A Scaredy Cat’s Guide To Coping with Halloween Anxiety
A self-proclaimed Scaredy Cat's survival skills to make the spooky season less "trick" and more "treat"
Taylor Koonce is a therapist, an artist, a lover of all things cozy, and a crazy cat mom. Her core values as a counselor and a person are empathy, curiosity, and authenticity.
The Halloween season is as well known for its sweet treats as it is for its frightful thrills. Unfortunately, for those of us who prefer a pumpkin spice latte to the headless horseman, Halloween can be a time of increased stress and anxiety. As a self-proclaimed Scaredy Cat, I’ve created a list of survival skills to help make the spooky season less ‘trick’ and more ‘treat’.
Haunted Houses
While haunted houses are one of the most infamous Halloween activities, they also can be downright terrifying. If you want to reduce the heart-racing effects of a haunted house, try these easily accessible grounding skills. The below skills can be done discreetly while walking through a haunted house, on a haunted hayride, or in any other ghoul-filled attraction.
5 Senses Grounding
The five senses grounding skill helps shift your focus from the scary stories running through your head and grounds you to your environment. By directing your attention to the sensations of your body, you can better survive each jump scare.
★ List five things you can see - What do they look like?
★ Find four things you can touch - What do they feel like?
★ Listen carefully for three things you can hear - What do they sound like?
★ Find two things you can smell - What do they smell like?
★ If possible, find one thing you can taste - What does it taste like?
★ Be specific in your descriptions and take a deep breath after each count
Since haunted houses are designed to be as overstimulating as possible, this skill might make some people feel more anxious. In the case that your haunted house is too frightening to ground into, you can alternatively picture a space that makes you feel safe and describe the more pleasant sensations you would experience there.
Humming Your Favorite Song
Oftentimes the simplest coping skills can be the most effective. Humming encourages slower breathing, which may help your body move from wanting to run out of sight to calming delight.
★ Pick a song that you know well and brings you comfort (Thriller? The Monster Mash?)
★ Hum the entire tune of the song out loud or under your breath
★ If needed, you can also tap the beat of your song on your palm or wrist
★ Repeat the song or hum a new song until you survive the spooky attraction
Horror Movies
My least favorite Halloween tradition by far is watching scary movies. I would much prefer to sip hot cider while watching Hocus Pocus than tremble in fear behind my popcorn watching Scream. If you share my love for cozy over spooky, but find yourself in a scary movie situation, here are some tricks and treats to keep you from screaming in the theater.
Double Inhale
If you actually find yourself about to shout during a scary movie, a breathing technique called a double inhale will be your best friend. The double inhale, also known as a physiological sigh, has been shown to help slow breathing, slow heart rate, and hopefully stop a scream in its tracks.
★ Take a deep breath in through your nose
★ Instead of releasing the breath, take a second, sharp inhale to completely fill your lungs
★ Slowly breathe out and let go of the entire breath
★ Repeat 1 - 3 times or as needed when creepy music starts playing in the movie
Emotional Freedom Technique (Tapping)
The Emotional Freedom Technique, also known as tapping, combines gentle tapping and acceptance statements which some people find help them tolerate distress, promote mindfulness, and reduce negative thoughts. The following steps are a version of this technique that anyone can easily partake in during a scary situation. With this coping skill you will tap your way away from anxiety and anything going bump in the night.
★ Identify the emotion you are experiencing in this moment and rate it 1 - 10
★ Choose a calming affirmation to say to yourself about your emotion (potentially “I am very very scared, but I am safe”)
★ At a slow pace, begin tapping one or two fingers on the side of your opposite palm 5 - 7 times while repeating the above phrase
★ Move the tapping rhythm from your palm to: the top of your head, the beginning of your eyebrow, the corner of your eye, below your eye, under your nose, your chin, your collarbone, then your side under your arm
★ Take a deep breath and rate your identified emotion from 1 - 10 again
★ Repeat tapping cycle and phrase repetition if needed
In the end, don’t forget that Halloween is supposed to be fun! If you do not want to partake in the scary side of things, you don’t have to. This can be a fantastic opportunity to practice communicating your needs and setting a boundary.
There are many Halloween activities you can do with your loved ones that do not involve trembling in fear. Carving pumpkins, baking Halloween treats, and making Halloween crafts are some of my go-to Halloween plans. No matter what you decide to do for Halloween, these coping skills will have you saying “I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts!” in no time.
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