Facing Fear.

Hi All. I have blogged about Dr. Weekes two "bogies", Bewilderment and Sensitisation. There are three the last one being FEAR. There is the story of the man who was pursued by a Tiger. The faster he ran so did the Tiger. Exhausted with all the effort the man turned and faced the Tiger. They looked into each others eyes for a few moments and then, to the man's astonishment, the Tiger began to dwindle in size until it became as big as a mouse, then it scuttled into the dark corner of the room. So with your fears. By facing them we take the mystery from them. They have far less energy to frighten us. We all know about those little glands that secrete adrenalin to produce the "flight-fight syndrome which helped primitive man and kept him alive. But what really is fear? The dictionary says "the response to danger". What danger? We who suffer would say- but the world is a dangerous place; it is right to be fearful. Yes, but not to the extent that it causes our lives to be disrupted and made miserable. Let us take a person who is asked to give a lecture to a rather large group of people on his/her firms products. Having not done this before FEAR of what will happen if she/he makes a mess of it takes hold. So the adrenalin starts to flow and the fight or flight syndrome clicks in. Unlike his/her primitive ancestors the person cannot fight or they may finish up in the nick!. They cannot run away for fear of their employers reactions and the resultant effect on their job. So they grit their teeth and carry on as best they can. They have SENSATISED themselves. Sometimes nothing happens until the next time; but, and here the problem starts, they become sensitive not only to the speaking part but to other fairly trivial matters that get blown up out of all proportion. By not FACING AND ACCEPTING their fear, which is NORMAL IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, they panic again and again and thus set themselves up in to the vicious circle of fear-adrenalin-fear. But there is nothing to fear! OK, so we make a mess of it. It is not the end of the world! By having a word with their employer maybe the situation could have been resolved. But they carry on with gritted teeth and so lay the foundations for nervous illness. It is necessary to face your fears and carry on IN SPITE OF THEM. FACE THEM, Go slowly, do what you can but DO NOT RUN AWAY IN FEAR. If you can only do a little work then do a little. Do not force yourself into trying to overcome the feelings. This is FIGHTING and it will get you nowhere. This is the last of the three "bogies" and, like the others, it points us in the right direction. Remember the Tiger and the Mouse. The rest is up to us. Good luck and blessings to all. jonathan.

[BriarRose]

Nice one!! thanks

Rose

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I really like this posting it is very clever amd wise - if an anxious person can actually do this and overcome all that they fear then to some extent they are cured hence the saying FACE YOUR FEARS AND CONQUER THEM wish it was as easy to do as it is to say and if I could get to that enviable place in my head where I felt strong enough to face my fears - much to strive for .....

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Hi janexley. Thanks for your kind words. There are certain words I have a problem with and, I believe, can be self defeating. I hope you will not mind my saying this. Words like fight, struggle, conquer, subdue, attack, destroy, overcome are all words that describe ACTION. Now in my view we do not require action of any kind! (I am not talking about medication which is a different matter). What I feel is that we need to do nothing, absolutely nothing except for one small thing. ACCEPT! The more we try to overcome, subdue, destroy the more anxiety we create. You cannot get rid of this fear by any action. Action implies effort and ENERGY and that is something most of us do not have. By doing nothing except accept we have "cleared the field". This does not require energy. On the contrary it conserves it .We can look at things as they are and not shy away from them in fear. RETREAT is not a word any of us should use although, at times, it is very tempting. You have much to STRIVE for (another word that implies action), but I would say by your blog you are certainly going to win. Please do not feel I am being critical. My goodness, I do speak from the heart having gone through this hell of an illness. Dante's Inferno was like Fred's Cafe in comparison. Good luck and happy landings. jonathan.