How to Manage Fear and Anxiety

August 17, 2011 Posted by Kristin in Therapist Blog

How to Manage Fear and Anxiety

Encinitas therapist article about managing anxiety.

Every single person in this world experiences anxiety at some point in their lives. Anxiety can often be felt as a result to exposure to new environment and situation. It takes our minds and bodies time to adjust, sometimes against resistance from ourselves.

People can also become anxious during their first day at work or before giving their project presentation at work. People can also feel anxiety during wedding, pregnancy, childbirth, parenthood and the likes. Public speaking, or a first date. Indeed, there are different ways and forms in which anxiety can be triggered.

However, most of these anxieties can be harmless especially if one knows how to acknowledge it, then control and overcome it. For many of us, anxiety is merely experienced as “growing pains,” something we experience and move past.  Nonetheless, this may not be case for some people. There can be instances that certain individuals may not be able to properly handle and manage episodes of anxiety. Said individuals would tend to experience some anxiety attacks that could have some deteriorating effects. Anxiety attacks could affect not only the involved individual as well as the people around that person. At the same time, there is a great chance that the said anxiety attacks would keep on recurring if no appropriate management would be rendered in time.

Be positive

Basically, anxiety results from feeling of fear and uncertainty about a certain situation or event. With this, it is important that people must learn to counteract this fear. This can be done by having the necessary confidence and trust in one self. Dr. Barbara Jeffers wrote a wonderful titled, “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway,” and one of the messages she stresses in that book is that every single person in this world experiences fear. People we admire or look up to experienced the same fear that we may be going through - but they overcame it and did what they were afraid to do in the first place, and as a result, grew as an individual.

It is recommended that once a person wakes up in the morning, one must think of positive things, such as positive perception, goals, and memories. Through this way, one would be able to appreciate all the good things one has even if it is small or insignificant to others. On the other hand, people could do some positive affirmation before doing any certain task. With positive affirmation, people could use positive works about oneself. By doing so, people are boosting their confidence and trust.

If taking this approach, create a set of “rituals” that you follow and stick to every day. Perhaps place the positive affirmations on the wall near your bed, where you can read them every single day. Repetition creates habit and habit becomes the sum of who you are. And we all know that your thoughts become your world.

Set Goals and Work Hard to achieve Them

Being busy can also help people not to experience any anxiety attack. By becoming busy with tasks whether at work or home can help people be distracted from feeling any anxiety. At the same time, in being busy, it also helps to set specific goals. In doing so, people would be motivated to work hard every day. With this, any thoughts of anxiety will be channeled into something more positive and productive. You can conquer fear and anxiety through small daily victories that accrue to accumulate confidence. You’ll also experience greater freedom to step outside of your comfort zone.  Nonetheless, it is also important that ample rest and relaxation must be done in order to avoid experiencing too much stress or pressure that could result from working too much.

Talk it out with someone you trust

Indeed, anxiety is a personal battle the degree of which only you can truly understand. However, that doesn’t mean that you cannot share it with other people. On the contrary, it is recommended that people should try talking to other individuals, such as licensed therapists, about their anxieties and concerns. Through therapy, feelings of anxiety can be alleviated. At the same time, one could gain various advices regarding your concerns and anxieties from another person which could greatly influence your point of view.

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