Mental Health
Why I See Anxiety and Fear as Friends Rather Than Enemies
The way we process our emotions matters for our health and well-being
Emotions play a critical role in our physical and mental health. Besides, they affect our creativity, productivity, and life satisfaction.
Since dealing with unpleasant emotions like anxiety and fear might be challenging for some of us, I provide my perspectives based on my experience.
Unfortunately, most of us live with fear and anxiety in this modern world, whether for valid or invalid reasons. Some situations are beyond our control.
Yet, I believe we might reduce the effects of unpleasant emotions by taking personal responsibility and seeking help.
Moving from victim mode and living life with acceptance, optimism, self-love, compassion for others, and a growth mindset look like viable options for making friendships with our emotions.
This article aims to provide practical tips for proactively dealing with anxiety and fear with lifestyle choices.
Importance of Emotional Diversity
Every emotion tells us something important is happening in the body and mind. They serve as valuable messengers.
Unpleasant emotions are not enemies, I see them as friends if we can approach them with optimism, self-love, and a growth mindset.
All emotions and feelings are important for our survival and prosperity, whether they manifest neutral, positive, negative, pleasant, unpleasant, comfortable, or uncomfortable feelings.
Some people see fear and anxiety as unnecessary in life and they don’t want to feel them. But why would nature give them and embed them in our systems if they were useless? Diversity of emotions might improve our mental health.
Fear and anxiety are necessary emotions for our survival. However, feeling too intense or too often might threaten our survival and adversely affect our prosperity.
Excessive fear and anxiety are the root causes of physical and mental disorders that unbalance our hormones and neurotransmitters.
In addition, extreme anxiety and fear might adversely affect our creativity, productivity, and life satisfaction.
Manifestation of Anxiety and Fear in the Brain
Anxiety and fear involve various parts of the brain and the body, affecting our hormones and neurotransmitters when the brain perceives threats to survival.
However, the amygdala, the monitoring and alert system, is responsible for communicating it to other brain and body parts.
The amygdala, despite its small size, is a complex system in the brain. However, taming the amygdala using the neocortex and the body is possible.
As a survival mechanism, the amygdala has reliable and fast neural connections to our nervous system, endocrine system, and organs.
Even though anxiety and fear happen in the same brain region, both are different and have distinct characteristics.
Anxiety usually happens due to perceived threats. In comparison, fear is generally associated with the known dangers threatening survival.
There are various ways to deal with anxiety and fear. As they have related features and similar effects, we might use identical techniques to find solutions.
One of the viable options is using mindfulness techniques to understand the symptoms and causes. By living mindfully, we might reduce anxiety and fear symptoms.
The best way to influence the amygdala is through our emotional experiences. So even though the neocortex might converse with the amygdala indirectly, the effect might not be as strong as emotional experiences.
For both feelings, after identifying the situation, we may allow our thoughts to pass without judgment. In addition, questioning the validity of perceptions can reduce the effects of anxious and fearful thoughts.
In the following two sections, I provide practical takeaway points.
How to Deal with Fear Efficiently
Dealing with fear during its occurrence can be difficult. The critical point is to activate the neocortex as soon as possible. Here are some handy tips based on experience.
1 — Recognize fear as an emotion using mindfulness techniques.
2 — Use the breath to access the neocortex quickly during fearful situations.
3 — Start analyzing the root causes of fear.
4 — Identify whether fear is real or perceived
5 — Address the situation if the fear is real.
6 — Relax the body and mind if the fear is perceived.
7 — Consider moving the body with joyful exercises after addressing the situation.
I introduced the paradox of fear in this article.
How to Deal with Anxiety Efficiently
Even though dealing with anxiety can be challenging, it is relatively easier than dealing with fearful situations.
1 — Recognize anxiety as an emotion using mindfulness techniques.
2 — Expose yourself to perceived risks slowly and gradually.
3 — Move the body consciously to activate the neocortex.
4 — Talk to yourself with self-love.
5 — Seek help from loved ones, friends, or professionals.
6 — Consider regular meditation.
7 — Consider Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
I explained to create a shift from an anxious to a confident and calm mind.
How to Prevent Excessive Fear and Anxiety.
My focus on emotional regulation is to prevent the occurrence of unpleasant emotions as much as possible.
However, since fear and anxiety are related to our survival, it is impossible to avoid them entirely.
Over the years, I developed some practical ways to prevent excessive fear and anxiety. The most effective from my experience are mindfulness techniques such as meditation, self-talk, visualization, and therapeutic writing, giving me cognitive power and flexibility.
Time blocking and working in the flow state help me regulate my emotions. For example, during the flow state, I don’t experience uncomfortable emotions like fear, anxiety, anger, boredom, or grief.
Investing in our health and well-being is essential to prevent excessive fear and anxiety. When our hormones and transmitters are balanced, we feel less anxious thoughts and cope with fearful situations more effectively.
In addition, lowering physical and mental stress with restorative sleep, good nutrition, exercise, rest, and fun might reduce risks and prevent the manifestation of excessive feelings of fear and anxiety.
Final Words
Unpleasant emotions are inevitable. They serve important purposes and are essential for our survival. Emotions are messengers informing something good or bad happens in the body.
Therefore, we need to understand the messages by observing our emotions. Expressing our feelings is essential for our health. Suppressing them might cause severe physical and mental health issues leading to traumas.
Therefore, emotional intelligence, mastery, and maturity are critical skills for our physical and mental health.
Even though fear and anxiety happen in the old brain, we might reduce the effects of these unpleasant emotions using the new brain and the body.
I dealt with anxiety and fear more effectively by using mindfulness practices such as meditation, self-talk, expressive writing, recreational reading, and working in a flow state.
I hope these tips might give you helpful perspectives. Please feel free to share your suggestions based on your experience dealing with these unpleasant emotions in the comments sections.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
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