A phobia can be defined as a fear not based in reality. When a person has a phobic attack, they get panicky feelings; their respiration and heart rates increase; they may experience feeling choked up like their heart is in their throat; the palms of their hands often get sweaty; they may experience a ringing in their ears; and they often find that they are unable to partake in an activity. These feelings motivate the individual to avoid the situations and environments that cause them.



Specific Examples Of Phobias:

For instance, if someone has a fear of driving, they would display these symptoms whenever they endeavor to drive, or maybe even when they just think about driving. Or a freight attack may perhaps take place only when driving in certain places like in heavy traffic.

Stage freight is a fairly widespread phobia. The panicky feelings appear when the person tries to talk in front of a person that they are intimidated by, or they may experience fearful feelings only in front of an assembly of people. The size of the crowd may vary. This fear can be triggered by fears of inadequacy, or a lack of self-esteem.

Those who suffer from social anxiety disorder can get very worried just being around other folks, even folks that they know. It's a fear that they will be criticized or evaluated by other people. This fear can be triggered in almost any kind of social interaction. A person could be standing on line at a variety store and get panicky feelings as they think about having to talk to the cashier during checkout.

The fear of test taking (which is frequently known as test anxiety) is quite a common phobia. Phobias to taking tests are rooted in comparing yourself to other folks, and is deeply rooted in a fear of failure.

People have experienced irrational fears to every type of situation under the sun. For example: Snakes; bugs; relationships; flying; small enclosed places; animals; high places; death; and even the great outdoors.

Agoraphobia is generally considered to be a fear of open spaces. However, this definition is quite deceptive because Agoraphobics are really afraid of having a panic attack, wherever they are. Agoraphobia develops when a person begins to avoid places or situations they have associated with anxiety. For example, they could have a panic attack at home, church, or in a gas station.

For many, once the panic attacks have started, they begin to anticipate them to occur. And this expectation actually triggers them with increasing frequency. Other folks experience fearful feelings on a continuous basis. These feelings cause an overall discomfort, rather than panic.

Forms Of Treatment That Are Available:

Drugs:

Some physicians care for their patients with sedatives, which can make the phobia worse over extended treatment. Sedatives do not treat the underlying origin of a phobia; they only disguise some of the symptoms.

Talk Therapy:

Some counselors advocate "Talk Therapy." Talk therapy is merely talking about what is bothering you. Unfortunately, thinking about or talking about the situation or environment that triggers a phobia can trigger a phobic attack!

Hypnosis CDs:

Traditional hypnotherapy has been used to treat phobias, but with only meager success. Traditional hypnotherapy is accomplished when the hypnotist guides the subject into a relaxed state of self-hypnosis and gives him post-hypnotic commands or suggestions. Since most people of our generation question and resist direct suggestions, they also reject the belief that they will be more relaxed and at ease when they encounter the situation or environment that triggers their panic attacks.

Systematic Desensitization:

Systematic Desensitization is the practice of gradually desensitizing a phobic person to the condition or environment that triggers a phobic attack. For instance, if a person wanted to dive from a high board but fears it, she is asked to first dive from a height that she feels confident about. She dives in and realizes that she didn't get hurt and that she is secure.

The next thing she is asked to do is to dive in from the lowest step of the ladder going up to the high diving board. Again, she dives in and realizes that she was not hurt and that she is safe.

Over a period of time the subject is asked to dive in from gradually higher and higher steps on the ladder. Each time she dives in and realizes that she didn't get hurt and that she is safe and sound, she is able to move up to the next rung of the ladder. If she experiences fear, then she's asked to move back down one rung on the ladder and dive from there until she feels complete comfort and security. In the end she makes it to the top of the ladder and is able to dive in from the high board itself.

Systematic Desensitization While In The State Of Hypnosis:

Systematic Desensitization can be done virtually while in a hypnotic state with as good as or even better results. While in a relaxed hypnotized state, the woman would be asked to visualize herself diving in from each step on the ladder. She would be asked to see herself feeling confident as she dives in. Since she is actually disassociated while seeing herself, she is not able to experience a panic attack.

Next she's asked to associate, in other words to put the camera inside of her head so she would see what she would see through her own eyes if she was actually diving in from each step of the ladder. She is asked to imagine feeling safe and relaxed as she dives in.

Just as in a live (in vivo) systematic desensitization, if she feels any panic she's asked to go back to the previous lower step on the ladder and imagine diving in from there.

The phobic might be taught to create a kinesthetic (feeling or touch) "anchor" of feelings of safety and security. She could then activate that anchor while imagining that she's diving, and the feelings of security and safety could be subjectively transferred to the act of diving.

Systematic Desensitization while in self hypnosis can be incredibly effective and totally successful, but is can also be slow and take several hypnotic sessions to bring about a cure.

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) V/K Disassociation:

NLP is basically the study and practice of how we create our reality. The V/K stands for visual / kinesthetic. The V/K Disassociation is a method that allows a trained NLP Practitioner to guide a subject through specific visual imagery that quickly and in many cases instantly disconnects or disassociates the feelings of horror from the phobia that causes them. The V/K Disassociation is known as the "One session phobia cure" in NLP circles, and with good reason.

Conclusion:

Phobias are common in our culture. They are fears that aren't based in reality. There are many treatments for phobias, but so far in my estimation, the best treatments are Systematic Desensitization while a hypnotic state, and the NLP V/K Disassociation technique.