Stress Management Tactic - Familiarity breeds contempt

To tackle a difficult situation, we need the confidence and courage to handle and resolve it. Stress, fears and anxieties take away our confidence and courage. In a state of panic, it’s difficult to solve problems. I don't try to be brave under such situation. I look at my fears from a position of weakness and have a mental tactic which tricks my mind and gives it the strength and confidence to rise above the panic to try and figure out some solution to my fears or at least give me a good coping mechanism to live with my fears without being in a state of panic. This tactic is effective and starts delivering results within a week or 10 days.

The tactic of managing my fears is based on a concept called familiarity breeds contempt. 

extensive knowledge of or close association with someone or something leads to a loss of respect for them or it.

The tactic is simple

• Build an extensive knowledge of your fear
• Associate closely with your fear
• Over a period of time it leads to a loss of respect for the stress, fears and anxieties

The way to execute on this tactic is

• This is an everyday practice
• Choose a quiet place to do this exercise
• Think deeply about your fear
• Write about your fear on a piece of paper
• It has to be on a piece of paper not typed on your phone / computer
• Describe the fear in great detail
• Describe in detail how it creates scare and panic in your life
• Describe in detail how it has already damaged you
• Describe in detail how it could damage you in the future
• Do this exercise everyday
• If some new insight about the fear comes then great or else keep writing the same thoughts everyday

The way it works for me is that it tricks the mind in the following way

• The ego of the fear is inflated
• The fear feels that a lot of importance is being given to it
• This is in contrast to the normal behavior of avoiding our fears
• I feel that after writing it out, the fear bothers you less for the rest of your day given that you have already acknowledged it by writing about it
• Writing about your fears for the first few days is difficult. Think of it as giving a daily salute to someone you are scared of.
• After the first few days you realize that you have no new ways to describe your fears and become bored of writing the same stuff again and again
• Imagine you becoming bored of your fear
• This is where some magic starts to happen
• The fear is not resolved, the stress has not gone away but the panic created by it starts reducing
• As the panic created by the fear starts reducing it gives you the confidence and clarity to come up with some solutions
• Even if you are unable to find a solution at least you learn to live with it with lesser amount of panic

 I cannot scientifically prove whatever my experiences have been. It has worked for me. Maybe it works for someone else.