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We experience fear when we encounter something dangerous or painful, or even just something new.

Many fears are rooted in incidents from the past.

If a fear is irrational, then it can be a good idea to overcome it in an imaginary way.

Fear can be a burden, but it can also be a lifesaver. After millions of years of evolution, our brains are engineered to experience fear when we encounter something dangerous, something painful, or even just something new.

Without this healthy protection, human beings might go around eating poisonous foods, walking into traffic, and trying to pet untamed animals—all without even thinking about the consequences. Fears that keep us from doing those things are what we call healthy fears.

The trouble is, many fears are not so healthy. If your fears are shaping your decisions in an unhelpful way, making you feel sick, or keeping you from doing good and positive things you want to do, you can deal with them so you can get on with the life you want to live.

The first step is asking, Is what I’m afraid of scary and dangerous? Or is it maybe just scary? If something is both, you can probably identify a way it’s a threat to your well-being. For example, walking along the edge of a cliff in flip-flops is both scary and dangerous—you feel fear because you could trip, fall, and get hurt.

But what if a situation is just scary? For example, walking into a new workplace might give you a feeling of fear almost as intense as you felt on the cliff. But it does not pose a danger to your health or well-being.

If your brain doesn’t sort fears into the ones that are dangerous and the ones that aren’t, you can help it learn the difference using some of the following effective techniques:

Know that you have tools and abilities you can use and control to........

© Psychology Today