Bernard Shaw said: "Being a slave to fear is the worst kind of slavery." But what to do with your own tremors and panic attacks at the sight of, say, a spider? In fact, not everything is so complicated. Everyone can conquer their fears.
Change "minus" to "plus"
American doctors Zane, Barlow and McCullough advise their patients to replace the negative perception of the source of fear with a positive one. For example, when you see an aggressive dog raging on a chain five meters away, you should not think that the dog is about to break loose and tear your delicate body to shreds, but repeat like a mantra: “She is tightly attached! I'm safe! She cannot harm me!"
Explore
Get to know your enemy by sight - this is what psychologists advise to do. Ever since the days of Freud, fear has been divided into real and neurotic. The first is useful, it helps a person to act expediently: hot - do not touch, high - do not jump. But various phobias are forms of neurotic fear, and it is extremely important to find their root cause.
The well-known psychologist Vladimir Levy, in his book "The Domestication of Fear", in particular, advises to draw a "bodily map of fear." It is necessary to understand in what situations the attack begins, what are the signs of fear: shortness of breath, excessive sweating, redness, trembling?
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The “home” of any fear is the human brain, the body is the executor, but the blood, charged with adrenaline, is the mediator, says Levy. Studying your own fears allows you to eventually learn how to control them.
By the way, the already mentioned American psychologists recommend "to burn adrenaline". With a fit of fear, they advise not to calm down, but, on the contrary, to move, to give the body physical activity. If there is no possibility for full charging, at least some muscles of the body should be strained.
Don't be silent
Psychologists at the University of California have proven that the Talk About Fear method works. The experiment involved 88 people suffering from arachnophobia - the fear of spiders. All of them were asked to touch the living tarantula, or at least get as close to it as possible.
Then psychologists listened with interest to the stories of each participant in the experiment. After the revelations, it was found that those whose story was more emotional in the future were able to quickly get rid of fear. Psychologists are convinced that “speaking out” negative emotions does not aggravate fear, but helps to overcome it. The main thing is more emotions! So you urgently need to find people willing to listen to your "horror stories".
Exposure method
Psychotherapists make extensive use of the "exposure therapy" method, during which patients are taught to control their fears. For example, people with zemmiphobia (fear of rats) are encouraged to first look at the image of the animal, while the presence of other people is highly desirable. When the rat in the picture ceases to cause disgust, it is proposed to move on to more decisive action: look at the dead rat. At the final stage, according to psychologists, a person will be able to pet a rat or even pick it up. At each of the stages, the patient must make sure that the terrible things drawn in his imagination do not actually happen. For example, a rat does not lash out and gnaw out your beautiful face, but turns out to be a very entertaining and clever creature.
Observe others
Swedish scientists from the Karolinska Institute, led by Dr. Armita Golka, proposed their own version of the fight against phobias. Scientists believe that fears and behavior patterns are often instilled through social forms of learning. Therefore, it is useful to make sure over and over again that your own fear does not cause panic in other people.
For example, someone can walk up to the clown and hug him without any problems. Coulrophobes should often witness such scenes - over time, according to experts, the fear of clowns can recede.
Act
Dale Carnegie said that inaction breeds fear. If the naive dream of getting a little courage from the Tin Woodman has already transformed into the confidence to conquer your fears, you need to stop talking about phobias while sitting on the couch.
Carnegie advised "get out of the house and take action." Your own fears can and should be slightly provoked. Afraid of heights - go to the mountains, hate rats - get yourself a snow-white beauty with graceful "hands". True, one should remember about moderation. Throwing yourself into a whirlpool thoughtlessly is not a good option.
Aromatherapy
American neurologists from Feinberg Medical School are conducting research that they believe will help get rid of sleep fears. And the main assistant in the treatment of phobias in this case will be … aroma.
Scientists "tied" the fear of each volunteer in their experiment to a particular scent. During the demonstration of the image with the object of fear, patients inhaled a certain scent, and a weak electrical discharge pierced their body. The participants were then put to bed.
During their sleep, the exposure to the selected scent continued. In the next series of experiments, scientists received startling results: people were less afraid of images with their fears. Scientists cannot yet explain their successes, but this does not prevent them from hoping that exposure to a sleeping person with a scent that is "tied" to a negative memory will help treat a variety of phobias.