It amazes me sometimes what people are afraid of. Humans can sometimes be
afflicted by the most bizarre phobias imaginable. Sometimes it seems like
they can barely live any semblance of a normal life because they are so
affected by, for example, fear of being outside or in large crowds.
  How can people deal with fear? I've often felt that fear in itself is a
good thing, because it exists for a reason; We are afraid of things like
spiders and snakes for our own protection (as long as it does not extend
beyond reasonable limits, such as fear of going outside lest you be bitten by
a spider or eaten by a bear). But there are fears which simply cannot be
borne. They get in the way so much that they impede our functionality. What
can we do about it? Is there a way to cure a fear?
  I believe there is. But the sad part is that people usually take the wrong
approach. People are afraid of fear. The saying "We have nothing to fear but
fear itself" holds some truth. When you run from a fear, you only prolong it.
You may be able to avoid it for a while, but it will still be there.
  So what else can you do? You can face it. And as anyone who has ever done
it can tell you, this is the only real way to cure a fear: Go towards it,
inside it, and experience what it is that makes you afraid. Facing your
terror makes you realize that it is nothing to be afraid of. It is only once
you've experienced it that you can know this. This is the cure.
  As a common example, imagine someone who is attracted to someone else, but
afraid to admit or show it. What is the usual course of action in these
cases? Simply to remain silent. And so the unspoken attraction lives on, the
person running from the fear of asking someone else out. As long as this
continues, the attractee will probably always be an awkward, shy sort of
person. On the other hand, what happens to people who brave their shyness and
simply go out and ask for a date? Whether the answer be yes or no, that
person will have gained a lot of confidence. They will have gone a long way
toward curing their shyness. And the next time, they will almost certainly
have less trouble dealing with it.
  Would that more people could realize this. If more people could face their
fear instead of just avoiding it, life would be an easier place to live.