The mind is like a spring. You push it, you press it, you resist it, you apply force against it, and it only gets more power and energy from your very action.

And so, applying resistance against some pain-inflicting mind content, a fear, a distress, wishing to get rid of it in this way, you achieve the opposite. The spring is not backing off at all by your move, on the contrary, it gets more force and pushes back.

Instead of fighting it, live the spring aside and just watch it, watch it loose. Respect it and accept it. But also, see it begging you to push it, even a little bit, so that it gets some strength, see its protest of being left aside feeble, inactive and thus bored to death (not only literally).