Phobias are these intense, irrational fears which cannot be overcome even when the sufferer is fully aware (as is usually the case), that there is no reason for the fear. There may have been a very valid reason for it at some stage of your life, but not anymore.
Fear is steeped in anxiety, and there does not seem to be any aspect of life that people don’t get anxious about at some time during their lives. But when the fear of that thing is so crippling that we become frozen at the very thought of it – let alone seeing it – you have moved from a simple fear to a paralyzing phobia.
Most people are aware of the phobia surrounding the fear of flying or spiders; I have taken it upon myself to list all phobias. I decided to list all phobias as I keep on getting requests about some unusual ones. I have done my best to create a list of phobias that is all encompassing, some may seem ridiculous, some may give you the wrong ideas, just use the list of phobias in the way that is right for you.
Phobias take many different forms and the list of phobias includes fear of humiliation or embarassment (social phobias), fear of high places (acrophobia), fear of open places (agoraphobia), fear of spiders (arachnophobia), fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) and fear of animals (zoophobia).
Phobias may relate from almost any situation, idea or object and most people have at least one mild phobia that is on the list of phobias. Severe phobias are, however, very disabling and can seriously disrupt normal living.
As I decided to list all phobias and researched the subject even further beyond what I originally knew about them, it seems more likely that a phobia is a simple, forgotten conditioned reflex which is kept active (reinforced) by the repeated drive to avoid the unpleasant experience. There is often an initial sensitising event where you learned the phobic response, however, this is not always the case; it may have been learned gradually and increasingly over time.
This view is supported by the success of behaviour therapy in removing phobias. While most of these fears are rooted in some reality; we all know needles do hurt, dogs do occasionally go for you, new people can be judgmental and so on; a phobia is based in an unrealistic fear: the needle will break off in your arm and the dogs will attack you like in a horror movie. All these thoughts are terrifying to those who suffer from the phobia.
Two of the most common fears noted when I chose to list all phobias and research how common they are, are those of tests and spiders. Test anxiety is rooted in comparing yourself to other people, and is deeply rooted in fear of failure. Spiders are creepy, and are portrayed as so in so much media and a phobic will often become hysterical or faint at the sight of one.
With this list of phobias that I have drawn up, while you may or may not know about all of the technical definitions of the phobias on the list, I reckon that if you do have one of them there is one thing that you know for sure:
You know how that phobia and fear feels in your body and your mind!
And it is not your favourite feeling is it? However, there are answers even when everything else you may have tried has not been successful. If you suffer from any of the phobias or fears on the list of phobias, you may not want to talk about it or want people to know that you have this disorder or somewhere inside you may feel that no one really understands you and how you feel. No matter how compassionate, understanding or competent a friend or therapist may be, you know that they haven’t experienced the feeling and terror that you experience in your body.
What’s more, for some people that suffer from some of the fears on the list of phobias just talking about your phobia and fear symptoms actually brings on the symptoms themselves. You are in a vicious cycle.
Perhaps the most tragic part of phobia and fear is that they prevent you from living life to the fullest. You may not want to go to certain places or experience certain events for fear it may trigger your phobia or fear. Regardless, phobia and fear prevent us from living a joyful, vibrant life.
Imagine what your life will be like when you are free. When you can be confident and at ease in situations where you used to feel phobic or fearful. Imagine what it will be like when you can talk about your former symptoms as though you are describing a movie where the character is someone else, not you. It is like you have a distant memory of it.
Here is a list of phobia cures and Treatment Options
– Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy helps to reprogram your unconscious minds processes that may be generating your fear. When these processes resolved, people are then free of the symptoms of phobia and fear is minimized.
You can overcome fears and phobias on the list of all phobias using hypnosis. Hypnosis and other forms of modern personal development allow you to enter a state of trance and then deliver suggestions to reprogram, control or eliminate the phobia entirely. Imagine how nice it would be to go into a classroom for a test and not have an anxiety attack, or to be able to go camping in the woods. It works – it really does!
Hypnotherapy is safe and works fast and is becoming one of the most popular treatment options on this list of phobia cures.
– Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
NLP is basically the study and practice of how we create our reality. From the NLP viewpoint, your fear is the result of your programs or “constructs” that you have created that are outmoded and not functioning as you would like them to. With NLP, these constructs are identified, exposed and re-programmed so that your phobia is made vulnerable and subsequently minimized and very often eliminated.
NLP interventions are quite rapid and effective.
– Meridian and Energy Psychology
Meridian and Energy Psychology is emerging as an excellent therapy for fears and phobias because in studies it is shown to be rapid, safe, effective and long-lasting. Energy Psychology is based on a theory and practice that has been around for a couple of thousand years. Energy Psychology has the same foundation or roots as acupuncture, except in this case there are no needles used. You could call it emotional acupuncture – without the needles.
Recent scientific studies have shown Energy Psychology to be very effective. The two main fields of this meridian and energy psychology are EFT and TFT.
Energy Psychologies have been shown to enable you to quickly and easily change your behaviors as well as your thought patterns changing, often very quickly. What’s more, you develop skills and techniques that are useful for a lifetime in all situations.
– Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Cognitive therapy or cognitive behavior therapy is a kind of psychotherapy used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, and other forms of mental disorder.
It involves recognizing unhelpful patterns of thinking and reacting, then modifying or replacing these with more realistic or helpful ones. Its application in treating schizophrenia along with medication and family therapy is recognized by the NICE guidelines within the British NHS.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is based on the idea that how we think (cognition), how we feel (emotion), and how we act (behaviour) all interact together. Specifically, our thoughts determine our feelings and our behaviour. Therefore negative thoughts can cause us distress and result in problems.
– Conventional Medicine
Next on this list of phobia cures is conventional medicine. The physiological responses to phobias such as having a fast pulse, sweating, high blood pressure, and so on, can be controlled by the use of beta-blocking drugs.
The bodys beta receptors are tiny areas scattered all over the heart, the arteries, muscles and elsewhere at which adrenaline and related hormones act when you have your phobic reaction. When these hormones contact the receptors their effect is to speed up the heart and constrict blood vessels, so increasing the blood pressure; and to widen the airway tubes in the lungs. All this happens in moments of stress and need for action. The beta-blocker drugs have the same general chemical shape as the adrenaline molecule and so fit into the receptor sites in the same way, effectively blocking them so that arenaline, although present, cannot act.