Why do people say facing your fear makes you overcome your fear?

Question

That's stupid, if I face it, I just get more scared of it!

Answer 1

It is true.
You cannot face your fear and come away more afraid.
Let go of the fear of all consequenses of facing your fear, and face the object of your fear without fear.

Answer 2

Once you face your fear you will see that it is nothing to be afraid of. Of course you will still feel the initial panic. but after a while you will begin to get used to it, and that fear you started out with will go away. It does not always happen the first time you face that fear. It takes time, sometimes lots of time, but eventually facing your fears will make them go away.

Answer 3

Fear (Fear), n.

1. A painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger; apprehension; anxiety; solicitude; alarm; dread.

It does. To "overcome" a fear, one has to acknowledge the fact that it is really not as scary or frightening as it appears to be. It may make you more scared, but you have to have courage. If it is not dealt with, it can go on to plague you for the rest of your life. This was made to handle various fears, which are extremely numerous and go from the most known (ex. fear of spiders) to the strangest/least known (ex. fear of committing an unpardonable sin).

Hope that answers your question.

-Fin

Answer 4

Because the initial fear is not understood by one self. However, by facing fear meaning understand fully about fear so that will resolve the initial fear

Answer 5

this is behaviorism - if you can face your fear (and somehow not be afraid of it) there will forever more be behavioral evidence written on your brain that says you are not to be afraid of it.

this can be achieved 2 ways, systematic desensitization, where little by little you learn to be calm in the face of your fear.
or emotional flooding, where you just face up to a fear so big that it shuts down your sympathetic nervous system, and then you cant experience fear after that.

Answer 6

The idea behind that cliche' is that if you actually experience it, you will realize that the fear was actually just ignorance of that thing. For instance, I was afraid of snakes. I was never bitten by one, I never saw one in real life, but they scared me to death. A friend of mine owned a snake and one day I actually touched it and let it slither all over me. I realized that the fear was not based on my reality, but off of what I read and saw on t.v. My actual experience with a snake was not frightening at all and now they don't scare me.

Answer 7

There are two types of fear. Those that are small, and disappear when faced, and those that are so overpowering that they are best avoided. Telling which is which is the hard part.

Answer 8

I AGREE WITH YOU. I HAVE A FEAR OF HEIGHTS. I GOT ON A RIDE AT DISNEY WORLD BECAUSE MY CO-WORKERS CONVINCED MY THAT IT WAS AN EASY RIDE. NEEDLESS TO SAY, MY HANDS WERE ON THE BAR OF THE RIDE SO TIGHT THAT THEY WERE PURE WHITE. I DON'T BELIEVE I BREATHED UNTIL I GOT OFF THE RIDE. ALL I CAN SAY IS "THAT IS A LIE!!!!!!!!!!!" SOME FEARS HAVE TO BE MET THOUGH. THINGS THAT TAKE PLACE IN EVERYDAY LIFE STILL HAVE TO BE CONFRONTED. IF THIS IS A FEAR THAT YOU NEED TO OVERCOME FOR JUST EXISTING IN EVERYDAY LIFE, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSULT A HYPNOTIST. I REALLY DIDN'T THINK IT WAS NECESSARY FOR HEIGHTS. BUT IT SURE COULD HAVE MADE THINGS A LITTLE EASIER FOR ME. GOOD LUCK.

Answer 9

I tried to get over my fear of heights by jumping out of a plane. I now love to sky dive. I still hate ladders and will get a nose bleed standing on a chair.
BUT....it did give me the confidence to at least try the things I don't like because I was able to prove to myself that it won't kill me.

Answer 10

Because it means they can make a quick buck by setting up situations where people can face their fears then charging a healthy fee.