Spiders, snakes, zombies…oh my! These are a few of many things that can strike fear into the hearts of many. Everyone has something they are afraid of. For me, it's bees, wasps, and hornets. Even though I’ve never been stung, the thought of it frightens me, and this has prevented me from enjoying a casual walk on a nice and sunny day. However, when that fear interrupts our daily lives, it can turn into a phobia. Phobia is a persistent and irrational fear of an object, activity, or situation that is impossible to control. Luckily, there are ways to help manage our fears. There are videos on YouTube that are created to trigger certain phobias. A few of the most common fears are spiders (arachnophobia), ghost (phasmophobia), the dark (nyctophobia), and even a cluster of holes (trypophobia). Fear, although uncomfortable and unpleasant, is necessary for our survival. According to a 2005 HowStuffWorks article written by Julia Layton, “In the course of human evolution, the people who feared the right things survived to pass on their genes. In passing on their genes, the trait of fear and the response to it were selected as beneficial to the race.” Layton then continues to talk about Charles Darwin’s reasoning behind why people make “that wide-eyed, gaping grimace that often accompanies sheer terror” which Darwin believed the tightening of muscles was an evolved response to fear. Layton mentions even though Darwin was never bitten by a snake, he still feared snakes. Like how we fear rats even though we never experienced the Plague. There are ways to live our lives to the fullest without our fears disrupting our daily routines. Dr. Amy Morin, who is a psychotherapist and the Editor-In-Chief of Verywell Mind, published an article that gives helpful tips on how to cope with fear. The first tip she provides is doing research into what makes you afraid. An example she uses “…you might be afraid of airplanes because it seems like you have heard about a lot of in-air incidents that lead to injury or death. However, if you look into the statistics, you might learn that the probability of death on a U.S. commercial jet airline is 1 in 7 million (in comparison to 1 in 600 from smoking).” Another way to manage fears is to create an action plan. Dr. Morin explains it's okay to have “…a moderate amount of anxiety…” and not to wait for that feeling to go away, but keep moving forward. Seeking therapy can be very helpful as the author lists a few treatments that can help manage fears such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), exposure therapy (also known as immersion therapy), and psychoanalytic theory. Finally, she suggests facing your fears instead of avoiding them. Dr. Morin says, “While avoiding the situations you fear might make you feel better in the short term, avoidance can cause increased anxiety in the long term. When you completely avoid your fears, you teach your amygdala (the fear center in your brain) that you can't handle them.” She states if you expose yourself to the fear in small doses it can actually help decrease anxiety “…or letting your brain become accustomed to the fear.” I find the thought of fear being passed down from generations to generations fascinating. I think Dr. Morin’s article provides great advice for those who want to learn to cope with fear and anxiety. A strategy that helps me manage my fears are looking at YouTube videos of people who share their experiences facing what I fear. I find that hearing other people have the same phobia as you, and how they cope with it, can make you feel less ashamed and more empowered to take steps to not letting whatever you're afraid of stop you from living your best life. With that being said, I would like to say have a safe and fun Halloween and don’t forget to take care of yourselves!
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AuthorHello, My name is Ashley Downes, I'm a graduate student who has an interest in mental health, film/TV, and music and wants to share that with others. I'm NOT a mental health professional and my blogs AREN'T meant to be a replacement for mental health services such as therapy. Archives
October 2022
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