How do you face your fears?

[FalloutJack]

Well unfortunately, itwould be very hard for me to face mine. Ummm...giant squid. Yeah, there was this nature program about the world's biggest eyeballs (approximately beachball-sized, by the way) about a giant squid and I realized that having one of those come at me in its native environment would largely mean that I'm about to snuff it viciously. It would mean that a large eating machine with no reasoning capacity would be giving me the stare with this unblinking eye before snatching me up as a quick snack and then going off to continue its longstanding rivalry with whales. Very hard to confront that, though, as I am not on the bottom of the ocean.

 

[Karhukonna]

I got a couple of fears. They ain't much, but still, I'll share them with you.

I'm scared of dark, murky water. Or rather, whatever my imagination tells me lives down there. I'm a decent swimmer and I love playing in the water, but if it's your typical lake setting with muddy water, I'm gonna just take a quick dip rather than go around diving and playing.

And how do I deal with this? I don't go into the goddamn dark water, that's how. You can never tell what lies down there. Okay, so the biggest beast we have in our waters is maybe the size of a baby's arm, but I just can't handle the unknown that lies in the dark.

Which brings me to my next fear, the dark. It's not that I can't go out at night or anything like that. I am most afraid of pitch black places. Just so happens that during the winter, there's a lot of pitch black darkness to go around. I deal with this in one of two ways. Either I listen to some kickass tunes on my player with the volume at maximum, or I brandish a weapon. I can't even count the times I've stalked my workplace's dark halls with a heavy pipe in hand. And the random, screeching sounds that echo in the empty darkness don't help.

But alas, I manage.

 

[Bestival]

I haven't and I won't. You'll never ever get me to visit a jungle, or Australia, or nothing! Fears are dumb bastards, and I wont spend any time with them.

 

[Jedoro]

Gradual exposure, and a healthy level of caution.

 

[Shockolate]

How I deal with Arachnophobia has changed.

Instead of flailing away screaming "Don't let it get me" like I used to, now I move into a slight crouch and get really pissed off, like, "If you take one more fucking step near me I will FUCKING KILL YOU!". My fight or flight response changed from flight to fight.

Which is funny because I find it cruel and try not to kill things, except flies and mosquitoes, because fuck those guys. I mean, they eat insects that might otherwise annoy me. I understand and accept thier usefulness.

I JUST WISH THEY WEREN'T SO FUCKING CREEPY! :'C

 

[thesilentman]

Rationalize. Also, I just tell myself that I'll be fine repeatedly. Failing that, I'll calm myself down first, then do whatever I need to do. I'm not really afraid of anything, which is a blessing. I do have things that I feared, but I conquered them pretty quick.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Spiders and snakes were mine.

I'm smart enough to know how to easily handle the snakes in my area now, as well as know their normal behaviours.

Spiders, I used to be afraid of anything that looked even remotely spiderish, but I choose to ignore them now.

 

[The Funslinger]

Most people at least attemt to do it once in their life, whether it be a simple disgust or a full blown phobia, people try to conquer their fears. So I ask, what do you do to conquer your fears and what are your fears that you conquered/have yet to conquer?

Spoiler: my fear

I'm deathly afraid of heights. i am to the point where I just don't climb even a ladder. *side note: its actually pretty ironic considering that i'm 6'5". In order to conquer this fear, I began exposing myself to more and more high places. I have yet to conquer it completely(still won't trust most ladders) but I have improved significantly.

Also, if I have any other fears I generally just learn as much as I can about it and then its not scary anymore.

Sounds like you used a crude form of Systematic Desensitization.

Basically, the patient (you) learns to achieve a state of calm on demand. After discussing the relevant phobia (in this case, your fear of heights) the therapist draws up a hierarchy of phobia. For example:

Videos of height drops, peering out the window of a high building, going up a ladder, standing on top of a sky scraper.

You would then, over many sessions, gradually move through each stage, moving to a calm state while doing so. Basically, you're gradually learning to associate heights with a calm feeling, overcoming your phobia, as calm and fear cannot coexist.

OT: Never really had any fears.

 

[wolf thing]

i do the fear chant from dune, fear is the mind killer fear is the little death...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJsYKhEV6o0

 

[Sirron Kcuch]

Blood, gore and violence drive me literally crazy. One time I snapped at a dissection in High School and began shouting at everyone in the room, for I could not bring myself to open an animal.


And then again, I'm no vegetarian. They're tasty.

 

[Sir Strange Of The House Lycan]

If I'm confronted with something I'm afraid of (Usually it's the dark because I'm a wimp) I stop myself from getting scared by singing or reciting bible verses. Of worthy mentioning is that I'm not a Christian, but the act of trying to remember the verse itself and then recite its entirety keeps my mind busy so I can get through it without thinking too hard.

 

[Not Matt]

My 3 biggest fears are hairdressers, dentists and horses.

Hairdressers: I only approach these creatures when my girlfriend at the time and/or my mother and sister go banananutbutters insane about me having long hair. I then prepare myself for having my hair cut for over a week before I even get an appointment. When the day of cutting comes I walk downtown to the cheapest hairdresser there is and as him/her to be quick. I then bit my teeth together and wait for them to finish and I can go home and put this experience behind me.

Dentists: I freeze in the middle of opening my mail and read the letter. I then go to this appointment and I ask for full them to tranquilize my entire mouth. Which they never f***ing do. I then squirm and makeweird noises til it's over.

Horses: I drop what ever I am doing, make up an excuse and get the f*** away from that 4 legged beast. Scariest animal ever. I have stood face to face with live bears and wolfs but horses scare me more than they ever will (but I love MLP. Ohhh the irony)

 

[Little Woodsman]

I'm afraid of people. In order to conquer this fear, I plan to stride into the nearest city centre and punch one in the snout to establish my superiority.

A most excellent plan!
Be sure to bring a rolled-up newspaper along with you for backup.