OVERCOMING YOUR FEARS & PHOBIAS: IT'S COMPLICATED

 

Anxiety is an amazingly strong motivator.  So many of us go through life with worry, and for some individuals and some situations this worry can rise to the level of a true diagnosis.  In addition to these general worried feelings, many people also have phobias or specific anxiety (or panic) associated with particular activities. There are also situations that can increase the overall panic in any individual.

Worry, panic, and phobias are very different from person to person. Instead I will focus on a particular example. There are many individuals who may grown up away from any large bodies of water.  Perhaps they don't have a local community pool nearby.  If you add on top a few sprinkles of stories about drowning or even the thought of falling into a lake without family or friends nearby can start to escalate these concerns.  For some of us, we would simply disregard these feelings.  However, there are those of us who will really focus our mind on either real or imagined harm.

So, what do you do with that fear of drowning? What might you do to combat any fear that you may experience? First, don't judge. Don't berate yourself for having this fear.  Instead remind yourself that fear, anxiety, and phobias are part of the human existence.  We all have fears of some kind.

After you remind yourself how normal this is, you may start to combat the anxiety with some facts. Here is an example: https://www.stopdrowningnow.org/drowning-statistics/

Empowering your mind with information can often start to allow reason to take the lead.  There will always be unintended risk and consequences that we cannot avoid.  But, by allowing yourself to have this very human experience, you can take off the pressure.  Once that pressure gives way, you can educate yourself and calm some of the fear you have.  Ultimately we will always have some worry throughout our lives.  I hope this article can encourage you to try something new.