The whole body is shaking from the inside - what could it be? Why does a person tremble when he is scared?

Many people are familiar with the situation in which the whole body shakes, and the reasons are unclear and frightening. The feeling of internal trembling is an unpleasant process, due to which a person experiences additional panic, which can only aggravate the situation. For some, trembling occurs quite rarely, but for some people it becomes a habitual and frequent occurrence. When the body shakes several times a day, you should find out the reasons and begin treatment.

Important! In the case when the body internally shudders and the tremor lasts no more than a few minutes, there is no danger to health, but if a nervous tremor constantly runs throughout the body, the body shakes as if in a fever, it is necessary to find out the cause from a specialist.

Internal trembling in the body and its treatment is an important issue that we will try to cover in this article.

Internal tremors in the body: causes and symptoms

The most common tremors are in the arms, legs, jaw, trembling of the head and tongue. If your body is shaking, there can be a variety of reasons.

• When the temperature drops significantly, when a person is chilly from the cold, he begins to shake involuntarily;
• High adrenaline in the blood, inside the body causes shaking;
• If a person has certain diseases of a somatic or neurological nature, the body also shakes feverishly.

The neurological component in the form of the autonomic system is responsible for the functionality and organization of the internal organs, muscles, tendons and bones. This large subsection of the central nervous system connects and controls the communication of all our parts and departments. In the autonomic system, two antagonistic “workshops” can be distinguished: the sympathetic one, which is responsible for the activity of the organs, and the parasympathetic one, which provides rest and anticipation of action. When the “workshops” fail, the body shakes, and the causes depend on many internal disorders.

Neurons that control muscles and their tone allow you to hold the body in a certain position. A person begins to shake when a malfunction, disturbance or painful condition occurs in one of the parts of this complex mechanism. Weakness begins to appear, one or another part of the body shakes, regardless of self-control. The body also shakes due to some pathological processes.

Why is everything shaking inside, possible illnesses?

1. Stress is the most common cause when the body shakes or sensations of internal trembling appear. No matter what external stimulus the stressful situation is caused by, the body reacts with “flight”, it cowards without fever and, as it were, protects itself, thus, from an invisible but felt attack. The body shakes, and the muscles become like a stretched string and are about to break. This is where the cause of vibration originates, a person begins to shake, an imbalance of the nervous system occurs, which ultimately leads to sad consequences: overwork, migraines, hypertension. The body shakes as if in the hands of a jackhammer;
2. Vegetative-vascular dystonia is a cause and disease characterized by abnormal functioning of the autonomic system, in which the entire body can shake. Twitching of the legs and shaking throughout the body due to frequent muscle contractions become a frequent occurrence;
3. Depression is one of the causes of a nervous condition in which a full-scale disorder of the central nervous system occurs and the body shakes. This leads to spontaneous constant trembling not only during waking hours, but also during sleep;
4. Infectious diseases can also cause internal shaking and tremors. It depends on the complexity of the infection, on the body temperature during the painful process. The state when the patient’s body is shaking can range from vibration in the body, chills throughout the whole body, to a state as if throwing up on the bed;
5. Diseases of the thyroid gland, diabetes mellitus, pathologies in the ovaries and other ailments associated with the endocrine system can lead to neurological disorders. The body shakes for this very reason;
6. With age, the body shakes more often, the reasons for this are changes in body functions, and the danger of minor shaking or trembling in the limbs and head also increases;
7. With brain injuries, Parkinson's disease, concussions, atherosclerotic disorders, the symptom and cause of nervous trembling grows and increases over the years to noticeable external manifestations. The body shakes regardless of the time of day; a person experiences mild and constant muscle tremors in the morning and at night during sleep, and after physical exertion it becomes strong and the patient literally “gives up”;
8. Mild shaking can be observed after taking medications, drugs, or alcohol abuse. The person shakes, he trembles with small tremors, as if in a chill. The reasons lie in the poisoning of the body with toxic substances.

Types of tension during trembling - possible causes

note! Symptoms, if the body shakes slightly, usually appear immediately: anxiety, fear in the stomach or lower abdomen, trembling in the legs, sinking heart and nervousness.

Localization of excitement or trembling occurs in a variety of places, from internal organs to all extremities, look for the cause:

• The head or face can shake sharply due to severe nervous tension, in the case of partial paralysis, inflammation of the facial nerve, if there is spastic torticollis;
• A feeling when a tremor is felt throughout the body due to a sharp release of adrenaline into the blood or due to endocrine pathologies;
• It happens that a sudden attack of trembling appears and a strong “trembling” runs through the sternum and abdomen. This is inherent in some people, the reason is increased emotionality. In moments of shock or at the beginning of stress, the body shakes;
• Muscular tremors in the hands and knees are associated with fatigue from physical work, the reason may be a deficiency of essential minerals;
• The body and hands shake, usually in the morning, if there was an excess of alcohol or caffeine the day before. The reason is an overdose;
• Often the legs of pregnant women shake in the last trimester, this is caused by the load on the spine and the musculoskeletal system in general. The body often shakes during toxicosis - this is the main reason;
• Increased heartbeat occurs with some diseases of the cardiovascular system. The reasons lie in dystonia and heart failure. The heart begins to tremble and pound if an attack of fear begins or strong internal excitement arises;
• The eyelids and head tremble in excitement with signs of neurosis, migraine, during a nervous tic;
• Tension in the neck and back of the head is osteochondrosis or problems and causes associated with the spine;
• A child may experience trembling when he is nervous or afraid. Neurosis is fraught with nausea and muscle spasms. To calm the child’s nervous state, to find out the reason, the task of parents is especially important to induce calmness when falling asleep;
• During menopause, women often experience somatic disorders during attacks, and for this reason coordination suffers.

Diagnosis and treatment methods

Nothing just happens, and if a person experiences periodic discomfort that prevents him from living a normal life, the etiology and cause of the disease should be identified as early as possible. A comprehensive examination will help to understand why the body shakes and severe nervous tension occurs, leading to disorders in the form of buzzing, tremor or trembling.

For neurosis and other aggravating symptoms, the patient is referred to:

• For EEG, ultrasound and ECG - referred by a therapist or cardiologist;
• REG of vessels - vascular surgeon or attending physician;
• Echo - EG, MRI of the brain - the prerogative of a neurologist;
• For detailed laboratory examination of blood and urine tests.

You may need the help of a hematologist, endocrinologist, or psychotherapist; they are able to understand the cause and eliminate it.

The treatment course depends on the cause of the nervous condition based on:

• Sedatives;
• Vitamin and mineral complexes;
• Antidepressants;
• Hormonal drugs;
• Psychotherapeutic procedures;
• By eliminating the provoking factors, the cause of the trembling disappears.

Motherwort, hawthorn, valerian, peony and all sedative medicines are gentle folk remedies when the body is shaking.

Antidepressants are indicated when the body is shaking, but only after a doctor’s prescription for depression, due to anxiety and phobia. These include: Amitriptyline, Fluoxetine, Sertraline, Azafen.

Vitamins B, A, C, D, calcium, selenium, magnesium.

Important! Sports, yoga and meditation serve to protect the body from nervous disorders.

In this article, you will learn about the psychological mechanisms behind trembling and how to cope with it.

Tremor that occurs with excitement is a normal physiological reaction of the body to stress. Almost every person has at least once felt trembling in stressful situations: during exams, in driving school or during public speaking.

But some people experience tremors more often and more severely than others. When trembling in the hands becomes noticeable, it begins to cause inconvenience: it is impossible to calmly eat soup, it is difficult to write legibly, and change at the cash register tends to fall on the floor. Tremor becomes a disaster for those whose work involves small precise movements: for shooting athletes, surgeons and dentists. Some public figures, teachers and actors struggle with trembling in front of an audience.

It happens that shaking in the hands is accompanied by a shaking neck and head. Shaky legs bother many novice drivers, and a shaky voice bothers lecturers.

In my first year at the institute, I met Veronica. She was a slender, pretty, slightly shy girl. Every time she answered at the board, her hands were noticeably trembling with excitement. And during the exams, the trembling intensified and covered the whole body.

During one of the subjects, we were given the task of approaching a stranger on the street and asking him the question “How to get to the Kremlin?” It so happened that we went to complete the task together with Veronica. Already going outside, Veronica began to shake. And when we chose the “candidate” to whom we would ask our question, my head began to visibly shake. Despite this, Veronica completed the task.

On our way back, Veronica and I started talking. She told me about herself.

“I started getting tremors in my hands when I was nervous at the end of school. At first the hand trembling was almost unnoticeable. But one day a “kind” classmate laughed at his shaking hands. From then on, I tried to control my trembling. And the more I tried to control my body, the stronger the tremor became. Now, when I get nervous, my hands shake.”

We became friends with Veronica. When she went to psychotherapy, she shared her discoveries with me. What I learned from Veronica about tremor later helped many of my clients.

Main causes of tremor

If noticeable tremor is directly related to stress- this speaks of its purely psychological nature. This means there are two ways to deal with tremors. One of them gives a temporary effect - this is taking psychotropic drugs, the second gives a lasting effect - this is working with a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Very often trembling during excitement is associated with social anxiety(social phobia).

Sometimes the tremor is caused immediately several reasons, for example, both your genetics and your psychological reaction to stress.

If you doubt the psychological cause of hand tremors or are sure that there is a psychological cause as well another reason, then you should go to a neurologist.

The doctor will rule out a number of diseases and reactions that cause tremors. Here are some of them:

1. Response to physical activity;
2. Consequences of taking alcohol and drugs;
3. Reaction to drugs;
4. Genetic predisposition;
5. Parkinson's disease;
6. Consequences of traumatic brain injury, stroke or brain tumor;
7. Hyperthyroidism;
8. Liver or kidney failure;
9. Dystonia;
10. Polyneuropathy.

However, if tremor manifests itself specifically during communication, then you should consult a psychologist, even if you have determined that the cause of the tremor is a disease, a reaction to stress, or psychoactive substances.

What to do if your hands shake when excited?

1. Contact a psychologist or psychotherapist

Psychotherapy is the most reliable way to cope with tremors caused by anxiety. Psychotherapy may require a certain investment of time and money, but the results are stable.

1. See a psychiatrist

Psychotherapy does not give immediate results. Therefore, if you need to quickly cope with tremor, you should consult a psychiatrist for medications. When taking medications, hand tremors during anxiety decrease or disappear, but only while taking the medications.

1. Contact a neurologist

If you are not sure about the purely psychological nature of tremors, then you should make an appointment with a neurologist to rule out other causes of hand tremors during excitement.

1. Find appropriate self-help methods

Trembling is an ancient means of communication

There is an opinion among psychologists that trembling is an ancient adaptive mechanism.

Imagine a clan of ancient people. To survive in harsh conditions, they need to stick together. After all, alone there is little chance of building a reliable shelter, getting food for yourself and driving away large predators. In order for a group of people to stick together, excitement and aggression must be controlled. We need clear signals that will make it clear what is happening to a member of the community.

For example, two men stand opposite each other, and each wants to become a leader. The fact that their hands are shaking with excitement informs everyone around them that men are extremely excited, they can barely restrain themselves and their energy is about to splash out. This is a signal to others to “Move away!”

Each man mentally evaluates his strength and the strength of his opponent. One of them feels that he is stronger. Because of this, he perceives his trembling as aggression ready to manifest itself, he scares the opponent with his roar, he is preparing to fight. The other man is not sure of victory, so he perceives his trembling as a manifestation of fear, he will prefer not to get involved in a fight and will move away. Thanks to trembling, it was possible to avoid direct clashes and bloodshed.

Animals also have similar bodily signals; for example, cats’ tails twitch in stressful situations.

Why do my hands shake when excited?

Towards graduation, Veronica went to psychotherapy. And she told me about her discoveries about the causes of trembling.

1. Containment

In working with a psychologist, Veronica discovered that trembling was directly related to her restraint. It turned out that without realizing it, she was holding back her indignation, manifestations of fear, her anger and rage, her delight and excitement. The only hint of suppressed emotions was trembling. Over time, Veronica realized that there was no great need to keep all her reactions to herself. Psychotherapy taught her to be more spontaneous and open. This reduced Veronica's general anxiety, reduced bodily tension and freed up a huge amount of energy in Veronica, which had previously been spent on suppressing natural reactions. Veronica began to look more relaxed and calm.

The human body reacts in certain ways to stressful events. First, the brain and adrenal glands produce stress hormones. Hormones prepare a person for active physical action, and for this purpose the pulse quickens, the muscles become toned, the pressure rises, and the breathing rate increases. This is the so-called “fight or flight” reaction, which previously helped ancient man to be stronger, faster and more agile, and therefore helped him to survive.

If a person is forced to remain motionless during the release of hormones, tension grows inside him. It is this internal tension that manifests itself in the form of trembling. Suppression takes a colossal amount of energy. Holding back the trembling leads to increased tension, which means an increase in tremors.

Trembling is more pronounced in those people whose bodies react more strongly to stress. And also for those who are not used to being emotional, but strive to be restrained and rational.

1. Focusing

Veronica also said that if she pays attention to her hands, she asks herself the question “Are my hands shaking?” - this leads to trembling.

It turns out that there is such a rule: if you focus your attention on any part of the body, this leads to changes in how it works. You can conduct this experiment yourself.

Go to a quiet, peaceful place. Sit comfortably. Direct your inner gaze to the big toe of your left foot. Feel how your thumb touches your index finger as it touches the floor. If you are wearing shoes, feel them with your finger. Listen to the sensations in your finger - whether it is warm or cold, whether it is relaxed or tense, whether it is comfortable in the shoe. Focus your attention on the big toe of your left foot for 3 minutes, try to keep your attention on the sensations in it. After 3 minutes, describe how your finger sensation has changed since the beginning of the experiment. Most people feel the difference.

Focusing on the sensations in the hands and thoughts about trembling leads to increased tremors. Therefore, in stressful situations, transfer your attention to other things.

1. Fear of making a bad impression

Veronica told me that during therapy she realized how much she wanted other people to like her. She had an image of what an ideal girl should be. Deep down, she knew that she did not fit this image. She felt that if she relaxed, everyone would laugh at her, judge her, or reject her. In the process of working with a psychologist, Veronica decided that she was not $100 to please everyone. Now she is not afraid of ridicule from strangers. And as her fear diminished, so did her tremors.

With the fear of not being liked, a person feels like a small child. It seems that only those around you know what is good and what is bad. It’s as if there are all judges and prosecutors around. In fact, the toughest accuser is on the inside. As practice shows, people think only about themselves and rarely notice others. The thought is quite unpleasant: “No one really cares about me, except the people who are very close to me.” In addition to the fact that this thought quite accurately reflects reality, it helps to be a confident person.

1. Vicious circle

The thought that other people will notice the trembling makes it worse. A vicious circle is formed in which this thought causes fear of making a bad impression, which leads to the release of stress hormones. Hormones trigger the body's response to stress. When the fight or flight response is suppressed, tremors occur.

1. False Self

While working with a psychologist, Veronica discovered that she behaves the way other people want. She considered herself sociable and non-conflict. Gradually she began to realize that she was not really what she had thought before. Veronica realized that not all people liked her. I realized that I love solitude and walks in nature. Who prefers reading a good book to a fun party. She realized that sometimes she gets angry and wants to defend her interests.

As a rule, trembling is characteristic of those people whose parents and educators achieved ideal obedience (complete inhibition of natural reactions) in a variety of ways. Some were scolded in childhood, others were beaten, others were condemned or showered with contempt, and others were stopped from speaking as punishment. As a result, they hid their natural, spontaneous part deep inside themselves. Without realizing it, they began to show the False Self, and the Natural Self was imprisoned within.

Particularly severe trembling is characteristic of people with a stormy temperament, when they hide their strength and activity. Their irrepressible energy bursts out trembling.

Psychotherapy helps to identify and neutralize the psychological mechanisms of trembling.

How to deal with tremors on your own?

To get rid of hand tremors during anxiety, it is best to seek psychotherapy. But, if you don’t find such an opportunity yet, try following the following tips.

1. Reduce overall stress

To reduce overall tension, massage, yoga or Pilates classes, walks in the fresh air and swimming are suitable. You should get enough sleep, rest a lot and pamper yourself.

A lot of coffee, a lot of work, watching horror films and thrillers usually increase stress. Strive to resolve chronic conflicts and do not take on increased responsibilities.

Over-the-counter anti-anxiety medications can help reduce overall stress.

1. Master relaxation techniques

You can learn breathing techniques: diaphragmatic breathing, breathing for relaxation.

Learn progressive muscle relaxation techniques.

Practice autogenic training techniques.

Learn visualization and meditation techniques.

1. Burn off the adrenaline

Trembling occurs when stress hormones are released. They are needed so that a person gets a lot of energy - he can run fast and fight harder. You can “work out” adrenaline by walking briskly, climbing stairs, or squatting.

Or you can endure it, wait for the hormones to wear off. If you don’t overwhelm yourself with fears, then adrenaline is produced in 2-3 minutes.

1. Hot water

To stop trembling, soak your hands in moderately hot water for 2-3 minutes.

1. Hand exercises

Hand exercises reduce tension in them. It is done in 4 stages. Very tightly, to the point of a pre-convulsive state, clench your hands into a fist for 5 seconds. Relieve tension and observe how the feeling in your hands changes and how they relax. Then spread your fingers as far as possible for 5 seconds. Then release the tension and again observe how the sensations change. Repeat this cycle three to five times.

1. Exercise "Umbrella"

This exercise helps you stay calm when you are the center of attention, such as when speaking in public.

Imagine that you are holding a huge umbrella in your hands. This umbrella covers everyone present. Hold this umbrella confidently and firmly throughout your performance.

1. Ignore tremors

If you are afraid that people will notice the trembling, this increases it. So let your hands shake. In fact, not in all cases will people see your hands shaking, even if the shaking seems obvious to you. Remember! People are usually busy with themselves. And come to terms with the fact that they can see the tremors.

1. Increase trembling

Try to make your hands shake in the presence of observers. First, choose people who are safe for you, such as friends. Tell them: “Look how my hands are shaking!” Listen to what they say. Then do this exercise with people who are more distant from you, such as colleagues. Listen to them.

If self-help methods do not help you completely cope with tremors, consult a psychologist for psychotherapy.

Today we will talk about how to get rid of fear of a very different nature: fear of death, fear of animals or insects, phobia associated with illness, injury, death as a result of an accident, etc.

In this article, I will talk not only about techniques that will help you overcome fear, but also about how to properly relate to the feeling of fear and how to change your life in such a way that there is less room for anxiety in it.

I myself had to go through a lot of fears, especially during that period of my life when I experienced. I was afraid of dying or going crazy. I was afraid that my health would become completely unusable. I was afraid of dogs. I was afraid of so many things.

Since then, some of my fears have completely disappeared. I learned to control some fears. I learned to live with other fears. I've done a lot of work on myself. I hope my experience, which I will outline in this article, will help you too.

Where does fear come from?

Since ancient times, the mechanism of fear has performed a protective function. He protected us from danger. Many people are instinctively afraid of snakes because this quality was inherited from their ancestors. After all, those of them who were afraid of these animals and, as a result, avoided them, had a greater chance of not dying from a poisonous bite than those who showed fearlessness in relation to crawling creatures. Fear helped those who experienced it to survive and pass this quality on to their offspring. After all, only living things can reproduce.

Fear causes people to feel an intense desire to flee when they encounter something that their brain perceives as danger. Many people are afraid of heights. But they cannot help but guess about it until they find themselves high for the first time. Their legs will begin to instinctively give way. The brain will send alarm signals. The person will passionately want to leave this place.

But fear helps not only to protect yourself from danger when it occurs. It allows a person to avoid even potential danger wherever possible.

Anyone who is mortally afraid of heights will not climb onto the roof again, because he will remember what strong unpleasant emotions he experienced the last time he was there. And thus, perhaps protect yourself from the risk of death as a result of a fall.

Unfortunately, since the time of our distant ancestors, the environment in which we live has changed a lot. AND fear does not always meet our survival goals. And even if it answers, it does not contribute to our happiness and comfort in any way.

People experience many social fears that prevent them from achieving their goals. They are often afraid of things that pose no threat. Or this threat is negligible.

The chance of dying in a passenger plane crash is approximately one in 8 million. However, many people are afraid of traveling by air. There is no threat to getting to know another person, but many men or women experience extreme anxiety when being around other people.

Many quite ordinary fears can become uncontrollable. Natural concern for the safety of your children can turn into acute paranoia. Fear of losing your life or harming yourself sometimes turns into mania and an obsession with safety. Some people spend a lot of their time in seclusion, trying to protect themselves from the dangers that supposedly await them on the street.

We see that the natural mechanism formed by evolution often interferes with us. Many fears do not protect us, but rather make us vulnerable. This means we need to intervene in this process. Next I will tell you how to do this.

Method 1 - Stop being afraid of fear

The first tips will help you understand fear correctly.

You ask me: “I just want to stop being afraid of mice, spiders, open or closed spaces. Are you suggesting we just stop being afraid of fear itself?”

What reactions does fear cause in a person? As we found out earlier this:

1. The desire to eliminate the object of fear. (If a person is afraid of snakes, will he run away? when he sees them
2. Reluctance to repeat this feeling (The person will avoid snakes wherever possible, not build a dwelling near their lair, etc.)

Our instincts tell us these two reactions. A person who fears death in a plane crash will instinctively avoid airplanes. But if he suddenly has to fly somewhere, he will try to do everything so as not to feel a sense of fear. For example, he will get drunk, take sedative pills, and ask someone to calm him down. He will do this because he is afraid of the feeling of fear.

But in the context of fear management, such behavior often makes no sense. After all, the fight against fear is a fight against instincts. And if we want to defeat instincts, we should not be guided by their logic, which is indicated in two points above.

Of course, during an attack of fear, the most logical behavior for us is to run away or try to get rid of the attack of fear. But this logic is whispered to us by our instincts, which we must defeat!

It is precisely because during attacks of fear that people behave as their “guts” tell them, they cannot get rid of these fears. They go to the doctor, sign up for hypnosis and say: “I never want to experience this again! Fear torments me! I want to stop being afraid completely! Get me out of this!” Some methods may help them for a while, but fear can still return to them in one form or another. Because they listened to their instincts, which told them: “Fear fear!” You can only be free when you get rid of him!”

It turns out that many people cannot get rid of fear because they, first of all, strive to get rid of it! Now I will explain this paradox.

Fear is just a program

Imagine that you have invented a robot that washes your floors at home, including your balcony. Using the reflection of radio signals, the robot can estimate the height at which it is located. And to prevent him from falling off the edge of the balcony, you have programmed him in such a way that his brain signals him to stop if he is on the edge of a drop in height.

You left the house and left the robot to clean up. What did you find when you returned? The robot froze on the threshold between your room and the kitchen and could not cross it due to a slight difference in heights! A signal in his brain told him to stop!

If the robot had “mind”, “consciousness”, it would understand that there is no danger at the border of two rooms, since the height is small. And then he could cross it, despite the fact that the brain continues to signal danger! The robot's consciousness simply would not obey the absurd order of its brain.

A person has a consciousness that is also not obliged to follow the commands of his “primitive” brain. And the first thing you must do if you want to get rid of fear is stop trusting fear, stop perceiving it as a guide to action, stop being afraid of it. You need to act a little paradoxically, and not as your gut tells you.

After all, fear is just a feeling. Roughly speaking, this is the same program that the robot in our example executes when it approaches the balcony. This is a program that your brain launches on a chemical level (with the help of adrenaline, for example) after it receives information from your sensory organs.

Fear is simply a stream of chemical signals that are translated into commands for your body.

But your consciousness, despite the work of the program, can itself understand in which cases it is faced with a real danger, and in which situations it is dealing with a failure in the “instinctive program” (approximately the same failure that occurred with the robot when it could not climb over across the threshold).

If you experience fear, it does not mean that there is any danger. You should not always trust all your feelings, as they often deceive you. Do not run from a non-existent danger, do not try to somehow calm this feeling. Try to just calmly wait until the “siren” (“alarm! save yourself!”) in your head goes silent. Often this will simply be a false alarm.

And it is in this direction that you must move first if you want to get rid of fear. In the direction of allowing your consciousness, and not the “primitive” brain, to make decisions (getting on a plane, approaching a strange girl).

After all, there is nothing wrong with this feeling! There is nothing wrong with fear! It's just chemistry! It's an illusion! There is nothing terrible about experiencing this feeling sometimes.

It's normal to be afraid. There is no need to strive to immediately get rid of fear (or what this fear causes). Because if you are just thinking about how to get rid of him, you follow his lead, you listen to what he tells you, you obey him, do you take him seriously. You think: “I’m afraid to fly on a plane, so I won’t fly” or “I’ll fly on a plane only when I stop being afraid of flying,” “because I believe in fear and I’m afraid of it.” And then you keep feeding your fear! You can stop feeding him if only you stop giving him great importance.

When you think: “I'm afraid to fly on a plane, but I'll fly on it anyway. And I won’t be afraid of an attack of fear, because it’s just a feeling, chemistry, the play of my instincts. Let him come, because there is nothing terrible in fear!” Then you stop obeying fear.

You will get rid of fear only when you stop wanting to get rid of it and live with it!

Breaking the vicious circle

I have already spoken about this example from my life more than once and I will repeat it again here. I took the first step towards getting rid of panic attacks, as sudden attacks of fear, only when I stopped focusing on getting rid of it! I began to think: “let the attacks come. This fear is just an illusion. I can survive these attacks, there’s nothing scary about them.”

And then I stopped being afraid of them, I became ready for them. For four years I followed their lead, thinking: “when will this end, when will the attacks go away, what should I do?” But when I applied tactics in relation to them that were opposite to the logic of my instincts, when I stopped driving away fear, only then did it begin to go away!

Our instincts trap us. Of course, this thoughtless program of the body is aimed at making us obey it (roughly speaking, the instincts “want” us to obey them), so that we are afraid of the appearance of fear, and not accept it. But this only makes the whole situation worse.

When we begin to be afraid of our fears, to take them seriously, we only make them stronger. Fear of fear only increases the total amount of fear and even provokes fear itself. I personally became convinced of the truth of this principle when I suffered from panic attacks. The more afraid I was of new attacks of fear, the more often they happened.

My fear of attacks only fueled the fear that arises during a panic attack. These two fears (fear itself and fear of fear) are connected by positive feedback and reinforce each other.

A person engulfed by them finds himself in a vicious circle. He is afraid of new attacks and thereby causes them, and the attacks, in turn, cause even greater fear of them! We can get out of this vicious circle if we remove the fear of fear, and not the fear itself, as many people want. Since we can influence this type of fear much more than fear in its pure form.

If we talk about fear in its “pure form,” then it often does not have very much weight in the totality of fear. I want to say that if we are not afraid of it, then it is easier for us to survive these unpleasant sensations. Fear ceases to be “scary.”

Don't worry if these conclusions don't quite make sense to you, or if you don't quite understand how to achieve this attitude towards your fear. Such an understanding will not come immediately. But you will be able to understand it better when you read my following tips and apply the recommendations from them.

Method 2 - Think long term

I gave this advice in my last article. Here I will dwell on this point in more detail.

This advice may not help you cope with every fear, but it will help you cope with some anxieties. The fact is that when we are afraid, we tend to think about the very moment of realization of our fear, and not about what may await us in the future.

Let's say you're afraid of losing your job. It provides you with comfortable working conditions, and the salary at this place allows you to buy the things you want. The thought of losing her fills you with fear. You immediately imagine how you will have to look for another job, which may pay worse than the one you lost. You will no longer be able to spend as much money as you used to spend, and this makes you anxious.

But instead of imagining how bad you'll feel when you lose your job, think about what happens next. Mentally cross the line you are afraid to cross. Let's say you lose your job. Ask yourself what will happen in the future? Imagine your future over an extended period of time with all the nuances.

You will start looking for a new job. It is not at all necessary that you will not find a job with the same salary. There is a possibility that you will find an even higher paying position. You cannot know for sure how much you are willing to offer to a specialist of your level in other companies until you go to interviews.

Even if you have to work for less money, so what? You may not be able to frequent expensive restaurants for a while. You will buy cheaper food than you bought before, and prefer a holiday at your own or a friend’s dacha to a holiday abroad. I understand that now this seems scary to you, because you are used to living differently. But a person always gets used to everything. The time will come and you will get used to it, just as you have become accustomed to many things in your life. But it is quite possible that this situation will not last your entire life; you will be able to achieve a promotion in your new job!

When a child's toy is taken away, he stomps his foot and cries, because he cannot realize that in the future (perhaps in a couple of days) he will get used to the absence of this toy and other, more interesting things will appear. Because the child becomes a hostage to his momentary emotions and cannot think in the future!

Don't become that child. Think constructively about the things you fear.

If you are afraid that your husband will betray you and leave you for another woman, think, so what? Millions of couples break up and no one dies from it. You will suffer for a while, but then you will begin to live a new life. After all, any human emotions are temporary! Don't be afraid of these emotions. They will come and go.

Imagine the real picture in your head: how you will live, how you will get out of suffering, how you will make new interesting acquaintances, how you will have a chance to correct the mistakes of the past! Think about prospects, not failures! About new happiness, not suffering!

Method 3 - Be Prepared

When I'm nervous on a plane about to land, it doesn't help much to think about plane crash statistics. So what if disasters happen rarely? So what if getting to the airport by car is statistically more life-threatening than flying by plane? These thoughts do not save me in those moments when the plane begins to shake or it continues to circle over the airport. Any person who experiences this fear will understand me.

In such situations, fear makes us think: “what if I am now on exactly one of the eight million flights that should turn into a disaster?” And no statistics can save you. After all, unlikely does not mean impossible! In this life, everything is possible, so you need to be prepared for anything.
Trying to reassure yourself, like: “everything will be fine, nothing will happen,” usually doesn’t help. Because such exhortations are lies. But the truth is that anything can happen! And we need to accept it.

“Not a very optimistic conclusion for an article about getting rid of fear,” you might think.

In fact, everything is not so bad; willingness helps to overcome fear. And do you know what line of thinking helps me out on such intense flights? I think: “Planes really rarely crash. It is very unlikely that something bad will happen right now. But, nevertheless, it is possible. At worst, I'll die. But I still have to die someday. Death is inevitable in any case. It ends every human life. A catastrophe will simply bring closer what will happen someday anyway with 100% probability.”

As you can see, being prepared does not mean looking at things with a doomed look, thinking: “I’m going to die soon.” This simply means realistically assessing the situation: “it’s not a fact that a disaster will happen. But if it happens, then so be it.”

Of course, this does not eliminate fear completely. I'm still afraid of death, but it helps to be prepared. What's the point of worrying your whole life about something that will definitely happen? It’s better to be at least a little prepared and not think about your death as something that will never happen to us.
I understand that this advice is very difficult to implement in practice. And, moreover, not everyone always wants to think about death.

But people often write to me, tormented by the most absurd fears. Someone, for example, is afraid to go outside because they believe that it is dangerous there, whereas at home it is much safer. This person will have a hard time dealing with his fear if he waits for the fear to pass so he can go outside. But he may feel better if he thinks: “Even though there is danger on the street. But you can’t sit at home all the time! You cannot completely protect yourself, even if you are within four walls. Or I will go outside and expose myself to the danger of death and injury (this danger is negligible). Or I'll stay at home until I die! A death that will happen anyway. If I die now, then I will die. But most likely this will not happen in the near future.”

If people stop focusing so much on their fears, and can at least sometimes look them in the face, realizing that behind them there is nothing hidden except emptiness, then fears will cease to have so much power over us. We can’t be so afraid of losing what we are already going to lose.

Fear and emptiness

An attentive reader will ask me: “But if you take this logic to the limit, it turns out that if there is no point in being afraid of losing those things that we will lose anyway, then there is no point in being afraid of anything at all! After all, nothing lasts forever!

That's right, even though it contradicts ordinary logic. At the end of every fear lies emptiness. We have nothing to fear because all things are temporary.

This thesis may be very difficult to intuitively understand.

But I am not too keen for you to understand it on a theoretical level, but rather to use it in practice. How? I'll explain now.

I myself use this principle regularly. I'm still afraid of many things. But, remembering this principle, I understand that every fear of mine is meaningless. I shouldn’t “feed” him and get too carried away with him. When I think about this, I find the strength to not give in to fear.

Many people, when they are very afraid of something, subconsciously believe that they “should be afraid”, that there are really scary things. They think that no other reaction other than fear is possible in relation to these things. But if you know that in principle there is nothing to be afraid of in this life, since everything will happen someday, if you realize the meaninglessness, the “emptiness” of fear, if you understand that there are no truly terrible things, but only a subjective reaction to these things, then it will become easier to cope with fear. I will return to this point at the end of the article.

Method 4 - Observe

The following few methods will allow you to deal with fear as it arises.

Instead of giving in to fear, try simply observing it from the outside. Try to localize this fear in your thoughts, to feel it as some kind of energy that is formed in certain parts of the body. Mentally direct your breath to these areas. Try to make your breathing slow and calm.

Don't get caught up in your fear with your thoughts. Just watch how it forms. Sometimes this helps remove fear completely. Even if the fear doesn't go away, it's okay. By becoming a dispassionate observer, you begin to recognize your fear as something external to your “I”, as something that no longer has such power over this “I”.

When you observe, fear is much easier to control. After all, the feeling of fear forms like a snowball. At first you are simply scared, then all sorts of thoughts begin to creep into your head: “what if something bad happens,” “what is that strange sound that appeared when the plane was landing?”, “what if something bad happens to my health?”

And these thoughts fuel fear, it becomes even stronger and causes even more anxious thoughts. We find ourselves again inside a vicious circle!

But by observing the feelings, we try to get rid of any thoughts and interpretations. We do not feed our fear with our thoughts, and then it becomes weaker. Don't let your own mind increase fear. To do this, simply turn off thinking, evaluation and interpretation and go into observation mode. Don't think about the past or the future stay in the present moment with your fear!

Method 5 - Breathe

During attacks of fear, try to breathe deeply, taking longer inhalations and exhalations. Diaphragmatic breathing calms the nervous system and, according to scientific research, stops the fight-or-flight response, which is directly related to the feeling of fear.

Diaphragmatic breathing means that you breathe from your stomach rather than from your chest. Focus on how you breathe. Count the time of inhalation and exhalation. Try to keep this time equal for inhalation and exhalation and long enough. (4 – 10 seconds.) Just don’t choke. Breathing should be comfortable.

Method 6 - Relax your body

When fear attacks you, try to relax. Calmly move your attention over each muscle in your body and relax it. You can combine this technique with breathing. Mentally direct your breath to different parts of your body, in order, starting with your head and ending with your feet.

Method 7 - Remember how your fear did not come true

This method helps to cope with minor and recurring fears. For example, you are constantly afraid that you might offend someone or make a bad impression on them. But, as a rule, it turns out that your fear was never realized. It turned out that you had not offended anyone, and it was just your own mind that frightened you.

If this repeats over and over again, then when you again fear that you said the wrong things when communicating, remember how often your fear was not realized. And most likely, you will understand that there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of.

But be prepared for anything! Even if there is a possibility that someone is offended by you, then it’s not a big deal! Make peace! Don't make a big deal about what has already happened. Most of your own mistakes can be corrected.

Method 8 - Treat fear as a thrill

Remember when I wrote that fear is just a feeling? If you are afraid of something, it does not mean that there is any danger. This feeling is sometimes not reality, but is just a spontaneous chemical reaction in your head. Instead of being afraid of this reaction, treat it as a thrill, as a free ride. You don't have to pay money or put yourself in danger by skydiving to get the adrenaline rush. This adrenaline appears out of the blue. Beauty!

Method 9 - Accept your fear, don't resist

Above, I talked about techniques that will help you quickly cope with your fear at the moment it arises. But you don't need to get attached to these techniques. When people hear about ways to control fear or fear, they sometimes fall into the trap of believing in self-control. They start thinking: “Hurray! It turns out fear can be controlled! And now I know how to do it! Then I’ll definitely get rid of him!”

They begin to rely heavily on these techniques. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. And when people fail to cope with fear using these methods, they begin to panic: “I can’t control this! Why? Yesterday it worked, but today it doesn’t! What should I do? I need to deal with this urgently somehow! I have to manage this!”

They begin to worry and thereby only increase their fear. But the truth is that it's far away you can't always control everything. Sometimes these techniques will work, sometimes they won't. Of course, try to breathe, observe the fear, but if it doesn’t go away, there’s nothing terrible about it. No need to panic, no need to look for a new way out of the situation, leave everything as it is, accept your fear. You don't "have to" get rid of it at that moment. The word “should” does not apply here at all. Because you feel the way you feel now. What happens, happens. Accept it and stop resisting.

Method 10 - Don't get attached to things

The following methods will allow you to remove fears from your life

As the Buddha said: “the basis of human suffering (dissatisfaction, inability to achieve final satisfaction) is attachment (desire).” Attachment, in my opinion, is understood more as dependence than love.

If we are strongly attached to something, for example, we strongly need to produce an effect on the opposite sex, to achieve constant victories on the love front, then this will lead us into a state of eternal dissatisfaction, and not happiness and pleasure, as we think . Sexual feeling and self-esteem cannot be completely satisfied. After each new victory, these feelings will demand more and more. New successes on the love front will bring you less and less pleasure over time (“pleasure inflation”), while failures will make us suffer. We will live in constant fear that we will lose our charm and attractiveness (and sooner or later this will still happen with the advent of old age) and again we will suffer. At a time when no love affairs occur, we will not feel the joy of life.

Perhaps some people will find it easier to understand attachment using the example of money. While we strive for money, it seems to us that by earning a certain amount of money, we will achieve happiness. But when we achieve this goal, happiness does not come and we want more! Complete satisfaction is unattainable! We are chasing carrots on a fishing rod.

But it would be much easier for you if you weren’t so attached to it and were happy with what we have (it’s not necessary to stop striving for the best). This is what the Buddha meant when he said that the cause of dissatisfaction is attachment. But attachments not only give rise to dissatisfaction and suffering, they create fear.

After all, we are afraid of losing exactly what we are so attached to!

I'm not saying that you need to go to the mountains, give up your personal life and destroy all attachments. Complete release from attachments is an extreme teaching, suitable for extreme cases. But, despite this, a modern person can derive some benefit from this principle for himself without going to extremes.

To experience less fear, you don’t need to get too hung up on certain things and make them the basis of your existence. If you think: “I live for my work,” “I live only for my children,” then you may have a strong fear of losing these things. After all, your whole life comes down to them.

That's why try to diversify your life as much as possible, let a lot of new things into it, enjoy many things, and not just one thing. Be happy because you are breathing and living, and not just because you have a lot of money and are attractive to the opposite sex. Although, as I said above, the latter things will not bring you happiness.

(In this sense, attachments are not only the cause of suffering, but its consequence! People who are deeply unhappy inside begin to desperately cling to external things in search of satisfaction: sex, entertainment, alcohol, new experiences. But happy people, as a rule, are more self-sufficient. The basis of their happiness is life itself, and not things. Therefore, they are not so afraid of losing them.)

Affection does not mean absence of love. As I wrote above, this is understood more as addiction than love. For example, I have very high hopes for this site. I love developing it. If something bad suddenly happens to him, it will be a blow for me, but not the end of my whole life! After all, I have many other interesting things to do in my life. But my happiness is formed not only by them, but by the very fact that I live.

Method 11 - Nurture Your Ego

Remember, you are not alone in this world. The whole existence is not limited to just your fears and problems. Stop focusing on yourself. There are other people in the world with their own fears and worries.

Understand that there is an immense world around you with its laws. Everything in nature is subject to birth, death, decay, disease. Everything in this world is finite. And you yourself are part of this universal order, and not the center of it!

If you feel yourself in harmony with this world, without opposing yourself to it, and realize your existence as an integral part of the natural order, you will understand that you are not alone, that you, together with all living beings, are moving in the same direction. And this has always happened, forever and ever.

With this consciousness your fears will disappear. How to achieve such consciousness? It must come with the development of personality. One way to achieve this state is to practice meditation.

Method 12 - Meditate

In this article, I talked about the fact that you cannot identify yourself with your fear, that it is just a feeling, that you need to be prepared for anything, that you cannot put your own ego at the center of all existence.

This is easy to understand on a theoretical level, but not always easy to apply in practice. It is not enough to just read about it, it needs to be practiced, day after day, applying it in real life. Not all things in this world are accessible to “intellectual” knowledge.

The attitude towards fears that I spoke about at the beginning needs to be cultivated in oneself. The way to come to these conclusions in practice, to realize that fear is just an illusion, is meditation.

Meditation makes it possible to “reprogram” yourself to be happier and freer. Nature is an excellent “constructor”, but her creations are not ideal; biological mechanisms (the mechanism of fear) that worked in the Stone Age do not always work in the modern world.

Meditation will allow you to partially correct the imperfections of nature, change your standard emotional reactions to many things, move away from fear to calmness, come to a clearer understanding of the illusory nature of fear, understand that fear is not part of your personality and free yourself from it!

With practice, you can find the source of happiness within yourself and not have strong attachments to different things. You will learn to accept your emotions and fears rather than resist them. Meditation will teach you to observe your fear from the outside without getting involved in it.

Meditation will not only help you come to some important understanding of yourself and life. The practice has been scientifically proven to calm the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for feelings of stress. It will make you calmer and less stressed. She will teach you to relax deeply and get rid of fatigue and tension. And this is very important for people who experience fear.

You can listen to my short lecture on this by following the link.

Method 13 - Don't let fear dictate you

Many of us are accustomed to the fact that everyone around us just talks about how scary it is to live, what terrible diseases exist, they gasp and groan. And this perception is transferred to us. We start to think that there are really scary things that we “should” be afraid of, since everyone else is afraid of them!

Fear, surprisingly, can be a consequence of stereotypes. It is natural to be afraid of death, and almost all people are afraid of it. But when we see the constant lamentations of other people about the death of loved ones, when we watch how our elderly friend cannot come to terms with the death of her son, who died 30 years ago, then we begin to think that this is not just scary, but terrible! That there is no chance to perceive it any other way.

In fact, these things become so terrible only in our perception. And there is always the possibility of treating them differently. When Einstein died, he accepted death completely calmly, he treated it as an unchangeable order of things. If you ask some spiritually developed person, perhaps a religious ascetic, a convinced Christian or a Buddhist, how he feels about death, he will probably be calm about this. And this is not necessarily connected only with the fact that the first believes in an immortal soul, posthumous existence, and the second, although he does not believe in the soul, believes in reincarnation. This is due to the fact that they are spiritually developed and have tamed their ego. No, I’m not saying that we need to seek salvation in religion, I’m trying to prove that a different attitude towards those things that we consider terrible is possible, and it can be achieved along with spiritual development!

Don't listen to those who talk about how scary everything is. These people are wrong. In fact, there are almost no things in this world to be afraid of. Or not at all.

And watch less TV.

Method 14 - Do not avoid situations in which fear arises (!!!)

I highlighted this point with three exclamation points because it is one of the most important tips in this article. I briefly touched on this issue in the first paragraphs, but here I will dwell on it in more detail.

I have already said that the instinctive tactics of behavior during fear (run away, be afraid, avoid some situations) are the wrong tactics in the context of the task of getting rid of fear. If you are afraid to leave the house, then you will never cope with this fear if you stay at home.

So what should we do? Go outside! Forget about your fear! Let him appear, don’t be afraid of him, let him in and don’t resist. However, do not take it seriously, because it is just a feeling. You can get rid of your fear only when you begin to ignore the very fact of its occurrence and live as if there is no fear!

• To overcome your fear of flying on airplanes, you need to fly on airplanes as often as possible.
• To overcome the fear of the need for self-defense, you need to enroll in the martial arts section.
• To overcome the fear of meeting girls, you need to meet girls!

You must do what you are afraid to do! There is no easy way. Forget about what you “should” do and get rid of your fear as quickly as possible. Just take action.

Method 15 - Strengthen your nervous system

The extent to which you are susceptible to fear very much depends on the state of your health in general and the health of your nervous system in particular. Therefore, improve your work, learn to cope with stress, do yoga, quit. I have discussed these points in my other articles, so I will not write about it here. Strengthening your body is a very important thing in the fight against depression, fears and bad mood. Please don't neglect this and don't limit yourself to just "emotional work." In a healthy body healthy mind.

Conclusion

This article does not encourage you to immerse yourself in a world of sweet dreams and hide from fear. In this article, I tried to tell you how important it is to learn to face your fears, accept them, live with them, and not hide from them.

This path may not be the easiest, but it is the right one. All your fears will disappear only when you stop being afraid of the very feeling of fear. When you're done trusting him. When you don’t allow him to tell you what kind of transport to get to your vacation spot, how often to go outside, what people to communicate with. When you start living as if there is no fear.

Only then will he leave. Or he won't leave. But this will no longer matter much to you, since fear will become only a minor obstacle for you. Why give importance to little things?

Any threatening or uncomfortable situation mobilizes the body. This has been the case since ancient times, when in response to danger our ancestors reacted by choosing one of two things - fight or flight. It’s the same today - any unpleasant emotion, regardless of our will and desire, causes changes in the body that prepare it for defense or attack: muscles tense, heartbeat and breathing quicken.

But life in modern society does not allow attacking or running away; it requires people to show restraint and self-control. Their tension is not realized in active action, the body remains passive. Therefore, we can only wait for the excitement to gradually fade away. But if this state is habitual for a person, and anxiety, uncertainty, fear and anxiety are his natural experiences, then muscle clamps form in the body over time - islands of constant tension. They deprive you of freedom, do not allow you to completely relax and feel light and joyful.

Where do fear and anxiety settle?

Head

Fear, the desire to run away, to avoid punishment fetters the face and tightens the scalp in a ring. The jaws are clenched, the lips are pursed, the head is always lowered, pulled into the shoulders, as if the person wants to hide, hide. Emotions are poorly displayed, facial expressions are very limited.

Breast

Tension accumulates and constricts the chest - the shoulders rise and contract, as if in an attempt to protect themselves; the shoulder blades are constantly brought together, the neck muscles are constantly compressed. Breathing is shallow, shallow.

Back and legs

Anticipation of an attack leads to muscle pain and causes diseases of the lower spine, osteochondrosis, problems with the joints of the legs and feet.

Do you have such fear clamps?

Take the test:

1. Take off your shoes, sit upright on the edge of a chair, bend your knees at right angles, and place them on a scale—mechanical, not electronic.
2. Look how much your legs weigh? If it's about 15-20% of your body weight, everything is fine, if more, you're sitting incorrectly, check your posture again.
3. Then start the test. Slowly, without helping yourself with your hands, rise from the chair, standing on the scale (your feet are on them from the very beginning), and follow the arrow.

If she “jumped” and showed weight more than yours by:

• 15-20 kg – you have muscle tension like any average person;
• 30-40 kg – your muscle shell is quite large and this is an alarming symptom!

Correction of the condition and removal of the shell

Body-oriented psychotherapy offers a huge number of techniques for breaking muscle blocks. Many of them can be used at home.

For example, the same exercise with weights - do it every day until, when you step on the scale, the needle stops bouncing and your weight is closer to normal. This way you will learn to move freely, gracefully and easily, and at the same time relieve your body of tightness.

Eye exercise– open them as wide as you can; rotate from side to side; look down, up and diagonally - 2 minutes each.

Breathing exercises:

1. With a partner who will press on the chest as you inhale or exhale. This type of breathing requires effort and relaxes the tightness in the chest area;
2. On your own: take an intense breath and at the same time open your eyes and mouth wide, then exhale calmly and relaxed.

Movement exercises – 10-20 minutes daily (until you get very warm and sweaty):

1. Dance: freely, spontaneously, with wide movements of all parts of the body. You can jump, shake your head, the main thing is to move without stopping.
2. Shaking: like trembling, shaking the whole body. Stand up and relax your neck, torso, arms and legs. Imagine yourself as a rag doll with strings that someone randomly pulls. This causes your arms and hands to dangle, your head to dangle, your neck to rotate freely, your legs and entire torso to shake.

Do these exercises regularly and over time you will free yourself from stiffness and fear, feel at ease and be calm in the most stressful situations.