CampusPlus
Dealing with fears

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dealing with fears

Fear is generally not a bad thing. It puts our body on alert, which can enable it to perform at its best. Anxiety in a mild form can thus lead to better performance and learning endurance and improve concentration and effort.

However, when anxiety becomes a constant companion or is very severe, it can be paralyzing. Anxiety disorders then lead to a restriction of everyday life and to permanent worries. Severe nervousness and tension are the consequences. In 2018, generalized anxiety disorder affected just over 16% of RPTU students, according to their own data.

The good news is that there are ways to face your fears and not give them power over you. Learn some tips below.

Typical thinking errors with anxiety

Anxiety disorders usually result from an overestimation of situations or sensations. Classic anxiety thinking errors occur. See if any of these sound familiar.

- The situation is generalized and exaggerated: Words like "always" or "never" or phrases like "I can't do this" are often used.

- Panic plans your day: all plans are made using only safety and avoidance tactics.

- Misjudgments occur: The danger of situations is greatly overestimated and at the same time one's own abilities to help oneself are greatly underestimated.

- The connection to reality is lost: The perceived danger is taken for granted and no attempt is made to counteract it.

Tools against fear

Give your day structure

To give your anxiety less space, it helps if you structure your day. Think about what you want to do during the day or week and write it down, but don't forget to schedule time for exercise in the fresh air and with friends. These two factors can also reduce your anxiety.

Live healthy

Otherwise, a healthy lifestyle can help you feel less anxious: Therefore, try to avoid nicotion and caffeine, eat healthy, be physically active and get enough sleep. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, check out our tips for improving sleep patterns.

Experience beauty

Treat yourself. You deserve to be happy. Think about what you enjoy and plan activities. It's best to take your best friends or roommates with you, because it's even more fun when you're with someone else.

Turn up the music

One study looked at how music therapy combined with aromatherapy affected anxiety in clinical caregivers. Both music therapy by itself and aromatherapy were able to reduce the subjects' feelings of anxiety. The combo of the two interventions was even more effective than the interventions alone.

Relax

Yoga and meditation can lower students' stress and anxiety levels. And relaxation techniques can also help reduce anxiety. So try to make time for them regularly.

Shift your focus

Are you in an acute anxiety situation? Then try to shift your focus to other things.

For example, observe your surroundings: Which clothing style of the people around you do you like, which one doesn't work at all?
Or notice sounds around you: What exactly do you hear? Can you hear someone laughing or arguing?
You can also smell food or try to eat an apple slice as slowly as possible. Does the taste change?

What else you could do

If you want to find a good way to deal with your fears in the long run, you can develop strategies to train your perception of yourself and fears.

One way is to train your fear perception. You can do this by documenting your fears accurately. When do they occur? What are you thinking during them? How does the anxiety feel? What strategies help me? By documenting your fears in this way, you can take a look at the fear situation from the outside and thus exclude the emotional component of the situation. You train yourself to keep a cool head in fearful situations.

Another component is to instruct yourself. You can increase your motivation by saying things like "I want to do this and I can do this! In addition, you can go through the anxiety situations in your mind and think of possible strategies for certain situations.

In the long run, you should try to change your anxiety thoughts. A reality check can help. To do this, write down your typical anxiety thoughts and think about what you could think about better instead. For example, like this:

Situation: oral exam

Fearful thoughts: "The examiner is looking at me all the time, he's probably got it in for me. I'm sure I'll black out in a minute and that'll be it."

Better thoughts: "It's normal for the examiner to look at me, after all, he wants to talk to me. I've prepared well and if I can't answer a question, it doesn't matter. I'll just take a deep breath now."