How to overcome fear: 4 psychological advice
Knowing how to overcome fear can be what makes the difference between living a limited life in the comfort zone or launching towards the objectives that can really make us win in happiness. No change for the better comes without effort, and part of this must be oriented to overcome those thresholds of uncertainty and doubt that both impose.
In this article we will review some simple guidelines that will help us overcome fear and that, while they will not eliminate it completely, will cushion its effects.
- Related article: "What is the use of fear?"
How to overcome fear on a day-to-day basis
Fear is one of the basic emotions of the human being, and its importance is due to the fact that, in many situations, it is useful for us. However unpleasant it may be to be experienced in the first person, this psychological phenomenon is what leads us to avoid many situations that carry a real risk, either because they entail a high possibility of causing physical harm, or because they can harm us in any other way.
Of course, fear does not have to be a mechanism that allows us to guess exactly which situations are really going to hurt us, but this is inevitable. That's not the problem. The bad comes when we unconsciously use fear as an excuse not to leave the comfort zone, or when, due to certain learned dynamics, we internalize the idea that we should fear certain things that do not carry such high risk .
What to do in these situations? These tips will help you.
1. Learn the logic of emotional memory
Much of the fear we feel is explained through emotional memory. This is an information storage system that it has to do exclusively with emotions , and not with concepts that can be easily explained with words. It is known that emotions are processed differently than, for example, our memories of what we had yesterday, and this sometimes leads to new experiences even though we have "memorized" them in totally different contexts.
Therefore, be clear that you are not to blame for feeling afraid. This is part of a brain mechanics that is unconscious and that we can not control directly . Our efforts should be directed to create the possibilities of being afraid of being associated with certain situations that are not really dangerous, or are not so insofar as we perceive it.
- Maybe you're interested: "Emotional memory: what is it and what is its biological basis?"
2. Approach little by little to what you fear
This is the logic that is followed in the psychological treatments applied to phobias , but it also serves for non-pathological fears. To know how to control fear you must be clear that you will have to suffer a little, but only just.
That means that you must make progressive approaches to those situations that you fear, to gradually go towards more difficult situations for you. At first, get a little closer to those environments or those actions, then go a little further , then even further ... The difficulty curve always has to be ascending, but every time you will have more preparation.
It is good that in advance establish a gradation, ordering those situations that cause less fear to those that generate more fear, and establish deadlines in which you must achieve each of these objectives.
3. Let yourself be helped
As we have seen, fear is not something you should be ashamed of, so there is no reason why you should avoid receiving help. Given the irrational nature of these fears, it is never wrong to have the security that the presence of others can give you , and their assistance or intervention in specific cases.
Think that although this emotion is powerful, you have the power to modify your environment to achieve your goals, even the moments when you think you lose control. Establishing the necessary alliances for others to help makes us indirectly help, creating tools to solve problems when our ability to think clearly fails us.
This is one of those tricks to overcome the fear that many people ov , because they believe that the psychological is treated through individual work or through introspection: nothing is further from reality.
4. Learn to recognize if you need therapy
The line that separates the pathological fear from the one that is not is not always clear, but you must be clear that if the fear you feel is very extreme, you may need professional help to progress. Fortunately, these types of psychological problems are relatively easy to treat if you go through psychotherapy, and the results can be seen in a matter of a few weeks.
Of course: fear will never go away completely, but it will no longer paralyze us or prevent us from approaching the objectives. Although this is, in part, even positive. The fact of doing something that partly feels like a challenge makes us feel better when we go through it having overcome it.
- Maybe you're interested: "Intervention in phobias: the technique of the exhibition"
