 Don't
even think about it...
You may have noticed that on
this page I have not tried to represent the subject, phobia, with a
picture. The reason for that is quite simple, no matter what phobia I
tried to represent it could cause a phobic response in
someone with that particular phobia. (I hope no-one has a question mark
phobia!)
That's the problem with a
Phobia, the sufferer doesn't have to be presented with the actual source
of their phobia for the reaction to occur, a representation will do, or
even talking about it or thinking about it can trigger the reaction.
Fear vs Phobia
We're all frightened of
something at some time in our lives and some fears are necessary for our
survival as they protect us from putting ourselves into dangerous
situations. From an early age we learn to fear things that are dangerous
to us and this kind of fear is manageable and controllable, we understand it and
live with it - it comes and it goes and we forget about it.
The fear associated with a
Phobia is different in that it usually seems to serve no purpose and it
invariably stops the sufferer from leading a normal life, often
preventing them from doing things that they want to do because of their
need to avoid whatever it may be.
It can be so intense that the
mere mention of the object of their fear can cause them to recoil in
horror. The Phobic will display all the physical symptoms normally
associated with the terror of a life threatening situation even though
the object of their fear is invariably far from being an actual danger
to life and limb.
Why Phobia?
Although the source of
people's phobias will differ from person to person the phobic response
is usually caused by a faulty survival mechanism. Usually the
unconscious mind is trying to protect the individual from something that
it thinks is dangerous.
This can be learned behaviour
or it can arise from some incident or trauma in the past. Sometimes
these may arise out of childhood experiences or fears.
Whatever the cause, the
result is the same, terror.
What can be done?
As with most of the problems
discussed in these pages Phobia is rooted in the unconscious part of the
mind and this is the area of the human mind particularly open to
Hypnotherapeutic intervention.
Even though many people find
living with their Phobia a real problem they are still wary about
seeking treatment because they believe they will be made to confront
their fear head on. This is not true of Hypnotherapy.
There are a number of very
effective Hypnotherapy techniques that can be used to treat Phobias and
all of these are gentle and sympathetic to the sufferer's
condition. It is in fact an area which is usually very responsive to
Hypnotherapy treatments regardless of how the Phobia developed in the
first place.
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