5 Healthier Ways to Cope with Your Fears or Phobias
Living with fears or phobias can shatter the sense of the world as you know it. Living with a phobia can be challenging if you have gone through trauma before, or maybe you have fears of some objects or situations. At the same time, facing your fears is never easy, and avoiding emotions that make you uncomfortable is human nature.
While it’s okay to hide from potential stressors that make you upset and bring you endless distractions, you could also be hiding from challenges that could lead to your growth and joy. Additionally, you cannot hide forever.
Despite your best efforts to suppress fears or phobias, they will always strike at some point. The good news is that the minute you face your fears, you earn the ability to rule and dictate your decisions. Here are five ways through which you can cope with your worries.
1. Find a Distraction
The distraction technique can be of great benefit in helping you cope with your strong emotions. A distraction can be anything that temporarily takes your attention away from your uncomfortable feelings.
Think of something relaxing or find a hobby to help you forget your fears. Immerse yourself in books or games such as video games, crosswords, and puzzles. You can also distract yourself by calling or writing to a friend, doing some chores, exercising, getting creative by drawing images or going out shopping.
While distractions can be considered short-term solutions, they can significantly help. Distractions are essential in regulating emotions not only with anxiety-related disorders but also with depression or even acute and chronic pain.
To understand the effectiveness of distraction in coping with the phobia, you also need to know what distractions are not. Distraction is not trying to avoid the feeling, as you’ll eventually return to the feeling after some time.
2. Face Your Fears and Phobias
Facing your fears and phobias is one sure step toward overcoming them. You can meet your concerns with the help of your therapist. Suppose your emotions had led you to adopt unhealthy coping strategies such as drug and alcohol abuse. In that case, you can seek assistance from a reputable drug rehab center in Miami and start your journey towards a sober you.
A cognitive behavioral therapist can help you manage your fears by helping you gradually change how you think. On the other hand, an exposure therapist enables you to cope with phobia by progressively exposing your level of exposure to your fear to help you gain control over your phobia. So, take your time and sit down with a licensed and empathetic therapist to help you get back to your feet.
3. Breathe
As you fight your fears and anxiety, you may experience episodes of panic attacks. When they happen, don’t fight the feeling. Instead, do breathing exercises and let your mind know you are dealing with panic.
Lie down with your eyes closed, breathe gently through your nose with your mouth shut, and count up to six seconds. Breathe for six seconds and work up to ten rounds of this procedure. If you start feeling lightheaded, take a break, release breathing normally, and breathe through your nostrils.
4. Meditate
Meditation is a great technique to help you cope with fear, anxiety, and phobia. Practice mindfulness and allow your mind to be in the moment. It can be distracting initially but don’t give up as it gets better with time.
Through meditation, you train your mind to observe every uncomfortable and scary thought and feeling without getting caught in the feeling again. It also makes you aware of when fear creeps in and helps you get equipped to manage anxiety every time it comes up.
5. Talk About It
Talking about your fears helps you overcome them. According to researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles, people overcome fears when they label and talk about them instead of trying to ignore them. Please don’t be ashamed to talk about what is ailing your emotions with a friend or a professional.
Additional Tips
You can also write down things that you are grateful for. Refer to the list whenever you feel you’re in a bad place. Remind yourself that your fears are just but a storehouse of wisdom. You can also use humor to deflate your worst fears. Every time you feel like fear wants to keep you from doing something that scares you, appreciate your courage and assure yourself that you are getting stronger.