to lower your fear rating.

Also Check: How To Know If You Anxiety

Learn More About Your Fear

This first step can be the hardest one, but its also absolutely necessary. You cant overcome a fear that remains hidden in the dusty regions of your subconscious. You must face it. When you turn your face toward a person, you see that person and learn what he looks like and how he is acting. When you turn toward your fear , you notice things about your fear that you didnt know before. This awareness helps you overcome it.

To help yourself face your fears and anxiety, try keeping a journal over a period of two or three weeks. Record any patterns you notice. Do your hands turn clammy and your stomach clenches when you hear the doorbell? Do you experience more symptoms of anxiety in the morning or the evening? What do you tend to do when your fears arise? Jot down anything that seems significant. Transferring your fear patterns and symptoms into writing can help demystify them. They are no longer so big and insurmountable.

Most importantly, learning all about your fear gives you an idea of how to counter it.

The Effects Of Fear And Anxiety

Fear and anxiety often overlap. As noted above, they share many of the same symptoms. But someone that has anxiety will have a more sensitive fear trigger. Even situations that dont present an immediate threat may cause feelings of fear.

For example, imagine that you are in an office and see a group of coworkers chatting casually. This stimulus is fairly innocuous. However, if you have anxiety, you may begin to experience racing thoughts, nervousness, and have trouble saying hello to them. Do your coworkers pose a threat?

In this case, yes. There is no immediate threat or inherent danger your colleagues arent about to run you over or attack you . But if you, say, are concerned that they may be talking about you, youre responding to the perceived threat. Your response is appropriate for what might happen, not whats happening now.

So whats wrong with that? People gossip, right? And werent they probably talking about you? You wouldnt feel this way unless it were true, right? Not so fast.

We assume that our emotions are triggered in response to a certain stimulus. In other words, we react to whatever is happening around us, and we trust our emotions to give us feedback on what we see. However, thats not true.

Why this extra step? Through our experiences and learning, your brain has gotten quite good at predicting. Its helpful because a reactive brain would be too slow to get you out of danger efficiently.

Mind

Don’t Miss: How To Calm Social Anxiety In The Moment

Lay Your Burdens Down

As a Christian, dont fight or wrestle with your fears, hand them over to Jesus, moment by moment. Take time to read through Romans 5:1-6 and 1 Peter 1:1-7. Take the opportunity to challenge yourself to grow deeper in your faith.

Some people say, I know all this, even believe it, but am still afraid. We all become fearful or anxious at times. Face it life is tough, and people can be unkind, but you grow in your humility, trust, and dependence on God through these tough circumstances.

Dont avoid the feelings learn from them. External challenges and internal distress can both lead us to a closer relationship with Christ. You can really learn to count it all joy as you bury your face in your Fathers embrace and let Him comfort you.

How Are Anxiety Disorders Treated

15 tips to reduce your child

Anxiety disorders can be treated by mental health professionals, or therapists. A therapist can look at the symptoms someone is dealing with, diagnose the specific anxiety disorder, and create a plan to help the person get relief.

A particular type of talk therapy called cognitive-behavior therapy is often used. In CBT, a person learns new ways to think and act in situations that can cause anxiety, and to manage and deal with stress. The therapist provides support and guidance and teaches new coping skills, such as relaxation techniques or breathing exercises. Sometimes, but not always, medication is used as part of the treatment for anxiety.

Recommended Reading: What Oils Are Good For Anxiety

Quick Ways To Cope With Anxiety

If your anxiety is sporadic and getting in the way of your focus or tasks, there are some quick natural remedies that could help you take control of the situation.

If your anxiety is focused around a situation, such as being worried about an upcoming event, you may notice the symptoms are short-lived and usually subside after the anticipated event takes place.

What Are The Symptoms Of Anxiety Disorders

The different types of anxiety disorders can have different symptoms. But they all have a combination of:

  • Anxious thoughts or beliefs that are hard to control. They make you feel restless and tense and interfere with your daily life. They do not go away and can get worse over time.
  • Physical symptoms, such as a pounding or rapid heartbeat, unexplained aches and pains, dizziness, and shortness of breath
  • Changes in behavior, such as avoiding everyday activities you used to do

Using caffeine, other substances, and certain medicines can make your symptoms worse.

Recommended Reading: What An Anxiety Attack Feels Like

The Septohippocampal System And Behavioral Inhibition

The inhibition of ongoing behaviors is the first behavioral manifestation of an anxious or fearful state. In the 1970s, Gray suggested that vulnerability to anxiety is associated with individual differences in the activity of a septohippocampal behavioral inhibition system . According to Gray, this is one of the three major emotional systems, which also include the behavioral approach system and the fight/flight system . , The primary function of the BIS is to compare actual with expected stimuli. If there is a discrepancy between the actual and expected stimuli , or if the predicted stimuli are aversive, the BIS is activated, arousal and attention to novel environmental stimuli is increased, and ongoing behaviors arc inhibited. Thus, according to Gray, anticipatory anxiety reflects a central state mediated by BIS activation, which is elicited by threats of punishment or failure, and by novelty or uncertainty.

The central role of behavioral inhibition in generating an anxious state has also been pointed out by Laborit. Anxiety is associated with the alarm reaction, as defined in Selye’s original description of the stress response . According to Laborit, anxiety appears when one realizes that a proper adaptive action is not possible, ie, that there is loss of control over the situation, and it depends on the activation of the HPA axis.

Distinct Types Of Anxiety

How To Deal With Health Anxiety and Hypochondria

Anxiety may manifest itself in a variety of ways, depending on what causes our emotions of fear, worry, or dread. While these three forms of anxiety are often explored in modern psychological research, there are certainly more that do not fit well into these categories

Nonetheless, the following are the sorts of worry that I shall discuss in this post:

Read Also: How Do You Know If You Have An Anxiety Disorder

RELATED ARTICLES
- Advertisment -

Most Popular

- Advertisment -