3 ways to rid yourself of fears.

Fear is a MENTAL hiccup that we all have struggled with at some point in our lives. It is important to understand that whether it is fear in public speaking, spiders or even flutes (aulophobi in case you are in the mood for a light Google search) there are remedies and therapy techniques that have shown to drastically reduce the anxiety.

The first step in fear reduction is to humanize it-break it down into what it truly is. It’s the brains response to stimuli. The information we take in has two route; one being the amygdala and the other the sensory cortex. The sensory cortex is somewhat the calm rational area of the brain taking in and

searching for all the information and its context before eliciting a reaction. The amygdala on the other hand is about the instant action. Upon receiving an unpleasant stimulus it basically screams “what the hell are you doing get out of there!!!!!”   Now what exactly makes the amygdala have these predispositions to certain stimuli? No one is for sure, but it is generally accepted that it is a combination of genetics, trauma, and stress.

Now it is true that some fears are obviously a necessity for living a long life but phobias, the irrational fear, who needs ‘em?  As ironclad as they can be sometimes they are not as omnipotent  as  you believe. The first strategy is exposure therapy sometimes referred to as “flooding”. It is essentially just as it sounds. The individual is flooded with what they fear in a controlled environment until they can regain composure. An example of this is to instantly place a jar of snakes right in front of someone who has the fear. This therapy is the quickest (though sometimes traumatic) way to cure a fear which is why it is used a lot of times in PTSD patients through visualization.

Another well-known strategy that is less traumatic is systematic desensitization. This strategy is very similar to flooding, but has more of a structured element involved.  The first step would be to teach the patient relaxation technique, typically in the form of a breathing exercise. The second step is to establish an anxiety hierarchy of the stimulus. An example of this would if someone had a fear of giving a speech at work they would create a list of all the steps it would take leading up to giving the speech (e.g.  Driving to work…then preparing notes…then clearing your throat…then speaking).  The third step is to incorporate the relaxation technique at each presence of the fear. This then associates a relaxing response with the phobia which over time has been shown to override the anxiety response curing the patient of the fear.

Finally, a third strategy that can be implemented is modeling. Modeling is simply having others engage in an activity that elicits the fear in the individual. That individual watching sees the group perform the activity and begins to understand that the fear is irrational and no particular tragedy befall them.  In a nut shell it is losing fear with the help of group support.

Ultimately these strategies cannot be employed until the individual has made a conscious realization that the fear is not rational and that they need to take steps to take back control of their life.  Though not particularly creative in the naming department the psychology community has vetted these procedures pretty extensively and they have  all been shown to some degree a level of success. 

Take away from this that fear is just a temporary state of mind. With a little will power and the help from a supportive network of friends or family you can overcome the most colossal of adversaries whether it be physically but most importantly MENTALLY.