Facing fear can save your life. Fear triggers a series of positive and negative reactions. It can be a great motivator, creating insecurity or stimulating change. The most disastrous consequence of fear is to avoid situations or limit experience. About 19.2 million Americans, 9% of the population, suffer from phobia. So what are the common fears of American adults? What is the best way to face these fears? Here are 10 of the most popular methods and advice from licensed psychologists.
Credit: iStock / kparis Credit: iStock / stevenellingson : sup> Istok / hdcineman / span> H3> 4. For many people, a PowerPoint Presentation in a large group is even better than fear of death. But avoiding public speaking can come at the expense of being able to make progress in your career. Fortunately, the fear of public speaking can take place in a supportive environment, such as Toastmasters, an organization that develops leadership and public speaking skills in local group chapters across the United States. Another way to improve your skills and confidence is to record your own speech or speech to check your speech and behavior. Others suggest taking a deep breath, imagining your success, and even imagining your audience naked. Contribution: iStock / kasto80 sang> cuff: spa> iStock / leaveligg H3> 7. The fear of driving on the road is a common affliction. Multi lane, high speed and high risk all lead to anxiety. "For highway therapy, you slowly and gradually get people back on the highway," said John tsilimparis, a psychotherapist who "retrains your anxious brain." Patrick B. McGrath, an expert at the American Association of anxiety and depression, said: "the way to treat phobia is very good. It's called exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. In ERP, the level of fear is created - a list that ranks fear from the smallest to the most fearful. The therapist and the patient slowly complete the tasks (exposures) on the list.Patients are also encouraged not to adopt coping strategies (avoiding or seeking comfort). " Credit: iStock / Kai Zhang Credit: avageultralight / iStock / Getty Images Credit: iStock / Martin Dimitrov Credit: microscopic / iStock / Getty Images Advertisements 1. Fear of insects is everywhere. When they surprise you in the shower or kitchen sink, they will naturally shrink back. But sometimes fear makes sense (and can even save your life). Some of the deadliest insects and arachnids include species native to the US desert: Brown recluses (usually native to the Midwest and southwest), scorpions (usually native to Arizona and California), Kissingers (found in Arizona) and black widow spiders, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention. So, how can you face the fear of insects (but to keep you safe)? Step by step exposure is the best way to slow down your anxiety response as long as you don't deal with one of the deadly ones listed above. Try to think of the next spider in the kitchen as an important creature in the ecosystem and seize the opportunity to face your fears. Instead of killing spiders, it's better to find a jar and a piece of hard paper. Put the jar on the chuck, slowly slide the paper down, and release the chuck.
2. According to "overcoming animal and insect phobia: how to overcome the fear of dogs, snakes, rodents, bees, spiders, etc.", "a basic component of effective treatment of any animal phobia is long-term contact with animals." For those who suffer from intense fear and fear, a slow introduction may make sense, including looking at pictures of animals, then looking from a distance, and finally interacting directly. According to Max Feirstein, a psychotherapist and anxiety specialist at Beverly Hills, how we deal with these fears is crucial. "Our bodies are connected for survival," he said. Nature has created our quick response to danger. If a tiger looks at me, I want to react quickly by running, attacking or freezing. If I need to escape the tiger, it's a flight response, I don't need to worry about my digestion, but I need a lot of energy. This is a very safe mechanism, if I climb a tree, then I use this energy. If I have a trigger and I'm afraid of a spider, then the effect of anxiety is much worse than the actual result. " Now listen to:> how to keep your house clean - even if you're messy, that's ">". The fear of reptiles, especially snakes, is a common affliction. However, statistically, the probability of death from snake bite is very small. The CDC estimates that while 7000 to 8000 people are bitten by vipers every year in the United States, only about five of them die. Vipers include rattlesnakes, copper headed snakes, cotton tailed snakes and coral snakes, but most species are non-toxic. So for those who fear snakes more than real danger, facing fear can be an opportunity to grow. Al Bandura, a professor at Stanford University, put forward the concept of "guiding Mastery", that is, those suffering from asthenia phobia learn to overcome fear in a few hours by building their ability to recover from phobia. Speaking of this approach, Dr. feistan, a student of Bandura, said: "overcoming fear will help build your own morality and belief that you can achieve your goals. Fear and phobia have great potential for growth. Most challenging of all, we treat pain or pain as a symptom and use pills to dispel or repair it. The common mistake that people are afraid of is to avoid fear, to make them miserable and anxious. There needs to be a change of will so that one can see that anxiety is not a symptom of going away, but a challenge. "
5. Fear of death and fear of death can be treated in many ways. Clara konzevik, a psychotherapist in Los Angeles, says guided vision and art therapy is an effective treatment for death and other phobias. " "While practicing guided visualization step by step, the client is invited to imagine that he or she is in a fear situation, including as many senses as possible (hearing, smell and touch), thereby increasing exposure to the fear situation," she said. When guided through these "imaginary exposures," patients are asked to practice self comfort and breathing exercises. The aim is to link the fear situation with "relaxed physical response", rather than the physiological normal response to fear and anxiety. "
7. According to psychotherapist John tsilimparis, the fear of bacteria and other pollutants is one of the most common fears that people often have when they enter public toilets, eat at salad bars or touch stair rails. " Bacterial phobia is one of the most serious symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. To fight fear, he said, "psychologists combine cognitive behavioral therapy with exposure therapy and mindfulness therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a therapy that helps people reconstruct their fear response. Exposure therapy is about exposing people to something they're afraid of. Mindfulness is a form of consciousness therapy through which you can build new relationships with phobias. These are the three most common phobias, but the combination of these three treatments is the only way to overcome bacterial phobia. "
8. Fear of needles, especially in a doctor's office, is common, but it also intersects with survival instinct, because health requires occasional blood tests. According to Dr. Max feistan, one way to treat this fear is a special therapy called "behavior," that is, acceptance and commitment therapy. " How do you deal with the fear of building capacity to become stronger? You can think of it as exercise, like in a gym: you try to be stronger, but facing fear is a psychological exercise. Don't do it all at once - slowly turn avoidance into proximity. Behavior is a cognitive behavioral therapy term. Avoiding experiences or emotions can have a narrow and depressing effect on life. Pain is not necessarily an avoidable symptom, but we can learn to tolerate it and use it as a growth agent. Pain can be a teacher. " Credit: iStock / George clerk
9. Acrophobia limits some of the most exciting experiences in life. If the patient avoids hiking, climbing, flying or other activities because of anxiety, it is prohibitive to live a full life. " "The connection between the brain and the body is obvious through fear and anxiety responses," said Dr. Max Feirstein. There is a strong physiological response. When people have a strong physiological response to fear, you often show avoidance and avoidance behavior. Fear limits our lives. Avoid behavior reduce fear limit your life. It's a problem to limit your life by escaping. Avoidance behavior maintains anxiety and provides short-term relief - but long-term costs. "
What do you think? What kind of fear do you face? Is it on the list? Have you ever faced fear? How did you do it and what was the result? Does overcoming fear help you gain confidence? Share your thoughts, stories and suggestions in the comments section below. Maybe you can even help a community member of livestrong.com overcome similar fears.
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