Don’t Allow Fear to Control You! (3)
Don’t Allow Fear to Control You! (3)
By Dr. Michael Brooks
This week, we will continue on how to deal with your fears so you can understand how to manage them. Fears don’t always have to be hidden and cause embarrassment. Dealing with them will give you freedom.
So, let’s look into some of the reasons what cause our fears and how we deal with them. Most experts say that there isn’t one particular cause for our fears, I’d say there are several good reasons why we have Fear in our lives. Many people cannot pinpoint when their fears began. So, let’s look at some examples and causes of those fears in a nutshell.
Past incidents, fears, and traumas: For example, me jumping off a roof and the Fear of the actual height looking down at the ground when falling, it has had a lasting effect on how I feel about heights to this day. I have a friend whose two daughters were attacked by a neighbor’s dog when they were toddlers. When a dog comes near them and I mean any dog, they lose it, they scream, yell and cry, these kids are 8 and 9 years old. They will never forget the dog attack as long as they live. Maybe when they become adults, they will be able to deal with dogs, but for now, they have a real fear of dogs.
How do you react to fear or panic? You may have had a fear that controlled you growing up, or even as an adult from a situation or object you encountered. Think about how many of us growing up, were told by our parents not to talk to strangers or avoid strangers. Our parents would tell us stories about what could happen if we did. We could get kidnapped, or even worse than we’d never see our families again. Many adults to this day will avoid talking to people they don’t know. They still have that fear of strangers that their parents scared them with. There is nothing wrong with that mindset today, many kids are being abducted and need to know they need to run away from someone approaching them. Fear can be very healthy as long as it’s used to be a learning lesson.
Long-term fear can cause anxiety and cause you to have depression if not dealt with in a proper way. Fear can keep you from enjoying life to its fullest and cause you to avoid events and people. Family gatherings can be difficult to attend for those who fear closeness. I know I struggled with being at our family gatherings because I was extremely shy. I hated going and seeing family at these reunions. I know I was anxious for sure and begged my parents not to take me. I’ve overcome that fear over the years.
As I was researching this article, I found some very interesting tidbits of information, do you know what one of the longest words in the dictionary is? I was amazed by this: What is Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia? I find it funny, the meaning of the word and, and in an ironic twist, is the name for a fear of long words. I never imagined that words cause people to fear.
So, how do I overcome my fears you may ask? There are many scientific ways of dealing with your fears. I want to make this easy for you and just give you my Readers Digest version.
Next week, we will continue with “Don’t Allow Fear to Control You.” Learn how to deal with these thoughts on Fear so they don’t control you.
Categories: Personal Growth, Relationships
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