subject: Phobia - What They Are And How You Can Eliminate Them Using Hypnosis [print this page] DEFINITION AND SYMPTOMS OF PHOBIAS: A phobia is defined as a fear not based in a real situation. When a person experiences a phobic attack, they get worried feelings; their breathing and heart rates raise; they may feel choked up like their heart is in their throat; their palms may get sweaty; they may hear a ringing in their ears; and they may find that they are unable to partake in an activity. These feelings push the individual to avoid the situations and places that trigger them.
SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF COMMON PHOBIAS: For instance, if an individual has a fear of driving, they would display these symptoms at the time they make an effort to drive, or probably even when they just think about driving. Or a terror attack may well take place only while driving in certain places like in heavy traffic.
The fear of talking in front of a group of people is a comparatively common phobia. The phobic feelings appear when the sufferer attempts to talk in front of a person that they are frightened by, or they might well have alarmed feelings only when in front of an assembly of people. The number of people in the crowd can vary. This fear can be set off by fears of inadequacy, or a lack of self-confidence.
Those who suffer from social phobias can get horrifically stressed 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 type of social dealings. A person could be waiting on line at a variety store and get phobic feelings as they imagine having to talk to the checker as they checkout.
The fear of taking tests (which is universally known as test anxiety) is quite a common phobia. Testing phobias are rooted in comparing yourself to other folks, and is deeply rooted in a fear of failing.
People have experienced irrational fears to every type of experience under the sun. For instance: Bugs; animals; snakes; high places; flying; small enclosed places; and even the great outdoors.
Agoraphobia is generally considered to be a fear of open spaces. However, this definition is very ambiguous because Agoraphobics are really afraid of having a panic attack, wherever they may happen to be. This phobia is developed when a person begins to avoid places or situations they have associated with anxiety. For example, they could have a panic attack at the drycleaners, at home, or at a supermarket.
For many phobics, once the panic attacks have begun, they begin to wait for them to occur. And this anticipation actually triggers them with increasing frequency. Other folks experience fearful feelings on a continuous basis. These feelings cause an overall sense of discomfort, rather than panic.
FORMS OF TREATMENT AVAILABLE
DRUGS: Some doctors treat their patients by means of sedatives, which can make the condition worse over protracted treatment. Sedatives don't treat the underlying root of a phobia; they only mask some of the symptoms.
TALK THERAPY: Some counselors advocate "Talk Therapy." Talk therapy is simply talking about what is bothering you. Unfortunately, thinking about or talking about a situation or environment that triggers a phobia can trigger a panic attack!
HYPNOTHERAPY: Traditional self-hypnosis has been used to treat phobias, but with severely limited success. Traditional hypnotic therapy is accomplished when the hypnotist guides the subject into a relaxed state of self hypnosis and then gives the client post-hypnotic commands or suggestions. Since most people in this generation question and resist direct suggestions, they also reject the idea that they will be more relaxed and at ease when they encounter the environment or situation that sets off their panic attacks.
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION: Systematic Desensitization is the process of slowly desensitizing a phobic person to the environment or circumstances that triggers a phobic attack. For instance, if a person wanted to dive from a high board but she 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 safe.
Next she is asked to dive in from the first step of the ladder going up to the high board. Again, she dives in and realizes that nothing bad happened and that she is again safe.
Over a period of time the woman is asked to dive in from gradually higher and higher steps on the ladder. Each time she dives in and realizes that nothing bad happened to her and that she is safe, she is able to move up to the next rung of the ladder. If she experiences the sensation of fear, then she's told to step back down one rung on the ladder and dive from there until she feels complete comfort and security. Ultimately she makes it to the top of the ladder and dives in from the high board.
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION WHILE IN THE STATE OF HYPNOSIS: Systematic Desensitization can be done virtually while in the state of hypnosis with as good as or even better results. While in a relaxed state of hypnosis, the woman would be told to visualize herself diving in from each rung of the ladder. She would be told to visualize herself feeling confident as she watches herself dive in. Since she is in a disassociated state while picturing herself, she is unable to experience a phobic attack.
Next she's told to associate, in other words to put the camera inside of her head so she would see what she would see through her eyes if she was actually diving in from each rung of the ladder. She is told 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 rung on the ladder and imagine diving in from that step. The phobic might be trained to create a kinesthetic (feeling or touch) "anchor" for feelings of security and safety. She could then trigger that anchor while visualizing that she's diving, and the feelings of safety and security could be subjectively transferred to the act of diving.
Systematic Desensitization while in self-hypnosis can be extremely useful and totally successful, but is can also be slow and take several hypnotic sessions to bring about a cure.
NLP V/K DISASSOCIATION: Neuro-Linguistic Programming is basically the study 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 imagery that quickly and in many cases instantly disconnects or disassociates the feelings of alarm from the phobia that causes them. The V/K Disassociation is known as the "One session phobia cure" in Neuro-Linguistic Programming circles, and with good reason.
CONCLUSION: Irrational fears are common in our society. They are fears that are not based in reality. There are many ways of treating phobias, but so far in my belief, the best finest are Systematic Desensitization while hypnotized, and the Neuro-Linguistic Programming V/K Disassociation technique.
