Some of us have certain things that make us uncomfortable, so we try to avoid them. Other things really frighten us, and we always avoid them. Occasionally, something bothers us so much that we try to prepare ourselves or worry even when the source of our fear is nowhere near.
When a fear keeps us from enjoying what we want to do, it is worth it to consider hypnotherapy to decrease the fear's intensity. Here are some common examples of phobias that can make us paranoid and send us into panic attacks:
- Fear of heights, flying (acrophobia and aerophobia)
- Fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia)
- Fear of crowds or large open spaces (agoraphobia)
- Fear of spiders (arachnophobia)
- Fear of bodies of water (potamophobia, hydrophobia means rabies or a fear of rabies)
- Fear of the dark (nyctophobia)
- Fear of death (thanatophobia)
- Fear of disease (pathophobia, mysophobia)
- Fear of strangers, foreigners (xenophobia)
There are dozens of other named phobias (including triskaedekaphobia, a fear of the number 13), so it's important to remember that our minds can fixate on anything and make it seem dangerous. (In China, the number 4 is the unlucky one, because the number is pronounced similarly to the word for death.)
The therapy of choice for treating phobias is gradual desensitization, and neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and hypnosis have a great technique I use called "pre-rehearsal." It allows us to practice in our imagination confronting the situation that used to cause us panic. With hypnotherapy, the process goes a bit faster than with conventional therapy often, because the imagination exercises happen on a deeper level of consciousness. Most phobics find some relief after only 2 or 3 sessions, but more refreshers may be required if the object of the phobia is infrequently encountered or it is the result of a long-standing historical trauma in your life. If you are dealing with the issue of your fear in psychotherapy, I am happy to consult with your therapist to coordinate our treatment.