Hypnotherapy for Phobias – How Does It Work?
Ever wondered exactly what a phobia is? Well, a phobia is often defined as an anxiety-based condition, as an ‘extreme or irrational fear of an animal, object, place or situation’.
Fear & Phobias
Fear is a natural response to emotional and physical danger. If it wasn’t natural for us to feel fear we wouldn’t be able to protect ourselves in times of real threat or danger. However we often fear situations that don’t pose any threat or danger to our lives, we let this kind of fear take hold of us, this can sometimes be triggered by bad experiences or past trauma and for some people it is very difficult to stop these feelings of constant fear.
Phobia is much more than a simple fear; phobia comes under the umbrella of anxiety disorder and is the most common of all anxiety disorders affecting an estimated 10 million people in the UK. Phobias can develop when you find yourself organising your life around the issue that you are afraid of and avoiding all contact with the issues which could be anything from flying, places, animals, objects or a specific situation. For some people the thought of coming into contact with their phobia can cause severe distress and panic attacks.
Phobias can often develop into much more than just simple fears. This happens when for some reason the anxietybecomes stronger. Then a person may begin to reorganise their life to ensure they avoid their fear. This can become a real problem and eventually lead to severe limitations in lifestyle. Don’t let a phobia hold you back!
It’s important to realise that phobias only appear irrational to our conscious mind. They are driven by oursubconscious mind which makes them difficult to control or understand. The good news is thathypnotherapy for phobias allows us to unlock those subconscious causes.
Signs of having a phobia If you have a phobia, you will attempt to avoid all contact with the source of your anxiety. Coming into contact, or even the thought of coming into contact, with the cause of your phobia will make you anxious and may cause you to panic. Symptoms of this anxiety may include:
- Trembling
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Headaches
- Racing heart
- Blushing
- Palpitations
- Difficulty talking
Types of phobias A recent survey by Anxiety UK estimates 13 per cent of adults will develop a phobia during their life with the most common being of spiders and snakes. Phobias are extremely common and range from the less well-known i.e. asymmetriphobia (fear of asymmetrical things) to the more commonly recognised dentophobia (fear of dentists).
If the cause of a phobia is an object or animal, such as snakes (ophidiophobia) or spiders(arachnophobia), and contact is rare, it is unlikely to affect day-to-day life. Some common examples of specific phobias are enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), wasps (spheksophobia) or a fear of flying(aerophobia). Hypnosis Cures Flying Phobia – Daily Express.
A more general or social phobia, however, such as agoraphobia (fear of open spaces and public places), may make leading a normal life much more difficult. Social Phobia is extreme anxiety and discomfort in social situations. Fear of being watched and judged by others is overwhelming and although those suffering are aware that they are acting irrationally, they are unable to control and overcome their fears. Social phobia can vary from fearing just one situation to fearing all situations involving other people. Social phobia also usually begins in childhood or adolescence. Social phobias are often treated successfully with hypnotherapy for phobias.
How Does Hypnotherapy for Phobias Help?
Understanding how hypnotherapy for phobias works is easier when we realise that phobias often begin early in an individual’s life. Early experiences often help to create phobias and this means that it can often seem that phobias run in families.
How do they form? Think of what associations a small child will develop when they first come across a spider – they may well hear a friend or family member screaming at the sight. With no other knowledge or experience of the creature, the sight of a spider has then become associated with the pre-existing fear of a loud noise. This fear will then reappear whenever a spider is sighted – however irrational this reaction seems to be. And as a bonus, each time that reaction is repeated, the association is reinforced and becomes more and more powerful.
This is just one way that a phobia can form. Other sources of fear can be associated just as easily as we get a little older. Read more about the connection between early experiences and how phobias form.
Hypnotherapy for phobias can help to identify the root cause of the phobia, breaking the association and therefore changing the emotional reaction to the particular object or situation they once feared in a calmer manner when encountering it in the future. Phobias are displaced fears and because they are not rational, they can be dealt with.
Some phobias require a new behavior to replace the ‘irrational, reactive’ behaviour. For example, a calm response to being on an aeroplane would replace a panic attack. This can be done quickly and easily with hypnotherapy for phobias. Other phobias are more deeply rooted in our earliest experiences, and may require a little more hypnotherapy work to get to the root cause and change.
Remember that phobias are nothing more than sub-conscious responses to perceived threat and the subconscious is where they are best dealt with, hence why hypnotherapy for phobias is so effective.
