Fear And Anxiety

Fear. Anxiety. Just the mere mention of those words can cause apprehension. If you have fear or anxiety in your life, you are not alone. Everyone from time to time may experience an increase in anxiety. Most times the anxiety felt is situational and temporary. How can we diminish fear in our lives?



1. Breathe .  When we become anxious, the blood vessels in our brain constrict. Deep breathing opens up the blood vessels in our brain.  It circumvents the anxiety response.  Breathing is portable, meaning we can use deep breathing anytime, anywhere.  We are always with our breath.
2. Stay in the moment. When anxiety or fear happens, many times people are experiencing fear about the future.   Staying in the present moment and not thinking about the future will decrease anxiety.  Analyze any fearful upcoming events. Are there events in the future that are fearful.  Is there an upcoming surgery, tax audit, divorce proceedings?  Those are valid reasons to be anxious.  Feeling anxious about those today will not help change their outcome tomorrow.
3. Become grounded. Grounding is a technique that can be effective in combating fear and anxiety.  Grounding means to plant yourself in the present moment.  The best way to ground yourself is to use your five sense.  What are you seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting (if applicable).  This technique will help you to stay in this moment, which will calm your mind.
4. Realize this moment will pass. Place no judgment on this moment just allow it to pass.  Breathe and you will find yourself on the other side of the fear or anxiety.
The above-mentioned techniques can assist with anxiety or fear. If you would like additional insights or tools to help with anxiety, feel free to call our office for an appointment.  Talking to a counselor has shown to be effective in diminishing anxiety.  The phone number is 815-467-8181.

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Plainfield

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