How to Treat Anxiety and Fear

Treatment for anxiety and fear involves several steps designed to help you control inner fears and reduce their hold over your life. These approaches range from psychotherapy to medication and include:

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy uses methods that gently help change a person's behavioral patterns so they can develop new behaviors and ways of thinking that help them address fear and anxiety about death, or any other type of fear. The doctor helps the person reach practical solutions for overcoming feelings of anxiety and develop strategies that allow them to remain calm and unafraid when talking or thinking about illness or death.

Psychotherapy

Psychological treatments, or talk therapy, involve discussing anxiety and fears with a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. They address all kinds of fear and anxiety, particularly fear and anxiety about illness. These professionals help the affected person understand the reason for their fear and develop strategies for dealing with anxiety during the day. Sometimes, simply talking about anxiety can help a person feel more in control of their fear, and this treatment has demonstrated a high level of effectiveness.

Exposure therapy

Exposure therapy helps a person address psychological fear and anxiety by facing their fears directly. Instead of burying their feelings about death or refusing to acknowledge their fear and anxiety about illness, they are encouraged to confront those fears. The therapist conducts exposure therapy by gradually exposing the person to their fear in a safe environment until the anxiety response decreases and the person can face their anxious thoughts or feelings without fear.

Medication

Medication can play a role in treating severe fear and anxiety. The treating doctor may prescribe a range of anti-anxiety medications, including beta blockers or antidepressants. When people use medication alongside psychotherapy, the results are often more effective, and they return to their normal lives.

Although medication can be helpful by easing feelings of panic, anxiety, tension, and stress in the short term, long-term use of such medication may not be the ideal solution. Instead, working through fears in psychotherapy is more likely to provide lasting relief.

Self-care and support

Caring for yourself and seeking support from the surrounding community can be powerful ways to promote overall mental health, including helping you feel more capable of dealing with your fears. Avoiding alcohol and caffeine, getting a good night's sleep, and eating a nutritious diet are all forms of self-care.

How can you address anxiety and fear by yourself?

Sometimes, all you need to address anxiety and fear is to take several steps that help you control those thoughts and reduce their hold over you. These include:

Talk to yourself

Allow yourself to sit with your anxiety and fear for 2-3 minutes at a time. Breathe through them and say, “It is okay; it is just an unpleasant feeling. Emotions are like the tide: they ebb and flow.”

Call your friends

Call the close friend who has been waiting to hear from you, especially if you have not spoken for a while. This will improve your mood and reassure you.

Be grateful for something

Each of us has something in this life to be grateful for. Write down the things you appreciate, and look at the list when you feel that you are in a bad place and surrounded by anxiety and fear.

Exercise

Exercise and physical activity can redirect your focus, as your mind concentrates on one thing during each workout. Whether it is a short walk, working up a sweat in a boxing gym, or playing a 15-minute yoga video to follow at home, exercise is good for you and can guide you and help you feel more capable.

Humor can be a solution

Use humor to defuse your worst fears. For example, imagine some absurd and funny scenarios that could happen if you accepted an invitation to give a speech before a crowd of 500 people. This can greatly reassure you.

Value your courage:

Tell yourself that you will not allow fear to control you today, and reward yourself. Whenever you refuse to let fear prevent you from doing something, encourage yourself, value your courage, and weaken fear's ability to keep you from what you want.

Download the Tatmeen app for online psychological and family consultations from the App Store or Google Play. You can also register on the Tatmeen mental health website to receive valuable information and practical tools for strengthening your mental and family well-being.