Can you unlearn your basic fears

Place the palm of your hand on your stomach and breathe slowly and deeply. Try this breathing technique for stress. Avoiding fears only makes them scarier. Whatever your fear, if you face it, it should start to fade. If you panic one day getting into a lift, for example, it's best to get back into a lift the next day.

Try imagining the worst thing that can happen — perhaps it's panicking and having a heart attack. Then try to think yourself into having a heart attack. It's just not possible. The fear will run away the more you chase it. It sometimes helps to challenge fearful thoughts. For example, if you're scared of getting trapped in a lift and suffocating, ask yourself if you have ever heard of this happening to someone. Ask yourself what you would say to a friend who had a similar fear.

Life is full of stresses, yet many of us feel that our lives must be perfect. Bad days and setbacks will always happen, and it's important to remember that life is messy. This is called fear extinction.

When fear extinction does not happen normally, it can lead to anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress or phobias. In order to understand how the brain regulates both the normal and pathological situations, the team at RIKEN performed a series of experiments in rats as they extinguished fearful associations. They reasoned that in order for fear to be extinguished, first an animal needs to recognize when an expected fearful event does not happen.

As dopamine neurons in some parts of the brain are known to be active when expected unpleasant events don't happen, the team looked at dopamine neurons in a part of the brain called the VTA. After conditioning rats to associate a specific sound think of it as their Jaws music with an aversive experience a mild footshock , the team then began the extinction process.

As expected, when the sound was played many times without the footshock, rats stopped behaving as if they were afraid of the sound. However, when VTA dopamine neurons were silenced just after playing the sound -- exactly when the rats expected their feet to be shocked -- they could not unlearn the fear response. This showed that without VTA dopamine activity at that specific time, the mental link between the sound and the shock could not be removed.

Surround yourself with people who will push you to overcome the fears that are holding you back from what you want. Visualize success. Athletes may imagine the successful completion of a physical task thousands of times before achieving it. Gain a sense of proportion. We sometimes get so caught up in the success or failure of a particular quest that we lose sense of where it fits in with everything else we value.

Get help. Can you find a mentor or support group to help you through it? Athletes have coaches. Students have teachers. Follow others, find a recipe. Are you doing something that has never been done, or can you follow the footsteps of someone else who has accomplished it before? Is there a formula for success? Has someone written a book on the topic, or can you tweak a formula from another field to meet your needs? Have a positive attitude. Would you keep working long after others would have given up?

People who have positive attitudes are successful because they keep trying after others give up. Be willing to pivot. Focus on others as your motivation. That energy is better used to reach out for help.

Deep and mindful breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system. How are you feeling now, and what is the next best step to take? Should you take a walk? Do you need to remove yourself from your current situation or reach out to someone? This is an interim measure to give yourself a chance to choose the response that best serves you.

Your brain may interpret a fluttering sensation in the stomach as love or stage fright. Drink a glass of water and eat something preferably with some nutritional value. Do you still feel anxious? Is it happening right now or is it an imagined threat? Then imagine a response that makes you feel empowered. Now that you have a clearer understanding of why you feel how you feel, decide the best course of action. Do you need to have a conversation with someone?

Is there an action you need to take? Lingering tasks have a way of producing more anxiety. Being proactive will help you feel more in control and boost your self-confidence, both now and in future stressful situations.

As mentioned earlier, learning how to manage fear and anxiety is a natural part of life. The fear response was evolved to help us. But it becomes maladaptive when it interferes with your ability to function. Anxiety is often managed by a combination of medication and cognitive psychotherapy. Neither intervention has to be forever. A therapist will work with you to manage the immediate symptoms.

Joining a support group can give you insight into others' experiences overcoming fear. The goal is to improve your overall state of being while you learn how to naturally overcome anxiety in your daily life. Learning how to overcome fear and anxiety takes self-awareness and strength — and a healthy dose of courage. A coach or counselor can help you master the skills to overcome anxiety and fear. Unlock your best self with mental fitness routines with Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir.

Follow us. How to overcome fear and anxiety, these 7 steps can help By Allaya Cooks-Campbell. June 15, - 19 min read. Share this article. Jump to section What are fear and anxiety?