Irrational Fears
Question:
::I deal with irrational fears sometimes, especially when I get stressed out ::or really tired…it really increases my anxiety. Dear Kris, I think most people with anxiety and panic deal with irrational fears. This is a big problem for me and can really kick off or exacerbate my anxiety. One thing that helped me a lot was cognitive behavioral therapy. We don’t have to accept our irrational fears, we can try to challenge them. If you feel comfortable, why not share some of your fears with us? Maybe someone can offer advice on how to overcome it. Jackie ~*~If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude~*~ ~~ Maya Angelou quote — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
"Cougar" wrote : I deal with irrational fears sometimes,
That’s part of having an anxiety disorder. http://msmonarchdancer.googlepages.com/cognitiveerrorsandfallacies I’m still working on the fallacy identifications, but it may help. The rest of Jackie’s site is very good too: http://msmonarchdancer.googlepages.com/ Dennis — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
I find that looking at the realistic aspect of my fears really helps alot. As Vanessa stated you can’t catastrophise the situations or events that cause you worry or fear. Look at them from a realistic and reasonable viewpoint.
I had one pdoc tell me the information is an important part of dealing with fears. Find out about what you are afraid of, and you’ll usually find a way to deal with it. It doesn’t always work, but for me it helps me decide which fears are realistic and which aren’t. I still need a lot of work to go from there though. One of my problems is that a few of my completely irrational fears ended up happening to me. When I try to discount something unrealistic, I keep remembering that unlikely things have happened to me before. — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
I deal with irrational fears sometimes, especially when I get stressed out or really tired…it really increases my anxiety. Kris — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
I deal with irrational fears sometimes, especially when I get stressed out or really tired…it really increases my anxiety. Kris
Hi Kris, I’m sure many here will relate to irrational fears. For me it’s a vicious cycle as the more anxious I am the more irrational my fears which then feeds the anxiety. Cognitive behavioural therapy helped me challenge the irrational thoughts. First step was to identify the negative thoughts underlying my fear. Together with my therapist I was able to apply a logical evaluation to these irrational thoughts and gradually change them into positive, realistic ones. By changing my perception it really reduced my anxiety levels. It’s not always easy but one thing I really had to learn over and over was not to catastrophise with ‘What if’ scenarios. I had to change them to ’so what if…’ Another technique that helps me is to distract myself as it brings my irrational thoughts back more to reality. Cheers, Vanessa 
— The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I deal with irrational fears sometimes, especially when I get stressed out or really tired…it really increases my anxiety. Kris Hi Kris, I’m sure many here will relate to irrational fears. For me it’s a vicious cycle as the more anxious I am the more irrational my fears which then feeds the anxiety. Cognitive behavioural therapy helped me challenge the irrational thoughts. First step was to identify the negative thoughts underlying my fear. Together with my therapist I was able to apply a logical evaluation to these irrational thoughts and gradually change them into positive, realistic ones. By changing my perception it really reduced my anxiety levels. It’s not always easy but one thing I really had to learn over and over was not to catastrophise with ‘What if’ scenarios. I had to change them to ’so what if…’ Another technique that helps me is to distract myself as it brings my irrational thoughts back more to reality. Cheers, Vanessa —
I find that looking at the realistic aspect of my fears really helps alot. As Vanessa stated you can’t catastrophise the situations or events that cause you worry or fear. Look at them from a realistic and reasonable viewpoint. I have a huge fear of whether or not people will like or accept me. That the way I look or act or dress or talk will have this huge negative outcome and that people won’t like me or think of me as a person worthy of friendship. So I need to look at every situation as "So what? If this person or persons does not like me, for whatever reason, what is the worse thing that could realistically happen?" When I think about it, not much really. Sure I might feel sad or rejected, but that’s it. I’m not going to die, my world isn’t going to suddenly end and just because one person doesn’t like me or want to be friend it doesn’t mean that there aren’t people out there that would want my friendship. I also tend to sweat alot when I’m nervous, this is a source of embarrassment for me. Yet, if I sweat alot when I am nervous or feel a little anxious, so what? I’m not the only one and if people are judging me over that they are not being fair to me or themselves. Kris, you are allowed to feel afraid. There is nothing wrong with it, but try to look at your fears from a realistic viewpoint. It may take you a little time but I truly believe after awhile your fears will lessen and you will see that you have control over those fears and anxieties. It just takes time and that can be hard but with the support here I think we can all make it through. JoeyV — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
