Sara Bareilles stems from a months -long attack of acute fear.
The singer, songwriter and Broadway star has been struggling with the situation for years. She had done well enough to stop taking Lexapro, an antidepressant, she said. Then a good friend died and she started rocking down.
“The bottom fell out and I could no longer find the surface,” said Mrs. Bareilles on stage on the New York Times Well Festival Last week in Brooklyn.
Mrs. Bareilles spoke on a panel about life with fear, alongside Dacher Keltner, a professor in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. It was moderated by Dan Harris, the host of the “10% happier” Podcast-Die, as he told the audience, perhaps the best known to have had a “coke-driven panic attack on” Good Morning America “.
“If you google the panic attack on television,” you can see it yourself, “he said.” It’s the number 1 result. “
None of the panel members claimed to have conquered fear. But they shared some of the strategies that helped them cope.
Focus on action.
Mr. Harris welcomed the openness of Mrs. Bareilles about her recent struggles. It is good that our culture speaks more openly about fear than ever before, he added.
“But one of my criticism is that we – especially in social media – tend to wallow in suffering,” said Mr. Harris. He wanted people to turn to the “many, many things you can do about it.”
Mrs Bareilles agreed and noted that those with fear – including themselves – can ‘wear’ the diagnosis as a sort of identity.
It is not easy or easy to move forward, the panel members agreed. Dr. Keltner described fear as “one of the most difficult circumstances to overcome.”
Yet Mr Harris said as a leading principle that he reminded himself: “Action absorbs fear.”
Be willing to experiment.
Different coping mechanisms work for different people. Mrs Bareilles said that she trusted in therapy, medication, meditation, exercise and “a lot of and much human connection.” (An attempt to self -mediate with the medicine that was MDMA a fiascoshe said.)
Dr. Keltner, who said he had his first panic attack at the age of 30, sought comfort in music, meditation, pick -up basketball and time in nature.
“The best thing you can do outside the social connection is to come out,” he said, adding that research shows: “Clouds and air and light and the sound of water and the smell of spring come in your nervous system and calm it all.”
Mr. Harris has been in conversation therapy for years, he told the audience and he uses exposure therapy To manage the panic attacks, he experiences on airplanes and in lifts. He and his therapist “go in New York City and try to find the most diabolical lifts” and to ride them together, he said.
“I really believe that people should do what works for them,” said Mr. Harris.
Cultivate mindfulness.
The speakers emphasized the role of mindfulness and meditation in their own lives. It can help to start small, just do a few minutes here and there, Mr. Harris said.
He has built up a second career as an evangelist for meditation, but he acknowledged that practice may not resonate with everyone. Meditation can even serve to stack the fear of some people.
“If you try to relieve or reduce stress, adding a stressful item to your task list seems to be counterproductive,” said Mr. Harris.
So what should you do? Find something that can help you use a feeling of calmness and aweDr. Keltner encouraged the audience.
For example, music can offer a real sense of peace, he added. This way visual art can be done.
Dr. Keltner recently tried one New York Times Focus ChallengeSpending 10 minutes watching Van Gogh’s ‘Starnight’, he said. He noticed that he was torn when he took on the painting.
“There are many ways to meditate,” he told the audience.
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