How to Overcome Fear Symptoms

How to Overcome Fear Symptoms

Before we can explore how to overcome fear symptoms, we should take a moment to revisit some definitions.

Fear is something we have all experienced in our lives. It is an emotion like all others that we possess and is rooted deep within us. It could be argued that fear and the resultant "fight or flight" response is one of the cornerstones of our species' survival and rise to dominance.

Formally, fear is a very strong emotion evoked by the certainty, in ones mind, that something or someone is about to do us harm. It is difficult to determine when everyday fear patterns cross over into a disorder but when these feelings become constant, overwhelming and even debilitating it's time to consult a physician.

A Symptom is the indication that a malady or disorder exists. Fear symptoms manifest themselves in both emotional and physical ways. They can be very intense and enlist feelings of great concern, even terror.

Let's take a closer look at what fear symptoms can elicit:

Emotional Symptoms:

• Concentrating on particular tasks or day to day activities is becoming difficult
• Constantly looking for something to do because you are unable to relax
• You are irritated or even moved to anger, uncharacteristically quickly
• A feeling of dread is your constant companion
• Moving to the worst case scenario is commonplace
• Always on the lookout for someone or something that is going hurts or ruin you
• Resisting or even rejecting all social endeavors or opportunities
• Restless sleep has become the norm

Physical Symptoms:

• Feeling that you are losing control of yourself
• Severe chest pains
• Numbness or tingling in your extremities
• Ringing and/or pulsing in your ears
• Breathing is difficult and you feel smothered
• Heart irregularities such as palpitations, beat "skipping" or flutters
• Chest tightness
• Uncontrollable perspiration
• Dizziness or unstable
• Loss of sexual interest or dysfunction

These are some of the more common symptoms but they truly are only a small subset of a comprehensive list. So you can see that fear disorders can be literally terrifying and significantly interfere, if not shut down, any normalcy an individual may have.

It must be said, that if you feel even remotely touched be these symptoms in a way that seems excessive or unusual, you must seek the advice and assistance of a trusted healthcare professional. This is not something that you should tackle on your own nor should you in anyway feel lessened for asking for such assistance. Close to 20 million Americans suffer from fear related disorders, with women only slightly more affected than men. So, you are certainly not alone.

Now, let's delve into how to deal with and overcome fear symptoms.

1. Step back for a moment. NO, I mean far back. Detach yourself from your daily activities. Go to a quiet place, sit with a favorite beverage and let your body drain of tension. Leave your phone, tablet, job, children and spouse to fend for themselves, figuratively.


2. Now, try to put your thoughts in proper order. Disorder only fuels your fears. Disorder causes a sense of being overwhelmed and unable to control or begin to deal with your concerns. How you choose to do this is very personal but doing so is an important first step. By the way, the second your thoughts shift to the worst case scenario, stop and get yourself back on track.


3. Manage your symptoms. Fear, especially excessive, irrational fear is physiological by nature and lends itself to various forms of psychotherapies such as Cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT. These therapies focus on calming and coping skills and coming to terms with feelings that are irrational at their base hence the over prioritization of your worries and fears. A trip to any book store will present many tomes associated with this issue but again, a trained mental health practitioner may be your best approach.


4. Take care of yourself. Surely you have heard the saying: "you are what you eat". Well that could not apply more than here. Also, exercise can contribute significantly to a better frame of mind. It is not our place, in this article, to delve into the intricacies of diet and exercise. In addition, we all have different needs, health limitation, motivations and preferences. The consistent message here is that adapting your dietary intake to address your current state of mind can and will make a considerable difference. Although, as with most issues in the medical world, there are innumerable points of view about what programs are best suited to anxiety and fear related symptoms, all would agree that diet can help you. This is were educating yourself via reading materials, courses, reviewing personal eating preferences and seeking advisers such as nutritionists, can ultimately allow you to settle on an effective dietary plan.


5. The same is true of exercise. I can hear you now! I hate to exercise. My body doesn't respond to workouts. I am too old for this. I'm going to get hurt if I try to do this now, at my age. I've tried exercising in the past without any success.


6. Well, THIS IS DIFFERENT! You are suffering from a fear filled, terrifying disorder. You are exposed to portions of or all of the symptoms list above. It's time to get real. Exercise works.


7. Check with your doctor first. Join a club. Buy an exercise book. Get a personal trainer. Just suck it up and get moving. Experts tend to agree that 20 minutes 2-4 times per week can and will make a difference and help you. No excuses here.


8. Seek help/advice on multiple levels. Although all of us would like to number our friends in the 10's or 20's, the truth is that "true" friends are tough to find and keep. But it is these few that you can turn to at this time. Be open with this person(s) about how you are feeling and ask for their impressions. They will tend to know you at a very base level and their feedback can be very helpful. For example, being self-conscious at social events and being concerned about being embarrassed or humiliated could be exactly the type of issue that your friend could put into perspective. They may be able to convincingly give you a sense for the positives that you would bring to the situation or the "irrationality" of your feelings. Good friends will be honest and compassionate and stand by your side. Exactly what you need!

That said, there are numerous therapies available for you to consider, especially if you suffer panic attacks, excessive worries and relentless thoughts of negative outcomes. Even superficial web base research will provide you with many alternatives. One of the most discussed is Cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT. CBT is a goal oriented and procedural approach to addressing non-productive behaviors and dysfunctional emotions. This approach concedes that there are behaviors that you just can't handle yourself, without specific issue isolation and a therapist guided action plan to reach resolution. Ask your healthcare professional for guidance in this matter.

Change your self-talk. Over time your excessive fears have probably altered the way you speak with yourself. If you take the most critical teacher you had in school, add in a pinch of sour-puss boss and a spoonful of judgmental parent, I've just introduced you to a mild version of your self-talk. Stop it! Just as you have created this internal voice you can change it. Sure it will take some work but given the negative and at times debilitating affect it has on your life, I expect its worth the effort.

From the outset, just listen to yourself. Listen to what you are telling yourself. Step back for a moment and think about the affect this negative discussion would have on anybody. Listen to the words that you are using with yourself and the tone that you are using. Would you speak that way to anyone you know and with that tone? I know it sounds weird doesn't it but you are definitely listening to this input many hours per day.

It's time to decide how you want to address yourself and begin to interfere with the negativism.

At first just stop yourself. As time goes by, start to change and increase the tone and balance of the positive language and outcomes.

The goal, eventually, is to transition your self-talk into a more forgiving and motivational friend and port in a storm.

Forget perfectionism. That's right. I'm sure it's been a point of pride over the years to speak of you dedication to doing all things, not only well but perfect. Well, Sstop it! This deep seated desire for perfection has created difficulties for you on so many levels. It fuels you negative self-talk, demands that you produce output that only you will truly appreciate while others have long moved on and undoubtedly has wasted so much of your precious time. Time that could be use for so many more enjoyable efforts with your family, children, spouse, friends and hobbies.

Get the facts. You probably have personally proven or confirmed less than 20% of what you believe is true in your life. So, it's reasonable to conclude that many of your worries may be either unfounded or at least lessened in possible affects on you. Square yourself to these exact issues that are haunting you and find the truth. At the very least, by confronting the very things that fuel your fears you may be providing yourself with the necessary ways to more effectively deal with or even eliminate them. You may find that what was completely overwhelming to you has become manageable.

Although there are more steps for you to consider as you search for how to overcome fear symptoms, the above should be lots to keep you busy, for now. Honestly addressing these suggestions will definitely move you forward and in the right direction.

You were not born to live in fear. Doing so does not make you unique, in fact, you have lots of company. Question you thoughts and behaviors, replace those that are non-productive and be good to yourself.

All of us deserve to be happy!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=C._Bank