Download this article for FREE! |
||||||
Professional Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner David Small explains what they are and how to banish them for good! A phobia refers to an intense irrational fear, usually of an object, thing, behaviour, animal, creature, environment, situation or scenario. Typically the phobia will develop through having been exposed to an unsettling or even traumatic experience. This Initial Sensitising Event (ISE) often occurs in childhood, though not in all cases. It is then typically repressed, pushed down from conscious awareness into the subconscious mind. When the fear is at its maximum intensity "imprinting" takes place - typically a very strong negative internal representation of the experience. Through imprinting, the person experiencing the fear quickly learns to feel afraid - a conditioned response. From then on, the individual will usually develop anticipatory anxiety about the phobic stimulus when exposed to it or even thinking about it. Avoidance of the stimulus reinforces the fear still further. All phobias and irrational fears have one thing in common in that they trigger a mechanism known as the "fight or flight" response.
Fight or Flight When this response is triggered, the endocrine system is immediately activated, stimulating the adrenal glands to secrete the hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, together with glucose/sugars directly into the bloodstream. These put the body into a state of readiness, ready to run for your life or fight for your life. The heart starts to beat faster, pumping additional oxygen to the major organs and muscles. Breathing becomes heavy, the body trembles, the mouth becomes dry, skin drains of colour as blood is diverted to the major organs, palms perspire, butterflies in the stomach, the body tenses up, it may feel like there's a lump in the throat or even dizziness or nausea. Once the subconscious mind imprints (blueprints the intense feelings) it will fire off the response (blueprint) when exposed to that particular stimulus over and over again, reinforcing the anxiety. The intensity of the symptoms associated with this response can range from low level anxiety to a full blown panic attack. If the anxiety is not addressed and managed properly it can be quite debilitating. Chronic prolonged periods of anxiety can cause a number of physical problems to develop, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal disturbance, migraine, skin complaints etc. In addition, because the fight or flight mechanism draws adrenaline and cortisol away from their primary functions as part of the immune system, the body is left vulnerable to infection and disease. Types of Phobia Essentially there are three categories of phobia: Specific, Social and Agoraphobia
Specific Phobias Specific Phobias are characterised by the presence of a very specific stimulus as the trigger, such as cats, dogs, birds, feathers, blood, spiders, vomit etc. Specific phobias are the most straightforward to treat, although as with any phobia there can be an element of stimulus generalisation or symptom overlap. For instance, a spider phobia could also be a phobia of creepy crawlies, or a phobia of blood could also cause anxiety in the presence of the colour red. The root cause is usually out of conscious awareness (repressed) and the sufferer will typically be aware of only a series of compounding events - i.e. memories of being afraid but not understanding the reason why. A repression becomes very powerful and influential because the conscious mind cannot understand or integrate the initial frightening experience.
Social Phobias Social Phobia Disorder is typified by an inability to function "normally" in situations that would be perceived as "normal", such as eating and drinking in public where individuals may be afraid of drawing attention to themselves, or being exposed in some way. Those suffering from Social phobia may feel as though their behaviour is being constantly judged or evaluated by others. In addition, they may feel very self conscious and intimidated, especially by authority figures. In such situations they will become extremely anxious and uncomfortable which can overlap into panic attacks, causing imprinting, then avoidance and further to reinforcement.
Agoraphobia Agoraphobia is by far the most complex and involved of all the phobias. Sufferers will typically will have vesicular apparatus problems (inner ear balance) and may also suffer with co-ordination problems which may be perceived as clumsiness. In addition they may feel threatened or exposed when travelling away from what they consider to be a place of safety, such as their home, or when there doesn't appear to be already means of escape from certain situations.
Treatments There are several different approaches that can successfully treat phobias. They are:
These treatments can be very effective with all types of phobia, Specific, Social and Agoraphobia |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
