Why bother treating a phobia? People with untreated anxiety disorders may be more susceptible to other psychological disorders such as depression according to the American Psychological Association. The group also notes that relationships with family members, friends and coworkers can be strained, and job performance can suffer when a person's anxiety disorders are left untreated.

Two thousand years ago, the Roman philosopher and playwright, Seneca, said, "Nothing is terrible in things; except fear itself"

All fears can be overcome. The key to achieving this is first being able to be strong enough to admit to ourselves, then others that we HAVE a fear. This is where many people can falter because they may be either too embarrassed or too proud to admit that they are afraid of certain things.

Sometimes fear can be viewed as a sign of failure and weakness, however it is more courageous to admit your fears than to deny or avoid ever having these feelings. Fear is a natural human emotion and is in built in us as a way of protecting ourselves; therefore it is perfectly normal to be afraid.

Acknowledgement of fear puts you into position to gain control. You are ready to turn the fear into a positive and constructive force by counteracting it with action. Robert Louis Stevenson said, "You cannot run away from weakness; you must sometime fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now and where you stand?"

How? The only way there is - facing it! Oh, it's hard and it takes a long time. Trustworthy people must be found to help - people who won't get impatient or misunderstand. They're few and far between. And there's failure - lots of failure. But each failure means a small step on the way to success because a failure is a step ahead of avoidance!

There's something else that's happening, too. All the time you're challenging fear with action, you are developing problem solving techniques. You're learning a skill that can be applied to your 'life after fear'! And there's going to be a lot of that once you make the decision to challenge your condition.

We all have problems to solve - at every stage of our lives. From infancy to old-age, we face uncertainties and must apply ourselves to solving the problems those uncertainties bring. Once you learn problem solving techniques, you have an ability that can become the basis for all kinds of success.

As we have said, you need to find a trustworthy person to help you face fear. Only share your fears with people you trust. They can help you by sharing their own thoughts and assisting you in working through your feelings.

After admitting your fears, the next step is to work through and analyze them. There is a reason for everything that happens in life, as there are reasons why we fear certain things. Fears need to be knocked straight on the head and dealt with if we are to have any peace of mind, and can be done by locating the root of the problem. Once you can establish what is causing your fear, the easier it will be to solve the problem.