The Home Page Network

On this Home Page broadcast, licensed clinical social worker Tyler Benelli from the Laurel Health Centers joins our Mansfield senior anchor/correspondent Deb Bastain and me to discuss overcoming fears that impair healthy life functioning.

Over the past two years, fear has come to the forefront as we maneuvered through the COVID19 maze. Many of us were fearful of getting the virus or concerned about loved ones contracting the illness. Some of the fears were legitimate, while others made us feel insecure about the future.

Tyler talked about the good fear of slowing down when you hear an ambulance coming your way. Fear can actually keep us safe. There can be harmful fear like irrational fears that impair our functioning. This type of fear causes us to avoid things we want or should do. Tyler said, ” When fear is left unchecked it can cause some harm. I think we have all experienced the physical symptoms of fear that can range from increased heart rate, shaking, feeling a lot of adrenaline, and stress in the body. And when we experience that over a sustained period of time that can be harmful.”

Tyler mentioned some tools we can use to navigate fear to a positive outcome. (Listen to the video presentation!) He also said that the most important thing is getting out there and facing our fear, whatever it may be. It is called exposure. You can do that by yourself or with a friend you trust. It would be best if you looked for ways to face it!

A personal note from Sara: I went swimming with family and friends this past summer. I learned to swim in my sixties, thanks to Mindy Van Kirk. My son, grandson, and friend Karen jumped off the diving board. They encouraged me to jump! I had not done that since I was a kid, and I did not remember doing it then either! So they all encouraged me to do it, and I finally did! Then as I was swimming over to the edge to get out, I realized as a kid I could not swim well enough to get to the ladder…I am so thankful I faced that fear!

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt