Phobia’s are an irrational fear which is inappropiately intense or without a good reason and can lead to avoidance and have a crippling impact on someone’s life. They can be of objects (e.g. snakes or mice), experiences (e.g. heights, crowded places or driving), or ideas (fear of germs). Phobias don’t generally diminish over time as the sufferer will go to great lengths to avoid the object or situation which frightens them.
A phobia can develop about anything, be irrational and leave a person terrified. Both fear and phobias are characterised by an emotional and physical response to the individual response to who is perceiving the danger/threat. Physical symptoms of anxiety or the ‘fight or flight’ response occur including increased heart rate, breathing and pulse rate, sweating, trembling, muscle tension, dizziness, ‘butterflies in stomach’, dry mouth and difficulty in swallowing. This fear response is an innate reaction, it’s purpose is to protect you from real danger ie, fear of fire and a fear becomes a phobia when our reaction is out of proportion to the real level of danger in the situation. Phobias are far more common than people realise, it’s estimated up to 18% of the population have some kind of irrational phobia:
Here are 10 of the most common phobias:
Arachnophobia (fear of spiders)
Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes)
Acrophobia (fear of heights)
Agoraphobia (fear of open/crowded spaces)
Social Phobia (fear of social interactions/situations)
Claustrophobia (fear of enclosed/narrow spaces)
Aerophobia (fear of flying)
Cynophobia (fear of dogs)
Trypanophobia (fear of needles)
Glossophobia (fear of public speaking)§§5678a
How can I help?
The good news is phobias can be successfully treated and overcome, often it is the avoidance which is making the fear or phobia worse and Cognitive Behavioural hypnotherapy is a very effective treatment. By changing your thoughts and behaviour around your phobia we can break the vicious cycle of avoidance/fear. We can use exposure therapy, a gradual repeated exposure to your phobia, with relaxation, imagery and desensitisation techniques to help you take back control of your life. As Nelson Mandela said:
"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
I offer a free 20 minute consultation, if you have any questions or are still unsure how I can help please feel free to contact me via phone or email.
