Why have I got my Phobia?
15 November 2022|Phobias
Hypnotherapy and my Phobia? Why have I got my phobia? In general, phobias are learnt behaviours, which certainly does not mean, you set out to learn a new phobia.
We learn behaviours in this case in two different ways either involuntary or consciously.
Involuntary
· An example is hearing an alarm going off and we learn to be on edge. Ready to move quickly away from a threat such as a fire.
Consciously
· An example is perhaps by behaving well in the supermarket we get rewarded with a sweet at the checkout. Not just talking about you but your kids.
· Or on the negative side, we don’t carry on putting our hands in very hot water, we learn this quickly.
A phobia is when fear or negative emotion (a type of anxiety disorder) is triggered by a particular situation or object.
You would develop a fear of kettles if each time it burns you.
So when does that fear then become a phobia?
When you start to avoid the kitchen because there may or not be a kettle in the room.
In other words, you are avoiding the trigger (kettle) which could start fear or phobia.
When did you develop your phobia, you may ask. There could have been an incident or trauma in your past.
Your trauma does not have to be a near-death experience.
It could have simply been a parent yelling at you when you were near the edge of the road.
You don’t even need to remember when this happened, your brain unconsciously remembers everything from your past.
Some events from your past could have had a long-lasting impact on you.
Having a bump in a car as a kid could lead to a phobia of being in a car.
Being stung by a wasp as a youngster could become a phobia of wasps or develop into something more general like anything that flies.
Then we have the learnt reactions from your early life. One or both of your parents could have been scared of water, which developed into a learnt phobia of the same fear of water.
Perhaps you may have had a panic attack or big reaction to something or someone which then evolved into your phobia.
We can see there are different ways to obtain a phobia.
Your body will experience high levels of fear and anxiety when faced with your phobia.
However, everyone is different and reacts differently at various levels, even simply thinking about your phobia can trigger symptoms.
Your physical symptoms could be
feeling faint
dizzy
your chest becoming tight
feeling your heart pumping hard
perhaps feeling sick, to name a few of them.
However, you could start thinking of your phobia which could lead to the following symptoms, such as fears of fainting, dying, or even detaching from your body and this could even trigger something called a panic attack.
What changes could you make?
Simply making some changes to your lifestyle may help reduce the symptoms of a phobia, such as panic attacks.
These could include
regular exercise
changing the way you eat
getting enough sleep
reducing or avoiding caffeine and other stimulants.
Solution-based Hypnotherapy allows you to change the way you think about your phobia and helps by giving you control and the tools to change. Wanting help please call 07814 574703 or email simon@simonshypnotherapyroom.co.uk
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