Alert us to the doom: Friday the 13th is just around the corner.

If you’re used to this day being unlucky, you’re probably right – but that doesn’t mean it’s not all in your head.

According to a behavioral health expert, much of what we perceive as bad luck depends on our mindset, and changing the way we approach the day could be the key to making it a lucky day this year.

Friday the 13th has long captured the cultural imagination. The fear of this date is as great as its history; There are even two terms to describe the phobia: Paraskavedekatriaphobia and Friggatriskaidekaphobia, respectively.

But does belief in unhappiness lead to this?

Dr. Anna Costakis, a New York-based behavioral health specialist at Northwell Health, agrees.

“Our mindset is powerful. When we are told that “crazy things” happen during a full moon, we notice them because we expect them. The same goes for Friday the 13th,” she told The Post.

Costakis points out that superstitions are based on confirmation bias, the human tendency to interpret evidence as confirmation of existing beliefs.

“People interpret things through the lens of what they are looking for. On Friday the 13th, you look for things that went wrong as confirmation of what you already assume will happen that day, which then only reinforces the negative state of mind you are spreading.

“This puts us in a fearful and negative situation where we expect the negative to happen and pay attention to the negative happening instead of actively turning it into the positive.”

Very superstitious? Think like Taylor Swift

Research into superstitious beliefs has found that people rely on superstitions in stressful situations to create the illusion that they are in control of the outcome.

While superstition and confirmation bias can easily lean towards the negative and fearful, Costakis claims that a positive bias can lead to a sunny view and experience of Friday the 13th.

“We have the ability to change the way we think about something like Friday the 13th by really using that confirmation bias to our advantage and believing, ‘This is going to be a great day,'” she said .

Approach the day with a rose-colored lens and Costakis assures that everything you encounter can reinforce the good vibes.

Costakis credits Taylor Swift, who turns 35 this Friday the 13th and counts 13 as her favorite number, with renaming the bad luck. By frequently painting the number 13 on her hand and openly discussing the role it plays in her success, Swift has influenced her die-hard fan base and a new generation of superstitious people to view Friday the 13th as a good omen.

“This shift in perception highlights how our mindset can focus on the positive by recognizing good things and making the day a blessing,” Costakis said.

Recently, psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen shares that repeating this eight-word morning affirmation can promote a sense of peace and defeat negative thinking.

To target happiness and put bad juju in the background, Costakis suggests taking positive affirmations a step further.

“I think that one way to find your own happiness is to imagine positive things and not all the doom and gloom surrounding Friday the 13th superstitions.” It’s mostly your vision of your reality that matters manifested because that’s what you’re looking for,” she said.

But what about the whole story of the unfortunate Friday the 13th?

Historically, Friday the 13th has been the scene of all sorts of ugliness, including, among others, the arrest and subsequent massacre of the Knights Templar in 1307, the bombing of Buckingham Palace in 1940, the murder of New Yorker Kitty Genovese in 1964, and the Death of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.

Costakis says that these events are random and that our grouping is another example of negative confirmation bias.

“You could pick any other day and then look through all of history across all the decades and find negative things that also happened on that day. It is the lens we look through and we can find anything that justifies it,” she noted.

Costakis explained that some are more prone to fear and superstition than others.

“Anything can cause a phobia or the obsessive and anxious thoughts that someone gets stuck on. If the general culture is already worried about something, and then you apply it to someone who is already pretty anxious to begin with, it can tip it over the edge.”

How to Make Friday the 13th Happy

For those looking to step back from that edge, Costakis has some tips.

“For anyone who has difficulty doing the things they would normally do on Friday the 13th, there are things that can turn their luck around and make them less anxious,” she said.

She suggests that easily frightened people lean toward positive bias and grounding distraction techniques.

“Whatever it is, this will help put it out of her mind. Go exercise. Spend time with friends. Do what you need to do to free yourself from the swirling thoughts of anxiety.”

Costakis added that she has patients who can’t imagine committing to anything on Friday the 13th for fear that something could go terribly wrong. For these people, confronting fear is the only way out.

“My recommendation is exposure therapy. The more you can surrender to this fear, the more you can prove the opposite of all the negative thoughts that are building up in your head.”