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Improve your life in just a we orror film IT Chapter 2 highlights the importance of facing your fears to be move on with your life! We spoke with leading psychologist Honey Langcaster-James to share 7 ways you can overcome your fears in ts i r B 020. (IT Chapter 2 is out now on 4k, Bluof ear % 5 4 eaf ay and DVD as well as Digital Download.)
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Look to the past
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ears are generally learned at some point in your life and the origins of them can be buried quite deep down, often in a key experience which you perceived as threatening at the time. Try to work out where your fear riginated from by thinking about hen you first remember having your ear, or asking family what might ave happened to make you afraid. Trying to recall a key memory d when you learned to be afraid help you get to the root of your ing
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Gradual exposure
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Leave it behind
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ome fears are understandable. If you were in a life-threatening car crash for example, then being afraid to get in a car is your brain’s natural way of trying to keep you safe in the future. Honour your fear by trying to understand how it is trying to protect you. But then look at the evidence to see if there’s any real need to be afraid anymore, and if not, make a mental decision to leave it behind like an old pair of protective boots you no longer need.
d support t support from others. Find a group of people with similar fears so you feel less strange or weak for having that fear. Realising you’re not alone can help you feel more in control and then you can share tips as to how you can overcome your fear together.
Look at the evidence
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Celebrate small successes
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tay motivated by thinking about all the times in your life that you were afraid in the past. You survived those, right, or you wouldn’t be here reading this now! So doesn’t all the evidence point to the fact that you’ll survive anything you’re afraid of now? Thinking about how you’ve got over fears in the past can help raise your self-belief.
ducate yourself
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ducate yourself on the facts. If your fear is flying, for example, watch e videos about turbulence, or go on a fear of flying course which will educate you as to how planes work and why it’s scientifically impossible to just fall out of the sky. Being educated will help you separate fear facts from emotional fiction.
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our y e c Fa head fears nd be on a ud! pro
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hen we’re afraid of something we tend to avoid it, but this only perpetuates the fear. Psychologists often use exposure therapy to help people get over things they’re afraid of. This is a way of gradually getting more and more relaxed in the presence of your fear. If your fear is spiders, start with a cartoon spider and do relaxation exercises until you feel OK. Then try a photo of a spider, then perhaps a video of a spider and so on, until you can cope with a spider in a corner of a room. Gradual exposure will help change your mindset.
