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Sexta-feira, 22 de Maio de 2020

Worry Time: How to Schedule Your Anxieties

Sherrie Hurd, A.A.

learning-mind.com

Posted May 22nd, 2020.

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Img source

There’s a new way of dealing with anxiety. It’s a unique process called “worry time”, which schedules a time for your obsessive concerns.

For those who suffer from anxiety, worrying seems like a normal part of life. On a personal level, I worry way too much during the day, then keep myself up at night doing the same thing. I feel like I’m not in control of this worry.

Many of you may feel the same way, especially when an additional crisis is added to the mix. But here’s some good news: you can schedule worry time and this allows you to address your concerns, and then move on to other things the rest of the time.

What Is Worry Time?

Worry time is a cognitive-behavioral concept which actually helps you control your obsessive thoughts. It’s a paradox. You will purposely decide to worry at a specific time of the day. Why? Well, since you’re stressing all the time and wasting so much of your life with concerns, you can at least practice compartmentalizing that worry. You can do something else for the rest of the time.

For instance, take time to worry, then have productive thoughts the remainder of the day. So, since this is a schedule to worry, there have to be steps to follow in order to do it correctly, right? Let’s take a look.

How to Schedule Time to Worry

Halt your obsessive thoughts for a moment and listen up. Worrying is not so bad when it’s controlled. Although you assume you cannot control it, worry after consistent training can indeed be trained. Here are the steps you use for worry time:

1. Schedule the time

The first thing you must do is decide what times of the day you should worry. Yes, I know that sounds kind of silly, but cognitive-behavior therapy would disagree with you.

So, use a calendar, planner, or notepad and write down the time of day you wish to schedule a time for obsessive thoughts. A session of between 15 and 30 minutes is ideal for worry time. After that, you can go about your positive daily routines. And by the way, it’s advised that you do not schedule this right before bedtime. It’s more than likely to keep you from sleeping well.

2. Write things down

During your scheduled time to worry, make sure you write down your thoughts. You don’t have to find a solution in this 15-30-minute window, but if you do, then that is fine too. The objective is just to get your thoughts onto paper, so you can see exactly what’s troubling you, instead of just obsessing.

There is therapeutic power in taking thought and turning it into written information. You take it from you and put it somewhere else, and at the same time, you see all the truth in the thoughts as well.

3. Keep worries inside worry time

If you start to worry about things outside your designated worry time, then stop immediately. You must remind yourself that worry can only happen during its scheduled time. This will not be easy, and it will take some time to remember. Consistently catching your worries and putting them back into those neat little slots of your day will help you gain control.

Also, when worry time comes, please don’t dwell about all the times you worried outside of worry time. It’s counterproductive and just silly.

4. End of the week reflections

At the end of each week, go back and read the things you wrote during your scheduled worry time. Are there any patterns? What are the things you ponder about the most? Go ahead and ask yourself any questions you want in order to understand more about your concerns. And yes, you should also schedule the “end of the week reflection on your worries” just like you did with the worry time in each day.

Your reflections are healthy, but take care and don’t dwell on repetitive problems and feel defeated. Just keep moving forward with the same schedule as before.

5. Make it long term

After a week or so of this practice, you may want to just continue. In fact, I recommend this. If you practice this routine for the long term, you will strengthen your thoughts, make it easier to control your worries, and also learn more about structure and focus. So, just keep going and see where it leads you.

Worry isn’t all bad

It’s not horrible to be concerned about things in life. Right now, I am concerned about our world and the nation in which I live. Every day, I check the headlines to see if things have improved, but sadly, it seems to get worse day by day. With scheduling worry time, I can allow myself to deconstruct these headlines and keep them from taking over my entire day with stress and anxiety.

You’re not alone. I have anxiety and many others do as well. But the fact is, you don’t need to have anxiety to practice worry time. You can schedule even the smallest amount of time for concerns each day. Whether large or small, your worries can be set aside for examination. I coax you to try this technique.

Let me know how it works for you!

References:

Sherrie Hurd

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from:

https://www.learning-mind.com/worry-time-technique-anxiety/

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publicado por achama às 20:21

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Quinta-feira, 14 de Maio de 2020

What Do Dreams about Tornadoes Mean? 15 Interpretations

Janey Davies, B.A. (Hons)

https://www.learning-mind.com

May 14th, 2020.

img source

Tornadoes are one of nature’s most frightening and dramatic phenomena. They twist and turn and cause horrendous devastation wherever they go. So what exactly do dreams about tornadoes mean?

What Do Dreams about Tornadoes Mean?

As with all dream interpretation, the context of the dream is as important as the details. However, you can make general inferences with certain dreams. For example, tornado dreams are indicative of confused thinking, emotional problems, or anxiety.

This is because tornadoes are typically made up of air or water. The air in a dream relates to our thoughts whereas water is linked to emotions. The chaotic nature of a tornado in a dream indicates change.

However, tornado dreams can also signal a warning to you from your subconscious. Sometimes we are so caught up in life we don’t realise that our mental health is suffering. Recurring tornado dreams should, therefore, be a warning to you from your psyche. Your subconscious is prodding you in your dreams to help to recognise that you need to seek help.

So the main interpretation we can take from dreams about tornadoes is that they relate in some way to your mental health. You might have been worrying about a situation and feel hopeless and unable to tackle it.

In these cases, your dream is asking you to stop worrying and start being more positive. It is telling you that the tornado is not the thing to be scared of. The tornado represents your escalating worries and uncontrolled thoughts. So you shouldn’t be afraid of the actual tornado. Instead, see it as a warning that relates to how you are handling a particular situation.

3 General Interpretations of Tornado Dreams

Before I go into the finer details of dreams about tornadoes, let’s examine these three general interpretations:

Confused thinking

Tornadoes are whirling funnels of air with no clear direction. They sweep across the landscape obliterating everything in their sight. The air in dreams symbolises our thoughts. In this case, the tornado indicates that our thoughts are in turmoil. We may be struggling with a problem that we can’t find a solution to. Or we could be going around and around in circles with no result in sight. In this case, the tornado is indicating a state of confusion to a current situation.

Do you feel caught up in the drama of an escalating situation? Are you running out of ideas to resolve a problem? Are you dealing with a problem that is all-consuming? Do you run through possible options and then dismiss all of them? Or are you obsessing about one particular matter? Do thoughts about this situation keep spinning around in your mind?

Unfortunately, until this problem or situation is resolved, the tornado dreams will persist.

Emotional problems

Tornadoes are uncontrollable bursts of energy. Therefore, tornado dreams can signify emotional turmoil. We cannot help what we feel and this type of dream indicates our sense of helplessness. Perhaps you are dealing with an emotionally-charged situation and you feel powerless to do anything about it. Maybe a relationship is ending and you don’t want it to but there’s nothing you can do.

Tornadoes symbolise drastic change and upheaval. Your mind has interpreted this upheaval in your real life and created a tornado in your dreams. You feel uncertain about your future, uncertain about how you’ll cope after this drastic change.

However, it is important to remember that we get warnings with tornadoes in real life. We can see them coming from afar. So although you might feel helpless at the time because you are forewarned, there are things you can do to lessen the devastation they cause.

Anxiety

Tornadoes spin out of control and this is how a lot of us describe anxiety; that loss of control spinning away from us. So a tornado dream can signify our worry and lack of control in our real life. Do you feel as if your emotions are running away from you? Is this making your anxiety worse? Maybe there is an event coming up and it’s making you anxious. Tornadoes indicate a threat that cannot be controlled. Is this how you feel about the future?

Dreams about tornadoes also indicate a more generalised form of anxiety. We can see these tornadoes from far away, but we know they are coming for us. So a tornado dream can symbolise both a real-life threat and a general feeling of anxiousness.

15 Scenarios and Interpretations of Dreams about Tornadoes

So those are the three general interpretations of dreams about tornadoes. Now let’s look at tornado dreams in more detail:

Witnessing a tornado

If you saw a tornado from a safe distance away, this symbolises a worry in the future that you feel you have no control over. You feel under-prepared to deal with what’s coming. However, if the tornado was right before your eyes, it indicates your growing unease about a certain person or situation in your life. You are afraid that this real-life situation can unbalance you emotionally.

Caught in a tornado

Being caught up in a tornado is particularly frightening. It indicates your emotions are out of control. You have extreme highs and lows in terms of your moods. You are prone to violent outbursts and don’t care anymore whether your loved ones are hurt by your cruel words. You feel a strong need to let others know what you’re going through.

Chased by a tornado

A dream about tornadoes chasing you indicates your fear about a person. The closer the tornado gets to you, the bigger the threat this person presents. This type of dream indicates a need for calm thinking. It’s easy to panic in these situations, but you need to keep a level head when dealing with this person. The chaotic nature of tornadoes symbolises the unknown path this person might take.

Devastation by a tornado

As with dreams about death and dying, the devastation left in the wake of a tornado is indicative of change and a new start. The old and rotten parts of your past have been obliterated making way for a fresh new beginning. This is a dream about your possible future and what you have to do to enable it. Sweep out all the deadwood in your life and start anew. You have the power to make these necessary changes.

Lots of tornadoes

If there are lots of tornadoes in our dream, you should look at the size of them in order to interpret the dream. For instance, lots of small skinny tornadoes indicate little niggly problems you can easily resolve.

However, the bigger the tornadoes in your dreams, the larger the problems you’re likely to face in real life. If they all merge to create a huge storm, this symbolises a huge weight on your mind that’s growing larger by the day.

There’s a tornado warning

Recurrent dreams about tornadoes indicate that you are a worrier in real-life. You may suffer from generalised anxiety and tend to think the worst is going to happen. However, if this doesn’t describe you, then the dream shows you are prepared for any up and coming situation. This type of dream indicates that there is a situation that is causing you anxiety, but you have the tools to cope with it.

Escaped a tornado

Are you an outspoken person that doesn’t suffer fools gladly? Escaping from the path of a tornado indicates that you are not afraid of calling out or confronting people that upset or annoy you. You are known to tell things as they are and people respect your forthright views.

This type of dream also indicates success in dealing with unscrupulous people. You might have felt out of your depth but you succeeded in dealing with these people who wanted to undermine you.

Trapped in a car during a tornado

Are you trapped in a car in the path of an oncoming tornado and you can’t move? This suggests a lack of conviction regarding a situation in your life. You feel underprepared for what’s coming next. Things seem like they are spiralling out of control and you don’t know which way to turn. You want to act, but you feel paralysed. This sense of helplessness to make a decision is only worsening your anxiety.

Picked up and carried away by the tornado

This dream indicates that whatever problem or situation you’re dealing with, it is getting out of hand. Your thoughts are running amok and you need to calm down and think reasonably about a situation. You may be engaging in catastrophic thinking or black and white thinking where you are imagining all the worst possible scenarios. Don’t let your imagination take hold of you.

On the other hand, if you felt quite calm by being carried away in the tornado, then this reflects your desire to get away from your current situation. Maybe you feel like you want a break from your present life. You could do with some time out for yourself.

Saving someone from the tornado

This all depends on who you were trying to save and whether you managed to save them. If it was a member of your own family, then this indicates a worry about their health or a situation they are currently experiencing. If you didn’t manage to save the person, this refers to your own feelings of helplessness about the situation. You want to stop whatever is happening to them, but you can’t.

Watching the effects of the tornado on other people

A dream where you stood by and watched the tornado causing devastation on others signifies other people’s feelings towards you. These people don’t want to confront you for fear of upsetting you. They could also be afraid of your reaction to them. In both cases, they are hiding their feelings for fear that you’ll not be understanding.

You survived a tornado

Surviving a tornado is a very good sign from your subconscious. You may well have experienced a traumatic event in your life, but your psyche is telling you that you have overcome it. You have managed to come out the other end relatively unscathed. You are a strong individual that can literally weather any storm. Now, that the devastation is over and the clouds have gone it’s time to focus on yourself. This is your time to shine.

You didn’t survive a tornado

Usually, we don’t dream about not surviving a catastrophic event. We wake up before the end comes. Typically, dreaming about dying or death is suggestive of a new start. However, in this case, it indicates poor health on the part of the dreamer. Are you neglecting your health because you have other more pressing responsibilities? You should understand that you can’t look after anyone if you yourself are sick.

You hid from a tornado

Hiding from a tornado is not an indication of weakness or fear, in fact, it signifies your calm nature to stress and unpredictability. You are the voice of reason when things get messy. You can keep people from panicking in stressful situations. People look to you for guidance and advice on what to do when there is panic or anxiety. You remind people that there’s nothing to be frightened about.

You are chasing tornadoes

Are you one of those daredevils we see in movies that chase tornadoes? You might assume that this kind of dream relates to risk-taking, but you’d be wrong. It signifies someone in your life trying to control you.

Do you feel as if you cannot be yourself or that someone disapproves of how you live your life? Chasing tornadoes in your dream indicates the impossible task of catching up with the storm. And this is how you feel around a certain person. Remember, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. You can only be yourself.

Final thoughts

It is important to remember that tornadoes represent your innermost feelings and emotions. And unless the tornado in your dream came out of nowhere, we usually get a warning before its arrival. We hear alarms and sirens which warn us to take cover.

So consider the tornado dream as a warning to keep yourself safe. To look after your mental wellbeing. Once you view your dreams about tornadoes in this way, you will be better equipped to deal with any destructive forces heading your way.

References:

www.thecut.com
Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, 1899

Janey Davies

https://www.learning-mind.com/

About the Author: Janey Davies.

Janey Davies has been published online for over 8 years. She is the head writer for Shoppersbase.com, she also writes for AvecAgnes.co.uk, Ewawigs.com and has contributed to inside3DP.com. She has an Honours Degree in Psychology and her passions include learning about the mind, popular science and politics. When she is relaxing she likes to walk her dog, read science fiction and listen to Muse.

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from:

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Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind.

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone.

Please respect all credits.

Discernment is recommended.

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publicado por achama às 13:48

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Terça-feira, 21 de Abril de 2020

How to Create Safety Signals to Cope with Anxiety.

Sherrie Hurd, A.A.

learning-mind.com

Posted April 21st, 2020.

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Img source

There are many ways of coping with anxiety. But there’s one we may not notice. Safety signals can be quite an effective tool for dealing with anxiety.

As a child, I had many safety signals. When trouble was coming, I ran to retrieve them and I held them tight. But until now, I never really understood their significance in treating anxiety. This is mainly due to the fact that I was a child. It was seen as normal for me to latch onto objects and become obsessed with them.

Discovering your safety signals

The human race goes through negative experiences all the time. You hear about it on the news and on the internet. Then you have those who experience trauma that causes damage later in life through conditions such as anxiety, PTSD and other mental health conditions.

So, there are “normal bumps in the road” or present trauma and then you have mental trauma scars from the past, which affect people differently. However, both can leave you with triggers.

There are differences in the ones who cope quickly and move on, and the ones who are gripped by fear that comes from unresolved triggers. But no one should ever be ashamed of this difference.

We have cognitive behavior treatments and medications, but this usually only helps about half of those who suffer from mental health-related fears. Now, we’re discovering what’s called safety signals, that which seems to work especially well for many who struggle with fears and unwarranted fears.

Therapy, medication and safety tools

The introduction of the safety signal offers a tool that actually comes from an entirely different area of the brain than where cognitive therapy operates.

With cognitive therapy, the patient who suffers from anxiety or phobia about certain objects is slowly presented with the object in order to help them grow the courage to deal with the triggers. Over time, anxious people spend more and more time with the object or even the situation they fear, and these half really progress.

But our topic is about safety signals, and how this can help the other half and maybe even those who’ve initially tried cognitive therapy.

Going back to my childhood, I remember certain stuffed animals that made me feel comforted. I remember how they took away my fears sometimes during abusive situations. Do you know what that stuffed animal represented? That’s right, it was my safety signal, a positive stimulus that was bigger than my negative object or situation.

There are other things that are considered safety signals as well. I can touch upon these for a bit to help you understand.

What can be a safety signal?

1. A shape

The first safety signal was used in case studies. The subjects of these studies were asked to associate one shape with a negative feeling, and another shape with a positive one. The negative feelings represented a threat, while positive shapes were non-threatening.

When test subjects were alone with the threatening shape, they became anxious, but when the non-threatening shape was introduced, they seemed to calm down. Thus, you have the beginnings of a new way of healing.

2. A sentimental object

The first safety signal was a shape, used to prove a point about another way of coping with anxiety. But to get a little more specific, we need to look at common comforting things so you can understand what a signal of safety can be. One of those signals can come from sentimental objects.

When you’re afraid and anxiety has exacerbated that fear, you can look at a picture of a lost loved one who used to comfort you. You can hold an object that has a lovable meaning to you as well. You may read old letters, use cups that a loved one gave you, or even sit in your car if it has sentimental value for some reason.

Sentimental objects have few limits considering many things are gifted by special people in your life. This signal is not meant to cause dwelling in the past, however, it can temporarily take you back to a time and place of safety.

3. Stuffed toys

You don’t have to be a child to use a stuffed toy as a safety signal to ward off fears. I still have bears that I cuddle when I get really upset. It seems to be a way to feel something soft and familiar in your arms while defeating the fears of being alone, the paranoia of future bad news, or any negative thing that causes fear.

I can’t exactly explain why stuffed toys work so well, but they do. They’re inviting, comfortable and definitely always there for you. You’re never too old for a stuffed toy safety signal.

4. Music

In the same way, and yet differently, music can serve as a safe way to deal with fears. If you’ve been on this planet for a long time, you’ve probably built up quite a few favorite songs, styles of music and genres that provide certain feelings at certain times. When you’re afraid, due to anxiety, go to the music which signals a warm feeling inside. This is the type you want to listen to.

For me, many classic rock songs from the 70s and 80s seem to bring my head into a good space. Music choices to battle anxiety are different from person to person. The next time you are afraid, experiment with songs until you find what seems to calm you.

5. Certain people

Safety signals can also be people, but don’t assume they’re going to be the obvious choices. You may assume your mate would be your safety signal, but they’re not always the correct choice.

Your signal could be one of your children, a friend, or some other extended family member, like a cousin. You will know who it is when you feel that same feeling of safety as when you squeeze a stuffed toy.

6. Nature

And again, I must give props to nature for being a powerful safety signal for many people who have phobias and anxieties. That is unless, of course, they have a fear of nature. In that case, it won’t work.

Otherwise, nature, with its brisk fresh air, beautiful greenery, trees, the open skies – all this can quickly calm fears if you let it. And don’t forget the sounds of nature as well. You can listen to nature sounds on digital media, but nothing beats the real thing.

Finding your best signal for safety

Only you can discover what works best when dealing with anxiety, phobias, or other unwarranted fears. Triggers can be tamed with safety signals when used quickly and practiced for consistency.

With a routine of using these signals, your therapy, and prescribed medication, you can really put a hurting on those things which scare you. And that’s exactly what we aim to do. Even during times of universal crisis, we can stay on top of things with the right comforting object, person, or place.

Now’s the time, if you don’t already know, find your safety signal. I already have quite a few myself.

Be blessed.

Sherrie Hurd

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from:

https://www.learning-mind.com/safety-signals-anxiety/

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tags: anxiety, coping, fear, mental health, psychology, self-improvement, sherrie, sherrie h, sherrie hurd

publicado por achama às 23:46

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Quinta-feira, 16 de Abril de 2020

How Defensive Pessimism Can Help You Cope with Anxiety

Sherrie Hurd, A.A.

learning-mind.com

Posted April 15th, 2020.

.
Img source

Stop telling people that everything is going to be fine. Sometimes it isn’t, and this is where defensive pessimism helps us cope with that fact.

Not everything in the world goes according to plan. Some things go terribly wrong. For optimists, this can be devastating. You see, optimistic people, while their happiness is usually pretty healthy, sometimes do not account for what can go wrong. With the use of defensive pessimism, individuals can accept bad outcomes.

How does defensive pessimism work?

When I speak of a defensive type of pessimism, I don’t mean you’re getting offended and being negative. No, I’m talking about using your thoughts to plan a defense against the pain of bad outcomes.

It’s like that old saying goes, ‘plan for the worst, but hope for the best’. You see, that’s what your defense is all about. When it comes to anxiety, being defensively pessimistic is actually much better than trying to be optimistic all the time.

How to use defensive pessimism to calm your anxieties:

1. Utilizing strategy

While positive thinking helps you stay upbeat and hopeful, defensive pessimism works those strategy muscles. When you play chess, you don’t think one move ahead, but three, four or even five moves…strategy.

Some even think further ahead than that. Strategies in pessimism help us to understand that we do need to appreciate the now, but we can also plan ahead in case our opposition, the world, throws us a surprise.

2. Preparations expert

When you use pessimism to your advantage instead of letting it become overwhelming, you learn how to make logical preparations. It’s kind of like being realistic about life and knowing what tools to have for both good and bad outcomes.

This doesn’t just apply to surprises, it can apply to anything negative that plagues you or could become a problem. If you are prepared, negative issues will only be a small bump in the road. A prime example lies in retaining what’s called “Plan B”. You’ve heard me talk about it a few times, I believe.

3. Past experiences drive intellect

A defensive pessimist is often pushed by negative past experiences. These traumatic events cause many problems for them later in life, but it also grows a strong human being. These individuals rarely use optimistic strategies to combat life’s problems. They understand that “Just stay positive” doesn’t solve problems, and doesn’t keep them away.

Instead, they think of all the possible scenarios of most any given situation, just short of letting it overtake them. They know when to stop, and keep stress at bay, replacing that worry with those strategic plans that I mentioned above.

4. Using all your abilities

When you are defensively pessimistic, you tend to utilize hidden abilities. Optimists may never use these abilities because they tend to ward of concern and worry completely, depending on everything going the way it’s supposed to.

When you properly use your defenses however, you use all the abilities you’ve earned in life, plus the gifts you were born with to make sure you have that safety net. When things go south, you have a basket full of options to choose from. Yes, you’re prepared, and having many powerful abilities just adds even more to your preparations for “Plan B”.

5. Controls and tames anxiety

So, we come to the main reason why defensive pessimism is also a good mindset. When you have anxiety, and everyone is trying to make you stay positive, your levels of panic actually rise. This happens due to the pressure of thinking all good thoughts. It leaves you unprepared for what could happen. While it might not be all that good to constantly dwell on bad things, it’s also not good to assume everything will be rainbows and butterflies all the time.

Being defensive allows you to work through scenarios in your head and gives you the chance to tame your anxiety by coming up with solutions you may possibly need later. Controlling anxiety means staying in control of your life.

Optimism actually doesn’t give you all that much control at all. It just means “Stay happy, believe in good things, and never think the worst”. While this sounds all good and wonderful, it can be extremely dangerous to some.

Balancing between pessimism and optimism

I’ve been pessimistic many times in life, even to the point of being too dark. I have tried being optimistic, and that worked for a while, but only a while. So, defensive pessimism has actually become a way of life for me.

I do prepare for the worst and hope for the best, most of the time. While I don’t know the whole truth about how healthy this is, I believe it can’t be any worse than turning a blind eye to problems and assuming life will always turn out great. I would be fooling you and me both.

I do, however, think defensive pessimism is worth a try. Planning for the pitfalls of the future can really allow you to exercise strategy, gathering preparations and bracing for negative impacts. Either way, striking a good balance between dark and light in this manner is well worth a try.

What do you think?

References:

Sherrie Hurd

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from:

https://www.learning-mind.com/defensive-pessimism-anxiety/

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tags: anxiety, mental health, perception, personal development, positive thinking, psychology, self-improvement, sherrie, sherrie h, sherrie hurd

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Quinta-feira, 14 de Novembro de 2019

4 Systematic Desensitization Techniques to Use to Fight Your Anxiety and Fears

By Sherrie Hurd

learning-mind.com

on November 13th, 2019.

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How would you like to learn a few ways to battle your anxiety and fears? Well, systematic desensitization may be the answer.

During my lifetime, and that’s been 4 decades, I’ve tried everything I could think of to eliminate or even alleviate my anxiety. Some things helped pretty well, while other things just seemed like a waste of time. My fears and anxieties just continued to follow me wherever I went.

So, I saw the words, “systematic desensitization”, and I wondered if these were techniques that might work for me. It seemed like learning to face my fears through the help of a relaxing environment would much better than analyzing and deconstructing everything that happened to me. So, let’s examine this systematic desensitization approach.

What is systematic desensitization?

The systematic desensitization combines techniques of relaxation and gradual exposure to whatever is troubling you. If it’s a phobia, these techniques keep you calm, but they also coax you to face your fears, you see.

Of course, as you face these fears and anxieties, you start slow as not to cause an overwhelming sensation or possibly a panic attack.

The systematic desensitization techniques come in 4 steps:

1. Relaxation

Before you can even start approaching the subject of your fears and anxieties, you will need to learn how to relax. I don’t mean just sitting or lying down. I mean genuinely relaxing your entire being. Here are a few ways to properly relax:

Breathe slowly, inhaling through your nose. This is called diaphragmatic breathing. As you inhale, hold your breath for 2 seconds, then release your breath through your mouth. This type of breathing helps you relax pretty fast and helps you focus as well.

Now, close your eyes and imagine a scene. See the colors, hear the sounds, and even imagine you can smell the scents of this imaginary place. You can also let someone describe an image to you, and then see what they are describing utilizing your own mind.

Tense your muscles, then release them. Do this several times. This helps you understand what happens when you are afraid. You might not notice, but your muscles tense up all over your body during anxiety.

Take the time to learn more about meditation and mindfulness. These techniques help you accomplish all of the above and more. You can ground yourself in the presentinstead of saturating your mind tomorrow or the next day.

2. Making lists

After indulging in relaxation techniques, it’s time to make a list of what makes you anxious. You can include your phobias, or write them on a separate sheet of paper.

Either way, it’s important to try and list every single thing that triggers anxiety or fear. Knowing what makes you afraid is the key to facing the things that make you afraid.

You may be surprised by the things that come to mind. After all, you should list even the smallest things that make you afraid. This is especially helpful for those who start worrying as soon as they wake up.

I do this. I wake and wonder what negative things will happen during the day. It’s virtually taken over a corner of my life. So, I guess you would say, my list is long. But it doesn’t matter as long as you write it down and come to terms with it.

3. Rating your fears

After listing your fears, rate them at the worst and least fearful with everything else in-between. As you work through these things, other fears may surface, but you can’t let this distract you. Think about fears in different ways as well.

For instance, you may be terrified of spiders, which fall at level 10, but a picture of a spider may only rate on a level 7. Talking about them could be a level 5. Rating your fears helps you get ready for the last technique…coming to terms with your fears.

4. Facing fears

The first thing to do when facing your fears is to make sure you are totally relaxed. If you’re already going through something, it’s not quite the time to face fears and anxieties.

A good time would be in a quiet atmosphere, and it’s best to start with a therapist who can support and help you stay in control during the transition.

As you face your fears, you will imagine the fear first, then talk about what makes you anxious. As you talk through your anxieties, think about why you’re scared in the first place.

Where did the fear start, and how long has the fear been present? These are questions that will help you see the fear as something smaller than it really is. Therapy like this will slowly help you see your anxiety as something that cannot control you.

Final thoughts

It will take several sessions using the systematic desensitization techniques before you will notice a difference.

Over time, you may even be able to endure more than one fear at a time or face a fear during a stressful event. Until then, give yourself credit for every milestone you achieve toward your goal of being free of your fears.

References:

Sherrie Hurd.

About the Author: Sherrie Hurd

Sherrie Hurd is a professional writer and artist with over 10 years of experience. She is an advocate for mental health awareness and nutrition. Sherrie studied Psychology, Journalism, and Fine Arts, receiving an Associates in Marketing. She has written for Beacon, a southern college publication, and is an author of a full-length non-fiction novel. Sherrie spends most of her time giving life to the renegade thoughts. As the words erupt and form new life, she knows that she is yet again free from the nagging persistence of her muse.

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from:

https://www.learning-mind.com/systematic-desensitization-techniques-anxiety-fears/

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