Imagine going out with your friends or family, and they want to go swimming in a lake. However, you have a specific phobia that prevents you from floating. You either have a phobia of swimming, a dread of the water, or a drowning phobia. There are many types of phobias, and everyone has at least one. You will have a hard time finding someone who does not have at least one irrational fear. Some phobias develop during childhood, while others cause trauma in adulthood. Fortunately, there are some ways to overcome these phobias.
Slowly Ease into Your Fear
Many people will tell you to jump straight into the water to overcome your phobia. However, the best way to overcome your phobia is with exposure therapy. You slowly expose yourself to the fear safely while you have support around you just in case you experience a panic attack.
Use Coping Techniques for Calming Down
When you’re feeling stressed or anxious when facing a phobia, you will have some uncomfortable physical symptoms, from heart palpitations to trouble breathing. Coping techniques, such as grounding or deep breathing, can help quickly calm your anxiety. Grounding is a technique where you identify objects in the environment around you, so your brain focuses on reality instead of overthinking.
Start Moving
Believe it or not, getting the blood pumping through exercise or yoga is one of the best ways to tackle a phobia. Exercise helps release endorphins into your brain that calms not only you but also improve your mood. When exercising, your adrenal glands will only attribute cortisol release to working out instead of random panic attacks.
Following these simple tips when facing your phobia will help you slowly overcome these irrational fears. Remember, it may be all in your head, but you must do what you can to break the anxiety cycle.
