How To Cure Anxiety By Facing Fearful Situations

The role of avoidance in your problem is complex. It is responsible for the development of your fear of certain places, because the longer you avoid a place, the harder it becomes to go there again. But, in addition to avoiding specific places, you are also avoiding the frightening sensations of panic when you are anxious.

By trying to distract yourself, or to fight the sensation of panic by tensing your body or trying to force control of your feelings at all costs, your fear of having these feelings intensifies your feelings of relief when you escape from those dreaded situations act to reinforce your fear of that place, and so you become more and more fixed in your determination to avoid wherever you feel anxious.

The most successful way to reverse this process is exposure, that is, to go to those avoided places regardless of how you will feel when you get there. lf you put yourself in a situation you have avoided so that you can experience and learn to tolerate the physical sensations of anxiety, you can learn to lower your fear.

This process is called habituation. Studies show that whatever kind of exposure you practice, prolonged (for hours at a time), gradual (a series of gradually increasing exposures), alone or with other people - the technique does work. The key to success is to approach and face what you are afraid of.

Interestingly, you may discover that what you fear most is always with you - the internal sensations your body produces when you perceive danger. But remember what we said earlier about the connection between panic and place. Approaching what you are afraid of means approaching your feelings of anxiety. It is very important to remember this when you practice exposure.

You must prepare yourself for some anxiety and be ready to cope with it in that situation. Remind yourself that these are opportunities to practice coping strategies and will eventually help you overcome your problem once and for all.

Fortunately, there are appropriate ways to approach these situations, and many concrete strategies to help you succeed – click here for more info.