/adv/, is it bad to think about things that scare u? i struggle

>>17430785
Yeah, it's bad. Face your fears, it's the only way you can be free of them.

>>17430994
how do i do that tho? without thinking about them?

Thinking about them isn't good but actually facing your fears is better. If you're afraid of heights, it's only feeding the fear when you think about how scary it is to be up high.

>>17431074
my fears rnt something i can physically face tho. fear of fear p much, dunno how to face that

>>17430785
Just entering the discussion. Call me A.

The thing with the objects you want to approach is that there is no possibility of actually translating them in an experience, and - here comes the plot twist - not even with thoughts! They are raw energy, pure instinct, and they have their own survival as a top priority.

You can never really face them. No one can. Our only way of dealing with "IT" is assuming some posture that allows you to be passive towards it, without confusing this passiveness as a way of life.

It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

>>17431241
well how do u become passive towards thoughts without being passive about life?

>>17431289
A thought is something at the same time delicate and raw.

I try to take that thought and remember it of all the things it didn't take into consideration. A thought is, per se, unfinished. Immature.

It only brings forth one aspect of its own subject. I always try to welcome a thought and reason with it. Temper it.

A thought is dreamy. It forgets several aspects. Take a dream as an example. The most real of dreams ignores several things. Gravity, breathing, time, heat, alterity, and so on. You must complete the equation. And that takes work.

Analyze your thought, and suggest all the things it is missing. Breathe, and remember other cardinal points. A thought is, frequently, just one affirmation that aspires to be final. And that is never the case with affirmations.

>>17430785
overthinking it is bad. pushing it away can get to be a habit that's not good either.

what I do is, when I catch myself thinking about shit that scares me, I try to make that thinking into something productive. if I'm gonna be thinking about it anyway, might as well make it useful. so if for example I'm scared about something that might happen in the future, I start coming up with contingency plans. makes me feel better if I know I have my bases covered. or, I try to examine where the fear comes from. thinking about it in an abstract way seems to help. or, I'll google "fear of (whatever I'm scared of)" and read some articles about it. sometimes it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

I guess you could classify some of those things as confronting it. if my therapist were here she'd recommend feeling the fear, paying attention to the bodily sensations of it, and then doing calming stuff like an affirmation or bilateral stimulation or something to ratchet it down a notch or two. to me, that would be the most direct way of confronting it. doesn't make it go away right away, but it does help train you to calm yourself so you don't have to run away from it.

if nothing else, if I'm too tired to fuck with all that and just need a break from it, then I will do something to distract myself. only thing with that is, I've found that that cycle of anxiety and distraction makes my procrastination problem worse. so I'm still searching for solutions to that. regardless though, sometimes you really can't do much else about it except ride it out.

>>17431332
i think for me, the problem is that this does really work when u feel so disconnected from urself. i feel empty of thought, but anxiety is in the periphery of my mind, if that makes any sense

also random addition but i often find myself stuck in this limbo of almost feeling okay, then i get freaked out about feeling okay. like, how can i feel fine right now when i wasn't feeling fine before? what's different? what if i don't feel fine again? and thoughts like that make me not feel fine again.

>>17431410
Yes, you tend to think.

That's ok on my book.

This other anon gave a great idea:
>>17431332
Bilateral exercise.

That's two things for you to think about. One of them is knowing that it works. The second, pondering why it does work.

And that's how thought goes.

>>17431323
You.re smart, thanks. (not the same anon you were taking to)