Have A Phobia? – What They Are And How You Can Get Rid Of Them With Hypnotherapy
DEFINITION AND SYMPTOMS OF PHOBIAS:
A phobia is defined as an irrational fear or dread. When a person experiences a phobic attack, they get frightened feelings; their respiration and heart rates increase; they may experience feeling choked up like their heart is in their throat; their palms very often get sweaty; they may experience the sound of ringing in their ears; and they quite often find that they are unable to take part in an activity.
These feelings push the individual to avoid the situations and environments that cause them.
EXAMPLES OF COMMON PHOBIAS:
For instance, if an individual has an irrational fear of driving, that person would exhibit these symptoms whenever they try to drive, or probably even when they just think about driving. Or a phobic attack may happen just while driving in certain places like under bridges. The fear of talking in front of a group of people is a comparatively common phobia. The panicky feelings appear when the person begins to talk in front of a person that they are afraid of, or they may well have panicky feelings only when in fro
nt of an assembly of other people. This fear can be set off by fears of inadequacy, or a lack of self-confidence. Those who suffer from social phobias can get very tense just being around other people, even folks they know. It is a fear that they will be criticized or evaluated by others. This fear can be caused by any kind of social relations. A person could be waiting on line at a restaurant and get phobic feelings as they think about having to talk to the checker as they checkout.
The fear of taking tests (which is universally known as test anxiety) is quite a very common phobia. Testing phobias are rooted in comparing yourself to other people, and is deeply rooted in a fear of failing.
People have experienced irrational fears to every category of situation under the sun. For instance: High places; animals; small enclosed places; relationships; flying; bugs; snakes; and even the great outdoors. Agoraphobia is generally thought to be a fear of open spaces. However, this definition is quite ambiguous because Agoraphobics are really afraid of having a panic attack, wherever and whenever.
Agoraphobia develops when a person begins to avoid places or situations they have associated with anxiety. For example, they could have a panic attack at home, church, or in a grocery store. For people who suffer with phobias, once their panic attacks have started, they start to expect them to take place. And this anticipation actually triggers them with increasing frequency. Other people experience fearful feelings on a continuous basis. These feelings cause an overall sense of discomfort, rather than panic.
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FORMS OF TREATMENT THAT ARE AVAILABLE DRUGS:
Some doctors treat their patients by means of sedatives, which can make the condition worse over prolonged treatment. Sedatives do not work on the underlying root of a phobia; they only disguise some of the symptoms.
TALK THERAPY:
Some schools of therapy advocate "Talk Therapy." Talk therapy is only talking about what is bothering you. Unfortunately, talking about or even thinking about a situation or environment that sets off a panic attack can trigger one! HYPNOTHERAPY: Traditional self-hypnosis has been used to treat phobias, but with only meager success. Traditional hypnotic therapy is accomplished when the hypnotist guides the subject into a relaxed state of self hypnosis and then gives the subject post-hypnotic suggestions or commands. Since most people in this generation question and resist direct suggestions, they also reject the belief that they will be more relaxed and at ease when they encounter the environment or situation that causes their panic attacks.
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION:
Systematic Desensitization is the practice of slowly desensitizing a person to the environment or circumstances that sets off 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 secure. The next thing she is asked is to dive from the lowest step of the ladder going up to the high diving board. Again, she dives in and realizes that nothing bad happened and that she is again safe and sound. 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 she did not get hurt and that she is safe, she is able to move up to the next rung. If she experiences fear, then she is asked to move back down one rung on the ladder and dive from there until she feels complete comfort and security. Sooner or later she makes it to the top of the ladder and is able to dive in from the high board itself.
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION WHILE IN THE STATE OF HYPNOSIS:
Systematic Desensitization can be done literally while in the state of hypnosis with as good as or even better results. While in a relaxed hypnotized state, the woman would be asked to envision herself diving in from each step on the ladder. She would be asked to visualize herself feeling confident as she dives in. Since she is in fact disassociated while visualizing herself, she is unable to cause a panic attack. Next she is asked to associate, in other words to imagine the camera inside of her head so she would see what she would see through her own eyes if she was actually diving in from each step of the ladder. She is asked 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 is asked to go back to the previous lower step on the ladder and visualize diving in from there. She might be taught to generate a kinesthetic (feeling or touch) "anchor" of feelings of security and safety. She could then set off that anchor while visualizing that she is 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 effective and successful, but is can also be slow and take several hypnotic sessions to bring about a cure.
NLP (NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING) V/K DISASSOCIATION:
NLP is fundamentally the study of how we create our reality. The V/K stands for visual / kinesthetic. The V/K Disassociation is a method that enables a trained NLP Practitioner to guide a subject through specific imagery that quickly and in many cases instantly disconnects or disassociates the feelings of dread from the irrational fear that causes them. The V/K Disassociation is known as the "One session phobia cure" in NLP circles, and with good reason.
Phobias are common in our society. They are fears that aren’t founded in reality. There are many treatments for phobias, but so far in my estimation, the best treatments available are Systematic Desensitization while hypnotized, and the NLP V/K Disassociation technique.
Alan B. Densky, CH is a trained hypnotist and NLP Practitioner who’s been in professional practice since 1978. He can be contacted through his Neuro-VISION Hypnosis ecommerce site which offers NLP CDs for phobias. Visit his hypnosis article library, or download a free MP3.
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