Conquer Your Fears and Phobias

There are some fears that are, more or less, justified, or at least understandable. Fear of death, fear of war, fear of illness—these are simply frightening facts of human existence, about which we can do little.

At the same time, these usually aren’t the fears that keep us up at night, or prohibit our day-to-day activity and movement.

Most of our fears are actually phobias; a phobia is a fear that is totally irrational, and, when viewed from the side, can seem utterly ridiculous.

“Phobia” simply means “fear” in Greek, and, when combined with other Greek words, it gives us the names of some common phobias: “acron” (summit) plus “phobia” gives “acrophobia,” the fear of heights. “Agora” (marketplace, city square) plus “phobia” gives, “agoraphobia,” the fear of public spaces and crowds. Triskaidekaphobia, from the Greek word for thirteen, means a fear of the number thirteen!

See how absurd some phobias can become?

If your fears are frustrating you, and interfering with your daily life, it’s time to get serious and overcome your phobia. Below are just a few useful tips on how to conquer your fears:

1. Trace your fear to its source.

Some fears are a bit murky; we need to study them a bit to better understand them, to pinpoint their original causes, and thereby confront them. Brainstorm about your greatest fears; jot down word associations that come to mind. Try to analyze what you write, and make your description of your fear as precise as possible? What exactly scares you about this place or thing or situation? Once you know, you can begin to attack the problem.

2. When does the fear begin?

When exactly does fear really kick in for you? At what point does it become debilitating? This can be easily tested. Take agoraphobia, for example. Does the very idea of going into public frighten you, and make your hands clammy? Does the sight of a marketplace fill you with dread? Or is it only inside of this space that you begin to feel uneasy? Test your fear threshold; that’s your battlefield.

3. Make the frightening familiar.

Challenge yourself to gradually approach your fear, and become familiar with it—because it’s very hard to fear that which we know. This can be done in baby steps, if necessary, as long as you dare yourself to make progress with each confrontation. Back to the agoraphobia example. Spend five minutes in a crowded store. If that’s enough, back off. Next time, insist on spending ten minutes. Soon, you’ll realize that, in fact, there’s nothing to fear, as the frightening becomes more and more familiar.

4. It’s all up to you.

Fear lives within us. It’s not an external enemy to be fought, but rather an internal enemy, to be overcome in our hearts and minds. Locate that enemy and root it out of your thoughts and feelings, and the physical symptoms of your fear—the rapid heartbeat, heavy breathing, sweating—will fade away. If necessary, turn to a doctor. There’s nothing wrong with seeking expert counsel if your fears are interfering with your life.

On the blogsphere:

• Anxiety and Phobias
• How To Conquer Public Speaking Fear By Morton C. Orman, M.D.

On Success Elixir:

• Facing Fears and Finding Freedom
• Overcoming Your Fears

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Photo by Celeste– flickr.com.

Tagged as: aniexty, Conquer Your Fears, fear, phobia, Stress