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Back in the heydays of philosophy when medicine was not a very organized curative discipline, people were often detected with such fretting disorders. It lay upon the philosophers to unwind the complications and to unearth the exact causes behind. One among the earliest interpretations (the Pythagorean interpretation) was that the phobias were 'reminiscences' from former lives (and was essentially believed to have a religious association).
Hollywood made a pretty bad movie about it - "Arachnophobia", but for some the movie was excruciating - if they even went to see it. The cast certainly was amazing: John Goodman ("Roseanne"), Kathy Kinney ("The Drew Carey Show"), and Jeff Daniels ("Dumb and Dumber").
The answer isn't as easy as you might think. Fear is an emotion which develops out of uncertainty. And uncertainty itself is, basically, the perceived inability to control. Put this way it appears very simple - fear is not real, fear is just a perception. If only we could convince ourselves of that! Much is still unknown about what causes phobias.
Patients also learn how their thinking patterns contribute to their anxiety and how changing their thoughts can help minimize symptoms. At the same time, anxiety management is often a component of exposure therapy, wherein patients learn deep breathing and relaxation techniques.
Deep breathing is a simple, but very effective, method of relaxation. It is a core component of everything from the "take ten deep breaths" approach to calming someone down, right through to yoga relaxation and Zen meditation. It works well in conjunction with other relaxation techniques such as Progressive Muscular Relaxation, relaxation imagery and meditation to reduce stress.
You can also arm yourself with as much information as you possibly can. One person's account of dealing with their own fear of spiders involved an in-depth investigation of the spider as a creation of nature. He looked at pictures, studied their webs and learned to look at them through different eyes.
Are you one of those who mortally fears flying in airplane or getting into an elevator; are you one of those people who would rather live on take out food for days if you found a rat in your cupboard while cleaning? Then it seems to me you have a phobia. But before you start hassling yourself with it, let me make it clear that a phobia is very different from fear.
When computers were first introduced to our school I developed instant Cyberphobia (fear of computers or working on them). As the years passed I lost this phobia, but I noticed that there are many phobias associated with computers. In other words if you have any of the following phobias I would not be even near a computer.
Arachnophobia is the extreme, debilitating, and persistent fear of spiders. It is not the rational fear of spider bites, not the sensible caution of avoiding old wood piles where the brown recluse like to lurk, not the refusal to handle a pet tarantula, but the panic attack brought on by the thought of spiders, the heart palpitations and trouble breathing experienced when a spider is in the room...an anxiety level that may require treatment in order to function without debilitating obsessive/compulsive spider clearing or avoidance rituals.
Charles F. Haanel defines fear as "...a powerful form of thought." I think it is a very good definition, because mostly fear is in our minds. Phobia is abnormal fear. We are often afraid of things which we have no reason to be afraid of. This is because most of the fears and phobias are only the creations of our minds.
A phobia can be defined as an irrational fear that causes us to experience a physiological revulsion to something that does not actually threaten us with serious harm. Phobias can be removed!
When dealing with our persistent fears and phobias, it is easy to let our imagination get the better of us. Our negative and scary thoughts can overcome the reality of the situation and can make things worse than what they really are. As a result, here are some techniques a person can use to help gain a better perspective of your fearful situation.
Athena realized what she had done, regretted her actions, and sprinkled a magic liquid onto Arachne, turning her into a spider, so she could keep her weaving skills. Arachnophobia actually has historical and cultural causes. In most of Europe during the Middle Ages spiders were considered a source of contamination that absorbed poisons in their environment (e.g. from plants). Any food which had come into contact with a spider was considered infected. Similarly, if a spider fell into water, that water was then held to be poisoned.
Some women get so anxious and fearful that they do not know what to do. When this happens, it is important to know how to handle your anxieties and stresses. As a result, here is a list of techniques and suggestions on what to do in managing your fears, anxieties and other stresses.
One simple form of exposure treatment is that of flooding, where the person is immersed in the fear reflex until the fear itself fades away. The key is keeping the patients in the feared situation long enough that they can see that none of the dreaded consequences they fear actually come to pass.
There have been talks about fears and phobias, and how they affect life. Fear is really the misconception, the rejection, and the dread of life.
There are thousands of life definitions available around. Often, these meanings seek or require a happy, if not perfect, life in this world. We are urged to seek out a paradise or a niche of refuge where we can build our utopia or ideal world.
Phobias are intense fears that are either very specific in nature or more generalized. Some of these conditions, while disturbing, cause little discernable impact on your life, while others are crippling. Specific Phobias tend to be caused by specific triggering events. For example, your life long fear of elevators stems from being stuck on a rollercoaster for 10 minutes when you were 8.
You can also get in the habit of relaxing muscles whenever you have an anxious feeling. When you feel a wave of anxiety, get in the habit of immediately scanning your body and trying to locate a tense muscle. Then relax it. Locate another tense muscle. Relax that too. As your muscles relax, your heart rate and breathing slow down and you begin to feel calmer. Even though terrorism still exists, your body is in a calmer state. You are more capable of thinking clearly and taking intelligent, purposeful, constructive action. Relaxing your muscles prevents you from becoming paralyzed by fear.
What can Hypnotherapy do for you?
Answer: Well, probably quite a lot actually
Fear of speaking in public is number one in the list of "phobias" which Americans have.
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