How to Overcome an Irrational Fear

Irrational fears can haunt you for most of your life. You may struggle with understanding how the irrational fear took hold. Healthy.net suggests that a constant struggle with fear and anxiety can negatively effect a your self-esteem and confidence. Even though overcoming that fear may seem hopeless, there are techniques that can help you control the fear rather than letting it control you.

Instructions

• 1

  Practice focusing. When you begin to experience fear, focus on an object that means a lot to you. This could be a picture, family heirloom or something else you care about. Think only of the object. If other thoughts come into your mind, bring the focus back to the object. Healthy.net suggests that this technique will cause your mind to relax or release nervousness.

• 2

  Expose your fear. Psychology Today suggests that exposing yourself to the fear in short bursts could help you overcome it. For instance, if you have a fear of elevators, expose yourself to the inside of an elevator for one to two seconds at time. As you continue to spend time in elevators, you will learn to suppress your fear. Once you feel comfortable with the short time, gradually add more seconds. As you expose yourself to the fear, it begins to diminish.

• 3

  Imagine your fear. Close your eyes and think of the thing that scares you. Concentrate on that fear. Write down the feelings you have. Picture yourself overcoming the fear; write down the victorious feelings that you have. Changing your thinking toward fear might help you conquer it. The Mayo Clinic suggests that learning alternate beliefs about your fears will change the impact they have on your life.

• 4

  Discover the cause. Imagine the first time you felt this fear. Describe the people, colors, situation and feelings associated with this time. Through this exercise, you might discover what caused the fear in the first place. For instance, a fear of the dark might have manifested because of a scary situation in your childhood. Discovering the scary situation and taking control of it might diminish your fear. If you struggle with finding the root of the fear, hypnotherapy could help with this discovery.