There are a multitude of fears and phobias; spiders, snakes, water, driving, flying, thunderstorms, needles, blood, doctors, hospitals, heights, small spaces, big spaces and many more! Amazingly about 1 in 9 people suffer from some sort of phobia.

 

What is a phobia?

 

It is an irrational fear of an object/situation that would not normally trouble most people.

 

Why is a Phobic response so extreme?

 

Because it is a 3 fold response:

 

• The fear that you feel in that moment 

• The fear you've felt in the past 

• The fear you may feel in the future

 

That is why a phobic response is so extreme. Most people who dislike a situation are only experiencing the present moment fear, not the 3 fold combination of a phobic response. Any phobia may produce a state of panic when the sufferer is confronted with a the phobic object/situation. A wide variety of physical symptoms are experienced, such as nausea, increased heartbeat and 'jelly legs'. For this reason, many people with phobias enter into a pattern of avoidance which can vary enormously in severity from someone who would not want to touch a spider, to someone who cannot even look at a picture of a spider in magazines and therefore has to vet everything they come into contact with. The latter demonstrates just how debilitating even a simple phobia can be.

 

What are the most common phobias?

 

Agoraphobia - often described as a fear of open spaces, but it is actually more to do with a fear of places from where it is difficult to escape, such as crowded shops or buses. It is also linked to a fear that you might embarrass yourself, for example by fainting.

 

Social phobia - characterised by a fear of what other people think of you and can cause difficulties in social situations. For example, you may be terrified of speaking or performing in public. Hypnotherapy is a very effective way of dealing with fears and phobias. It is a way of reprogramming the subconscious to enable you to respond to the historically phobic situation in a calm and positive way.