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PHOBIA LIBRARY

Read up on fear, panic and phobia to get a general overview of phobias and trauma and fear management. Learn mindfulness based self care principles and exercises for managing phobias from my books on trauma and self care.
JUMP TO A CHAPTER
​Fear | Function | Thought | Treatment | Coping
For Help See: Fear in the Brain | Fear Dictionary
THE LIBRARY TOPIC HOME PAGES
​​Introduction to Trauma, Fear and Phobia
Part 1: ​Defining Fear and the Fear Response
Part 2: Emotional & Cognitive Functions of Fear
Part 3: Maladaptive Thought Processing
​Part 4: Professional Therapy & Mindful Self Care
​THE PHOBIA COLLECTION DOWNLOADS
​Browse Collection of Phobias by Topic
Download Collection of Phobias
Download Dictionary of Fear and Phobia
Download Self Care Guides for Coping

PART FOUR - TREATMENT​
​​TREATMENT OPTIONS
MINDFUL SELF CARE
​ Learn the cognitive treatment options for self care centered in mindfulness, common defense mechanisms, boundaries, stressors, and strategies for coping with anxiety and panic for fear
TREATMENT | THERAPY | SELF CARE

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DOWNLOAD THE SELF CARE GLOSSARY

TREATMENT DIRECTORY

>> Treatment Home Page - Disclaimer
​
​PROFESSIONAL THERAPY OPTIONS
Make the Best of Professional Therapy
Search for Medical Professionals (external)
Therapy Options
​INCORPORATING SELF CARE OPTIONS
​SELF CARE: Defining What It Really Means
Core Elements of Mindfulness ​Mindful Coping Strategies ​Self Care is not a substitute for professional therapy and treatment. Author is not a medical professional.

​RELATED SELF CARE GUIDES BY KAIROS
​View All Downloads
​ALL CONTENT PROVIDED BY MY BOOKS ON MINDFUL SELF CARE FOR TRAUMA AND FEAR
Download for Free Here

SELF CARE

Tips for Awareness & Focus
​MINDFULNESS PRACTICE

The beauty of self care centered in the meditative practice of mindfulness. Learn mindful coping mechanisms for managing anxiety, panic and fear.
Mindfulness practice is self care for the health and well-being for the mind, body and soul.
​
PRACTICE CHANGES BRAIN STRUCTURE
MINDFULNESS PROMOTES HEALING

MINDFUL SELF CARE DOWNLOADS

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THE MINDFULNESS GLOSSARY
Promote a Mindful Approach to Self Care
Guide to Learn the Principles of Mindfulness
​ Companion Glossary of Mindfulness Terms
Collection of Mindfulness Poetry by Kairos​
Understanding and Coping With Stress

EFFECTIVE MINDFULNESS


​MINDFUL ACCEPTANCE OF FEELINGS
Your emotions and feelings determine how you experience and interact with the world. They drive your actions and behaviors. They are deeply integrated within you and your emotions could still be guided by the beliefs of your childhood learned from caretakers, teachers, and religious fellowships. This becomes problematic with childhood trauma that develops into Complex PTSD. But from a normal adult emotional state, these emotions don’t fit a person anymore. From a C-PTSD brain those emotions continue to linger and influence your feelings today. Your life, decisions, and actions are shaped according to old and irrelevant feelings developed in your formative years and it leads to an unhappy, fear-based PTSD existence.

Awareness of your feelings and self-reflection through mindfulness can help you interrupt this cycle. It is suggested that most of your emotions are determined by how you interpret events to yourself.

​MINDFUL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
As tempting as it may be to try to focus your mind elsewhere, the healthiest way to deal with a panic attack is to acknowledge it. Try not to fight your symptoms but keep reminding yourself that they will pass.

MINDFUL AWARENESS
A grounding technique based in mindfulness practice is recognition and awareness. Notice 5 things you can see around you. Then, 4 things you can touch. 3 things you can hear. 2 things you smell and finally 1 thing you can taste. When you stay grounded in what’s going on around you, it distracts your mind and lessens the fear.

MINDFUL UNDERSTANDING Understand what’s going on. You are having a panic attack. By recognizing that you’re having a panic attack instead of a heart attack, you can remind yourself that this is temporary, it will pass, and that you’re OK. When you realize that it's unlikely to hurt you, that you are in a flashback and not repeating the traumatic event, and that it only lasts a few minutes then you can redirect your focus to calming strategies.

Describe your symptoms to yourself, allowing yourself to feel them so you can let them go. Instead of judging your symptoms, just acknowledge them. Remind yourself that this is simply a sympathetic nervous system response that will soon pass. The first thing people tend to do is try to fight their symptoms and judge themselves for having them. Be with your symptoms and try to quiet your thoughts. That's the best way to start gaining control of the panic attack without trying to get rid of it right away. Just be with your experience in the moment. When the effects have faded away, remember you have survived, and you are resilient.

MINDFUL ASSURANCE
Panic attacks feed on thoughts of “what if.”
  • What if I’m not safe?
  • What if I get hurt?
  • What if I die?
Acknowledge each fear, then shift focus to logic. Recognize that you are in a flashback and not re-experiencing your past trauma.
Try directly addressing the fear. Practice a go-to response or mantra like “I am not afraid” or “This will pass.” Mentally shift “what if” to “it’s not real.” Repetitive assurance will help trigger the release of cortisol to ease the effects of the attack.

MINDFUL BREATHING
While hyperventilating is a symptom of panic attacks, deep breathing can reduce symptoms of panic during an attack. If you’re able to control your breathing, you’re less likely to experience the hyperventilating that can make other symptoms and the panic attack itself worse.

MINDFUL EXAMINATION
H.A.L.T. stands for HUNGRY, ANGRY, LONELY, TIRED.
When you are triggered remember HALT and ask yourself “Am I hungry? Am I angry?” If you can pinpoint the cause from that you can start resolving it. Practice awareness everyday to make sure your needs are met so you won’t be triggered by these events as easily.

MINDFUL CALMING
One breathing exercise for calming you down is a 5-2-5 count.
Using the stomach (not the chest) inhale (feel your stomach come out, as opposed to your chest expanding) for 5 seconds.
Hold the breath for 2 seconds.
Then slowly exhale, over 5 seconds.
Repeat this cycle twice and then breathe 'normally' for 5 cycles (1 cycle = 1 inhale + 1 exhale).
The focus will be on the breathing and it will relax the heart rate. Regular diaphragmatic breathing may be achieved by extending the outbreath by counting or humming.

MINDFUL SENSES
Focus on the sensory sensations you are familiar with, like the touch of the cotton fabric of your shirt on your skin. Or the sound of the chirping birds in the yard, these specific sensations ground you firmly in reality and give you something objective to focus on. Deep, controlled breathing will help you calm yourself down when you feel on edge with attack symptoms coming on.

MINDFUL RELAXATION
When you feel a panic attack coming on (or are in the middle of one) mindfully focus on each muscle and tense it and then relax it. Repeat this for each muscle until your whole body is relaxed. Focus on how the muscle feels to flex and how it feels to release.

MINDFUL PRESENCE
When fear scrambles your mind, rate it on a scale of one to 10 every few minutes. This keeps you in the present moment. It’s also a good reminder that you’re not on a 10 the whole time.

MINDFUL MANTRA
Repeating a mantra internally can be relaxing and reassuring, and it can give you something to grasp onto during a panic attack. Whether it’s simply “This too shall pass,” or a mantra that speaks to you personally, repeat it in a loop in your head until you feel the panic attack start to subside.
Read more on Mantras

MINDFUL FOCUS
Some people find it helpful to find a single object to focus all their attention on during a panic attack. Pick one object in clear sight and consciously note everything about it possible. Describe the patterns, color, shapes, and size of the object to yourself. Focus all your energy on this object, and your panic symptoms may subside.

MINDFUL VISUALIZATION
Imagine. What’s the most relaxing place in the world that you can think of? A sunny beach with gently rolling waves. A cabin in the mountains. Picture yourself there and try to focus on the details as much as possible. Imagine breathing in the scent of pine in the clean forest air. Imagine dipping your toes into warm waves of the ocean.

YOU CAN MASTER MINDFULNESS.
All you have to do is breathe.
Quick Links to the Elements of Mindfulness
This content is provided for informational purposes only. Author is not a medical professional. Talk to your doctor to determine what therapy is right for you.
Self care techniques are meant to supplement professional treatment not replace it.
PRIME DIRECTIVE OF THE LEARNING LIBRARY

BROWSE PHOBIA COLLECTION​
​Phobia collection is presented in eight themed parts
​VIEW LIST INDEX or ​JUMP TO A PART
PART [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ]

PHOBIA COLLECTION BY TOPIC

common ~ abstract ~ ordinary ~ bizarre ~ catastrophic ~ psyche ~ icky - academic ~ knowledge ~ education ~ literary ~ art ~ music ~ religion ~ political ~ law ~ order military ~ war ~ discrimination ~ science ~ chemical ~ energy ~ time ~ numbers ~ technology ~ nature ~ environment ~ astronomy ~ weather ~ geography ~ people ~ family ~ community ~ anatomy ~ medical ~ disease ~ emotions ~ senses ~ sensations ~ movement ~ conditions~ love ~ relationships ~ sexuality ~ lifestyle ~ places ~ events ~ objects ~ clothing ~ tools ~ vehicles ~ home ~ cooking ~ food ~ entertainment ~ sports ~ recreation ~ toys ~ games ~ monsters ~ characters ~ spooky ~ nightmares ~ delusional ~ joke ~ fiction
​​DOWNLOAD PONDERING THE PHOBIA
​Now Available for​ Download for Offline Reading
All the phobias in one download. Browse by both topic/subject and by alphabetized list
Download/Share: http://bit.ly/ponderingphobia

​OTHER PHOBIA AND FEAR DOWNLOADS:
​Dictionary of Trauma, Phobia and Fear
Self Care Guides for Fear & Phobias​
Library articles provided by my series Healing the PTSD Mind ​ and my series on mindfulness based self care Be Mindful Be Well​. The books are written from a trauma perspective. Content applies to fear, phobias and panic. Learn self care treatments with mindfulness techniques.
BE MINDFUL. BE WELL.
​Books copyright 2021 by By Kairos
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