Help With Fears and Phobias

Article by Paul and Denise Douglass

Fears and Phobias

Whatever your particular fear, or phobia, this page will go some way to explain how phobias are created, and perhaps more importantly, how hypnosis and hypnotherapy can help. 

If your particular fear or phobia isn't mentioned on this page, don't worry, it's just that they can't all be listed.

Fears

A fear is an unpleasant reaction we feel when confronted with real danger. it is an essential 'fight or flight' instinct, which makes us prepare to either run away from that danger, or stick around and fight it out.

Phobias

A phobia on the other hand (while still a very strong and unpleasant reaction), is an irrational fear which has been 'symbolically attached' to an object, or situation, which causes little or no real danger.

There will usually be strong avoidance behaviour connected with the phobia, which will run alongside intense feelings of anxiety, loss of control and panic. 

Sometimes, confrontation with the phobia, can even lead to fainting, but this is usually only associated with blood, injury, or needle-type phobias.

Specific phobias

Specific phobias can be categorised into five main types:

Animal: such as rats/mice, spiders, insects, snakes, flying creatures, dogs, cats and reptiles.

Natural Environment: such as water, thunderstorms, heights, fire, and the dark.

Blood / Injury /Needles: such as injections, the sight of blood, dentistry, surgical operations, or other invasive medical procedures.

Situational: such as flying, lifts, driving, tunnels, bridges, enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), or being sick. 

These fears relate to a fear of being trapped and unable to get away.Other: such as illness, germs, choking, vomiting.

Complex phobias

As well as the specific phobias, there are also the complex phobias of a phobia / social anxiety, and agoraphobia (the fear of open spaces). These can also be very distressing and debilitating, in a wide range of situations.

What causes phobias?

Phobias are often caused in childhood, where the child experiences a real fear, but the mind manages to detach (or repress) the feeling of terror, from the situation that caused it.

This leaves the mind with a strong fear, and nothing to attach it to. The mind doesn't like it this way, and will therefore, symbolically attach this fear, to a real object or situation that it does know about, be it a spider, an enclosed space, a lift... whatever it may find.

Whenever the person now comes into contact with the object or situation (say, a spider), they feel the fear that the subconscious mind has associated with it. and they have a 'phobia'.

Sometimes, however, phobias can develop after experiencing something. 

The initial sensitising event, or triggering incident, may vary from witnessing, for example, an accident, visiting the dentist's office, or even just hearing about terrible disasters.

Or, a child may model their behaviour on that of their role model who has a phobia in their own right, and as a result, this can cause the child to become phobic as well. 

An example of this, would be a child who became terrified of thunderstorms, simply because the mother was frightened of them and acted in a terrified manner, or hid herself away, whenever a storm raged overhead. 

The child would quickly have picked up on the mother's fear, absorbed and formed a learned behaviour pattern, and thus developed a conditioned response.

How to overcome a phobia

The one thing we'd like to say right from the start, is don't worry, you CAN overcome a phobia when you know how.

What we've found over the years, is that there are a few simple techniques that you can use to overcome a phobia.

Sometimes, people who have a phobia can often feel quite out of control and negative about things, because it can sometimes feel like they're stuck with it, and there's nothing that can be done about it (which of course there is!).

So the first thing to understand if you're looking to get over your a phobia, is that that there IS something that can be done, and even that in itself can help you feel a bit more in control right from the start.

Sometimes, it might feel like people are judging you negatively because of your a phobia, and so overcoming a phobia can also have the added bonus of feeling less judged.

So, as we say, don't worry... we've found over the years, that there are a few simple techniques that you can use to overcome a phobia... you CAN overcome a phobia when you know how... it just might be that you need someone to show you how!

Next: What techniques can you use to overcome a phobia?

Common phobias.

Some very common phobias are:

• dental phobia / fear of dentists
  
• flying phobia / fear of flying
  
• snake phobia / fear of snakes
• emetophobia / fear of being sick
  
• button phobia / fear of buttons
  
• spider phobia / fear of spiders
  
• commitment phobia / fear of commitment
  
• driving phobia / fear of driving
  
• a phobia
• fear of public speaking

Click here to see a more complete list.

Get in Touch... We're Here to Help!

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(You can also E-Mail us at mail@avonhypnotherapy.co.uk)

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