April 19, 2026
When we are faced with a dangerous situation our brains and bodies do a few specific things.
Physiological Reactions: Auditory exclusion, Perceptual narrowing, Time distortion, Awareness lapse, Loss of fine motor skills, Hyper‐vigilance persisting after event
Cognitive Reactions: Memory loss, weakened concentration and judgement, Confusion, Racing thoughts, Sense of being overwhelmed, Problem solving skills decrease,
Understanding what your body will do is very helpful when facing stress or fear. We sometimes forget that there are more kinds of fear than just the fear of immediate danger. We also experience fear of a situation or potential problem. Maybe you have experienced fear of taking a test or fear of being in a certain situation. Just as facing immediate danger causes mental and physical responses that limit our ability to perform long term anticipatory fear does a similar thing.
Fear is an important emotion that can make us aware of danger. The problem comes if we let fear dominate our decision making. We can get ourselves in a lot of trouble if we are not able to find ways of taking time to clear our heads and think calmly and carefully about the things we are afraid of before making a decision.
Here are some strategies that may help:
- Know yourself and you limits, learn to say I am not thinking clearly now and walk away from a situation or problem. James warns us we should be slow to speak and slow to anger (Jms 1:19-20)
- Get some help, talk with someone you trust to be a good listener and to be objective. Often just the act of talking out what is in our heads will do the trick. The wise man said Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Eccl 4:12)
- Know the facts, human imagination is notoriously unreliable and will often inflate a situation that is not such a big deal when examined in light of accurate data. Test all things hold fast to that which is good (I Thess 5:22)
- Prayer and scripture reading Ps 1:2
- Relaxation techniques like tactical breathing or progressive muscle relaxation will be useful to many people (check the links for full descriptions of these techniques).
- Writing down what is bothering you, this allows you to state it clearly and ties into two of the points above getting facts and talking things out. Remember all truth is God’s truth and must be the driving force behind our believes and behaviours. (Jn 17:17)
- Planning to deal with the things that is bothering you helps you to feel some sense of control and can give you the confidence that you can handle whatever it is your worried about.
~ Kevin Cleary