Men of Reddit, what do you do to regain control over your mind when you are scared?

22 comments

  1. Some people might try to distract themselves, others might try to rationalize their fear, and others might try to face their fear head-on.

  3. Some people might try to distract themselves, others might try to rationalize their fear, and some people might try to confront their fear head-on.

  5. I use religion as a crutch for that

    “Its all in gods hands, this life is a test, whatever comes my way was meant to be”

    That sorta stuff usually chills me out

  6. “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

  7. 4-7-8 breathing puts me to sleep, so i will rather talk to myself in a 3rd person. That really helps to see the problem, rise above the scary thing / problem and think

  9. I do nothing being scared is a good thing it makes you aware of what’s going on being nervous makes me rationalize

  10. Put a blanket over my head and hope a random sound I heard in the middle of the night, isn’t an alien in my bathroom who is stalking me.

    Last week, I woke up in the middle of the night and had no control of my buddy. It took several minutes to move my limbs. I’m not saying there was an alien or some sort of ghost that had control of my buddy, but it was unpleasant experience.

  12. if it’s like real in the moment type fear, fight or flight kicks in. usually I get a rush of adrenaline and decision making has to be naturally quick and decisive. if it’s like longterm anxiety-induced fear, just try to manage it the best I can. I usually imagine the moments after the thing I’m scared of and that it will pass quickly and it really doesn’t matter that much in the long run. sometimes shit is overwhelming and sends me spiraling into a panic attack. then it’s survival mode, just use breathing and ground exercises to calm my shit down and stabilize. that shit sucks I hate panic disorder.

  14. >What’s the worst that could happen? You die? Oh well, nothing you can do about it at that point.

    My brother in law changed my entire worldview when he said that. You can apply that to every moment in life. Once you realize that the universe is one big 50/50 game it really chills you out.

    Fair warning, I’ve become extremely nihilistic since this exchange.

  16. Unclench my jaw, stick my tongue to the roof of my mouth (apparently that’s normal mouth posture, and it does help). Relax my shoulders and open up my body language. Focus on my breathing. Try to keep an “I’ll do it or I’ll die trying” mindset. Maybe try to find a reason or smile or laugh.

  17. Never be scared is easier. Give you an example on why irrational fears are fake and meaningless. If you have a fear of drowning on average in the USA is about 3750 deaths per year. Yet I bet they can easily drive to work or go on a road trip and not be afraid. But on average 46000 people die in car wrecks per year. So in this example you can be afraid of something so minimal in terms of danger to your life yet have no fear of something 10x more likely to kill you.

    Logic and reasoning is how you conquer fear.

  18. I make a “game plan” to deal with the situation. Even if it’s far fetched, it’s just to give myself a sense of security again so I can think.

    But what kind of scared are you talking about?

  20. I distract myself until it comes up. Most of my “fears” come from the future. For instance, I had anxiety going into my senior year of high school and now as I’m going into my senior year of college. It’s more about “what the hell am I going to do now?” Type of fear.

  21. I think about my job and how I will get fired if I don’t pull together and focus on immediate and imminent dangers. That stops the whole anxiety pit on my and my family’s future.

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