How to control fear before it controls you?

Question

Yes,i have severe anxiety.

Answer 1

to want to kill the fear then u have to fight with the fear
don't let the fear jump on u but u must make the fear helpless
it's true
i was afraid of dark but i fight with that fear now i can stay at dark area / home

TRY THIS
Good Luck

Answer 2

I can appreciate how you feel, my best friend has really come a long way to deal with her own anxiety so I will share her learnings with you in the hope that they can help you too.

My friend was very anxious and this was mostly around social situations. She would be fine when with close friends but very bad with her boyfriends friend's and people she didn't know well. When she became engaged she vowed that she would sort it out so it didn't ruin her wedding day.

She made an effort to work through the fear a step at a time. She did not avoid the social situations and took control by facing her fear before it got to her. For example, when she was in a socisl situation with her boyfriend she walked away and left him and found the courage to strat conversations with his friends and join in without being asked. She found that doing this let her own her actions and she found she could enjoy it.

It sounds daft but the biggest step is to own your feelings, recognise when you are fearful and accept it. Take 5 minutes to calm down with deep breaths and then regain control and get on with it.

My friend also had some counselling sessions before the wedding which helped her tremendously.

On her hen night she had a 10 minute wobble with fear but took herself away, took some deep breaths and got herself back in control and it did not affect her wedding day at all.

Good luck with it.

Answer 3

Depends what you're afraid of. I was afraid of heights until I started roofing a church once your up that high your not scared anymore. everyone has a fear of something, just take your time, for example I used to be fearful of spiders also so I learned to be in the same room with them until now I have a pet tarantula he crawls where he wants and it doesn't bother me. took a little while though. Just find out what makes you anxious and why, if it's a lot of things then just pick 1 or 2 things and work on them, when they are gone, pick 1 or 2 more.

Answer 4

I think it depends on what your main fears are. When you feel yourself becoming anxious. Stop, take a deep breath and close your eyes. Then think to yourself, do I need to be worried about this? If it is something that you cannot control, like you don't know whats making you anxious maybe you need to see a psychiatrist to get some sort of relaxing drug. Good luck and remember 'fear is just a friend- misunderstood'

Answer 5

The thing to remember above all is that anxiety and fear can be rational and irrational. You do not have to search for the reason why you are afraid, nor do you have to berate yourself for feeling anxious 'for no reason'. This happens.

To overcome, you have to realise that, while you may not, at that particular moment in time, be able to control your fear, you can completely decide how you choose to react to it. I'm not saying that's something that is easy or will come to you overnight. But you can control your reaction to fear, and recognise different types of fear. When you can do this then... Well, then you have nothing to fear.

An often-repeated quote is "you have nothing to fear but fear itself". There is something in this. If you find yourself panicking, it is usually the escalation of fear due to your fear of what the fear will do to you. You can detect panic, you can detect fear, you can choose how to deal with it.

Pragmatically, it also helps to steer clear of substances that have you acting irrationally. Alcohol and other psychoactive drugs are not a great idea. Caffeine is worth avoiding too - particular if you're prone to panic attacks. Valerian tea is a good way of relaxing without having to resort to anything nasty like tranquillisers, beta-blockers or anxiolytics.

It also helps to sleep well. Fear can often lead to sleeplessness, and sleeplessness just enhances the fear. Often, the only way is to ensure you are physically exhausted, then you will sleep. The endorphins generated from vigorous exercise help control your anxiety too, so this is something thoroughly recommended, however cynical it is easy to be at the thought of exercise as a panacaea for something that is in your head!

Finally, if you find it difficult to cope alone, then remember that you don't need to. Your GP can refer you to someone to help with anxiety. Many GP practices in the UK now have clinical psychologist associated with them, who are experienced in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, often a very good remedy for such problems.

In the meantime, best of luck, it is something that can very much be helped, even if it often doesn't seem like that in the moment.

Answer 6

Get some perspective on your fears by talking with someone you respect for their level-headedness, and follow their advice even if your fears try to overwhelm you and makes you want to rebel against the advice.

This method has worked for me, and is a method of spiritual counseling for what is called religious scrupulosity, which is a kind of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I know that you may not have either of these problems, but I imagine that it would work the same on your mind concerning your particular fears.

Answer 7

EFT is an incredibly quick, simple and painless technique that can be done anywhere, at any time. It involves using a particular phrase, focussing your attention on the issue, and tapping certain acupressure points. See www.emofree.com for more info. You can learn to do it yourself from a free manual downloaded from the website, from the DVDs which are extremely good value, or from a practitioner in your area. As well as being incredibly effective at helping people to overcome phobeas, it's also great for helping people with addictions and other emotionally-based issues.

Answer 8

I would constantly have anxiety attacks and then I started spending lots of time with my friends and I kept myself busy, one day I noticed all the attacks had stopped. Anxiety is the worse feeling. For awhile I thought I was dying, but I'm over it now and hope you can do the same. Best wishes!

Answer 9

Take deep breaths of air and think logically also,,
If you take each letter from the word f,e,a,r,
(F) false (E) evidence (A) appearing (L) real,,, you get the word fear, and is only the persons emotions that trigger the chemicals in the body to alert status so that what ever it is the human body will be able to defend against it and survive.

Answer 10

Take baby steps to get over whatever it is that gives you the anxiety, a little bit at a time is better than overwhelming yourself. Keep telling yourself that you are not afraid and push yourself that little bit further each time, hopefully that will decrease the anxiety slowly but surely. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

Answer 11

i think it depends on the fear. if it is an external irrational fear e.g. dogs, heights etc the best thing is to put yourself in a situation where your worst case scenario happens e.g. bungee jumping if you are afraid of heights. go to the dog enclosure in your local park if you are afraid of dogs. I did it that way and it worked great. For more internal fears professional help may be required. good luck. living with anxiety is hell