3 Steps to Overcome Phobias and Soothe the Mind

Living with a phobia is certainly not easy. Let alone see or touch the dreaded object, imagining or just hearing the name of the dreaded object alone can make you anxious and naked. Finally, the person who has the phobia will continue to avoid the dreaded object, unaware that avoidance will only make the phobia even more frightening and creepy in his mind.

Therefore, it would be better if the phobic person seeks to overcome his fear of a particular object or situation; especially if the dreaded object is an object or situation that will be encountered everyday, for example rice, fruit or vegetables, crowds, and others. Then, is there a way that can be done to overcome the phobia? Of course there is. Here are some tips that can be done to overcome phobias.

1) Face your phobia slowly
Avoiding the dreaded thing is a natural thing. However, to overcome the phobia, you need to learn to deal with it. Exposure is one of the most effective ways to overcome your fears. During the process of exposure, you will learn to get out of anxiety and fear because of the phobia you have.

If you do it repeatedly, then it will make you aware that the fear that you think so far will not happen. You will feel more confident and in control, until your phobia begins to lose its power. The longer you expose yourself to the thing you fear, the more you will get used to it and calm down with it.

Let's say your phobia flies by plane . To deal with it, try selecting a flight with the shortest travel time from your city. Ask your family or friends to accompany. Choose also the airline you trust the most. Only then can you slowly try flights that take longer time, for example two hours.

Tips in facing phobias are as follows:

Create a list of objects or scary situations that relate to your phobia.
Start with an exposure that you can handle (from the list you have created). Suppose, if you phobia with durian, you can start by controlling yourself when hearing the durian mentioned. If you feel better when you hear it, you can train yourself to see the durian image, then see the durian directly, holding it, smelling, and so on. This gradual exposure will help you control the fear that arises because of the durian phobia.

2) Learn relaxation techniques
Learning to overcome phobias is not easy. Simple exposure like a picture of the object you fear sometimes can make your heart pounding, breathing was hunting. If you begin to feel overwhelmed in the face of your phobia, immediately back off and use relaxation techniques to calm down. Because by learning to calm down, you can become more confident with your ability to manage uncomfortable sensations and confront your fears.

Relaxation tips you can do:

Sit or stand comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on the chest and the other on your stomach.
Take a slow breath through your nose, counting to four. Hands on your stomach should be up. The hands on your chest should move very little.
Hold your breath to a count of seven.
Exhale through your mouth in an eighth count, pushing the air out as much as you can while sighing. The hands in your stomach should move as you exhale, but your other hand must move very little.
Inhale again, repeat this cycle until you feel relaxed and focused.

Train this deep breathing technique for five minutes twice a day. Once you are comfortable with this technique, you can start using it when overcoming your phobia.

3) Challenge your negative thoughts
When you have a phobia, you tend to overestimate how badly if you face a situation you fear. At the same time, you underestimate your ability to overcome the phobia. Therefore, the way to overcome them is to challenge your negative thoughts.

Did the thing you feared ever actually happened? Will a particular situation or object make you wretched? And so on with other questions related to your negative thoughts.

If the answer is "no" or "not necessarily", then you need to change your mind with, "I'll be fine," or any other positive thoughts. This will help reduce your fear and anxiety when overcoming phobias.

3 Steps to Overcome Phobias and Soothe the Mind

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