How To Overcome Your Fear

Here we will talk about how to overcome your fear. Fear (also known as dread, distress, anxiety, worry, terror, doubt, nightmares, angst, panic)- crippling, stunting and powerful!

We have all felt fear at some point in our lives, every animal species does. What we do with the fear and how we see it affects not only our health and our mind but also our actions and the experiences we go through each day. Fear can cause chronic health issues, phobias, relationship breakdowns and death.

How to overcome your fear and regain freedom?

To understand and implement the one thing you need to do to overcome fear, we must first look at what fear actually is. Over decades, the meaning of the word fear has adapted to the cultural landscape. The Oxford dictionary states the following.

Fear is often seen as the cause of us not doing or achieving something or it is seen as the result of facing a scenario. Fear is actually a primal reaction that we all have. It springs up from our hindbrain (the reptilian brain) and is a complex manifestation that encompasses chemical signals to the body, physiological reactions in the body and behavioral reactions following exposure to a fear stimulus.

Fear is the emotion we attach to a very real physical pathway in the body. This pathway or response starts in the amygdala, which is an almond-shaped bundle of neurons that forms part of the limbic (emotional) system. The amygdala is located in the hindbrain. It has one job- to determine if a situation is dangerous. The hindbrain scans every place we go, things we read, experiences we have, etc. It scans these for DANGER and sends responses to the rest of the brain to keep you safe. This response can be chemical, physical or emotional.

The amygdala is able to trigger activity in the hypothalamus, which activates the pituitary gland, which is where the nervous system meets the endocrine (hormone) system. There, the pituitary gland secretes adrenocorticotropic (ACTH) hormone into the blood (also releasing cortisol, the stress hormone, in response to the ACTH).

Cortisol raises your blood pressure, blood sugars and white blood cells. Your body does not know at this stage if the stress or danger is a physical or emotional attack. From there, the sympathetic nervous system activates the adrenal glands and your body experiences a release of epinephrine into the bloodstream. All of this activity causes a spike in responses from the heart and lungs, reduced activity in the digestive system and a reduction in some sense including sight and hearing.

Due to the hindbrain trying to protect you from imminent danger, the midbrain and forebrain then start to respond. Your emotional response (fear) kicks in and then your logical response or high-level decision making comes in. This is where we attach memories to fear and choices to it. This is learned behaviour and as we live our lives, these learned responses come back when the brain considers you to be in a similar situation to what was previously experienced.

They help us understand whether our fear response is real and justified, but only when the reptilian brain allows you to get past the point of expecting injury or death to you. If the midbrain and forebrain decide that the fear response is exaggerated, they can dial it back and dampen the amygdala’s activity. This partly explains why people enjoy watching scary movies; their sensible “thinking brain” can overpower the primal parts of the brain’s automated fear response.

What happens if you can’t dial back your fear responses or you live in a state of heightened fear for extended periods of time?

The short answer is: extended exposure to adrenal hormones and chemicals, physical fear responses and emotional responses will lead to several debilitating diseases including Cushing’s syndrome, cardiac events, stroke, palsy, ulcers, IBS, infertility and a weakened immune system leading to chronic infection, inflammation and death.

So, what is the one thing you can do that will help you overcome fear?

Forget Everything And Run OR Forget Everything And Rise

– Zig Ziglar

Fear has also been described as

This is closer to the mark. When you experience fear, acknowledge the emotion. In doing so, you signal the hindbrain that you see it trying to protect you and that you give it permission to pass the stimulus on to the midbrain and forebrain. This will allow the fear to be contained and your response to be less chemically and physically taxing.

Your whole existence is based on safety. Safety from injury, death, attack, embarrassment, exclusion, etc. Everything you do, feel, see, hear, taste and smell are filtered by the hindbrain for potential safety risks. Acknowledging emotions (sources of energetic input) and stopping the initial response is the only way to prevent ongoing health issues and emotional responses from giving more power to fear than it needs to have.

How we can help?

Our team are certified results coaches. We study the body and the mind in depth. In Results coaching, we have learnt skills to help alleviate the hindbrain’s responses. Throughout our coaching sessions, we help our clients learn to acknowledge these emotions and to turn them from safety infringements to safety promoters. Learn to lower your FEAR and to grow and heal in any part of your life. Our results coaching can help you achieve your goals and overcome your adversities.

All of our workshops, programs, and events come with a 100% implementation guarantee. If you’re concerned that our team will be unavailable when you need them, we can add you to our exclusive online community, where all requests for assistance are answered. Contact us to book today!