{"id":43335,"date":"2016-08-16T19:42:23","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T03:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=43335"},"modified":"2017-05-27T08:48:48","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T16:48:48","slug":"dont-panic-novel-ways-to-reduce-anxiety-and-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/dont-panic-novel-ways-to-reduce-anxiety-and-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Panic! 4 Novel Ways to Reduce Anxiety and Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

Chance favors the prepared mind.\u00a0 \u2013Louis Pasteur<\/em><\/p>\n

Stress and anxiety are ubiquitous in our culture.\u00a0 A certain amount of stress, known as \u201ceustress,\u201d is good for your health.\u00a0 It also increases focus and performance.\u00a0 However, everyone has their limit, a point at which coping resources no longer meet the situational demands.\u00a0 When this happens, performance degrades.\u00a0 Awareness of this degradation sets up the potential for a fear reaction and a negative feedback loop.\u00a0 As the limbic system becomes activated (fear), problem solving further deteriorates and that gap between coping resources and demands further widens.\u00a0 If this progresses far enough it becomes a panic attack.\u00a0 Left untreated, panic attacks can lead to Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or Depression.<\/p>\n

Symptoms<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Anxiety can manifest in a number of ways depending on individual makeup and severity.\u00a0 It could be experienced as a vague sense of fear or threat.\u00a0 Sometimes it arises physically as stomach or chest pain.\u00a0 Other signs are shortness of breath and cold, sweaty hands.\u00a0 At the extreme end of panic, it may manifest as hyperventilation, shaking, sweating, memory blackout, and dissociation.<\/p>\n

Novel Ways to Reduce Anxiety<\/strong><\/h1>\n

This article outlines a number of strategies to cope with anxiety and panic if it happens to you or someone else.\u00a0 This is not meant to be a substitute for professional evaluation or treatment, but rather as potentially helpful items to add to your toolbox.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Paradoxical Intentions<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There is an old saying by Carl Jung, \u201cThat which we resist, persists.\u201d\u00a0 Did you ever get that jingle stuck in your head and the more you wanted to get rid of it, the more it stuck around?\u00a0 Anxiety is something like that. When we don\u2019t want to have a feeling, we tend to ignore it until it turns into background noise known as anxiety.\u00a0 Anxiety is not an emotion in the proper sense.\u00a0 Rather, it is what happens when we avoid emotion.\u00a0 With enough avoidance, it can somaticize completely into stomach issues, chest pain, or headaches.\u00a0 So how does this help?\u00a0 Let\u2019s try to reverse the process.\u00a0 That means bringing your attention back to what has been avoided. The place to start is where the sensations currently exist.\u00a0 Most people find the sensations in the area between the stomach and the head.\u00a0 Get curious about the experience that is anxiety.\u00a0 How do you know that you are anxious?\u00a0 What does it feel like in your body?\u00a0 Become aware of it as if you were reporting your symptoms to a physician.\u00a0 The key is to focus on the physical experience and not get caught up in the thoughts about it<\/em>.\u00a0 During the self-examination, look intently for any signs of resistance to what you observe.\u00a0 Muscle tension is an obvious resistance, but there are likely other subtle types of resistance there as well.\u00a0 As you discover resistance, give the intention to let go.\u00a0 You may find it helpful to \u201cbreathe\u201d in and out of this area.\u00a0 It may take a few moments for things to begin to dissolve but stay with it.\u00a0 If you find this difficult, check out a guided body scan meditation.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      Trust Your Heart<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Sometimes people with anxiety or panic will fear they are having a heart attack.\u00a0 This can be precipitated by a loud noise or intrusive thought that triggers adrenaline makes the heart pound.\u00a0 This fear will obviously make the anxiety worse and establish a negative feedback loop as the limbic system becomes more and more activated.\u00a0 If you have been unfortunate enough to have panic attacks in the past, then you know what this is, and you know that it will eventually pass<\/em>.\u00a0 The more you try to control what is happening, the worse it will be.\u00a0 Remember that the body works perfectly fine without your thinking about it, such as when you are asleep. Surrender is the only viable option.\u00a0 Repeat this statement \u201cThe body will take care of itself.\u201d<\/em> over and over until things start to subside.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if you believe this or not.\u00a0 The unconscious does not have a truth filter.\u00a0 Just keep repeating it until you are calm.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        Make It A Happy Ending<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Many of our neuroses come from some fear of the future.\u00a0 It is such a mysterious place and completely unknown.\u00a0 We can concoct some horrendous fantasies about what will certainly befall us.\u00a0 As we indulge these stories again and again we are rehearsing for a perpetual tyranny of intrusive catastrophic thinking.\u00a0 If your attempts to replace this with unicorns and rainbows have been unsuccessful, then you might try to just go with it.\u00a0 Instead of watching that internal horror film and hitting pause at the scariest part, let it play on through.\u00a0 Imagine the worst does happen, then imagine how you would cope if all those fears came true. Keep playing that movie into the future until you get to a place where you are okay.\u00a0 Once you see how you will survive your worst fears, then there is less to be anxious about.\u00a0 Once you have made your new ending, play it every time that old fear resurfaces and you will find you need it less and less.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. \n

          The Old Bait and Switch<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          This is the brute force approach.\u00a0 Fortunately, the rational part of the brain (frontal cortex) has braking power on the emotional part of the brain (limbic system).\u00a0 Unfortunately, these brakes are very weak.\u00a0 However, if you are clever and persistent, you can overcome this limitation.\u00a0 Shift power from your emotional mind to your rational mind by doing a task only the rational mind can do. For example, try counting backwards from 1000 by 4\u2019s or 7\u2019s.\u00a0 The task shouldn\u2019t be too easy or too difficult.\u00a0 You need to be in the Goldilocks zone of difficulty.\u00a0 After a few minutes of this, the rational part of the brain will be back in control.\u00a0 If this doesn\u2019t work, it\u2019s because the task is too easy, too hard, or you quit too soon.\u00a0 Keep at it; it takes a few minutes for those stress hormones in your blood to metabolize away.<\/p>\n

          Getting Professional Help<\/strong><\/h1>\n

          If you have recurrent panic attacks, then you should seek help from a professional counselor who specializes in treating Panic Disorder.\u00a0 Make sure he or she is well-versed in applying Exposure Therapy, the gold standard for treatment of panic.\u00a0 If OCD is co-occurring, then the standard treatment is Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).\u00a0 Many people suffer needlessly from these disorders for years because they haven\u2019t received the proper treatment.<\/p>\n

          Dustin Johnson is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Peak Clarity<\/a> \u00a0in Fort Collins, Colorado.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Stress and anxiety are ubiquitous in our culture. A certain amount of stress, known as \u201ceustress,\u201d is good for your health. It also increases focus and performance. However, everyone has their limit, Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11672,"featured_media":43355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[205,33,32,24,6],"tags":[5378,5364,5362,66,4008,4629,3637],"yoast_head":"\n4 Novel Ways to Reduce Anxiety and Fear<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stress and anxiety are ubiquitous in our culture. A certain amount of stress, known as \u201ceustress,\u201d is good for your health. 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