Fear is the predominant reaction that usually drives people to seek therapy. On introspection you might realise many fears are created, depending upon environment and various situations in your life. Most often fears are deep rooted in childhood, this is because a child with his restricted perception of the world easily succumbs to the fears of the unknown. This doesn’t mean that you might not encounter your fears in later stages of your life it could happen due to deeply distressing experience but they are usually linked to your childhood experiences.

It is rare to have a single fear, in such cases multiple associated or interrelated fears could play together in one person. Most common fears are fear of flying, heights, failing, public speaking, sexual performance, unknown, animals, darkness, closed spaces, water, contamination. Few other fears like fear of dogs or blood could be linked to one’s personal experience.

Having fear sometimes could be useful, it could make you cautious but if it creates unreasonable and extreme behaviour it can be threatful to your health and wellbeing. Fears transforms into phobias when they start dominating your everyday routine. When you are phobic you might act beyond limits or be unmanageable; this happens because you are unaware of your suppressed conflicts. People suffering from neurosis have numerous fears and phobias.

Law of Association predominately governs fears and phobias. For instance, imagine a person in a panic and a life-threatening situation, he would not only develop terrible fear of that situation but also develop fear towards various elements in that event. For example, imagine a child on a cruise being hit by a tsunami wave, it may develop fear of water, fear of cruises or ships or boats, fear of crowd, fear of people in uniform (the crew). These fears may or may not become his phobia but can easily be carried into his adult life. Interestingly not all people in the above situation would develop fear. Only the ones suggestible to the threat would develop fear.

Fears could be Physiological, such as hypoglycaemia, idiosyncratic pains. Most of the fears in adulthood are due to physiological changes. For example, a child is preparing for his exams for the next day. He puts in all his efforts, studies day and night and to reach before time skips his breakfast. As he begins to write his paper, he notices his hands are trembling and he is feeling nervous. This could be due to lack of sugar in his blood stream but because at this moment he is in exam hall, he begins to associate the nervousness with examination. He tries to hide his trembling to save himself from embarrassment, ultimately convinces himself that he is afraid of taking exams. He may try suppressing his fears but now in his mind he has associated trembling with examination. This association has developed fear of examination in him.

Each one of us reacts to threats physically and emotionally. There is an adrenaline rush, the muscles become tense, there is clenching of teeth, our thinking and responses are quick, all these changes are much need to fight the situation. But when the threat is over our body slows down and gradually starts coming to homeostasis.

A person with phobia imagines his threats, and it is due to these imaginations his body undergoes similar response that occur in threatening situation, but it is difficult to return to homeostasis because he is constantly living in his state of imagination during crisis. This is the reason why phobic are unable to confront their fears in calm state. Hypnotherapy helps in this state to desensitize fears and phobic reactions.

Management of Fears and Phobias with Hypnotherapy:

Hypnotherapists understand that all fears are caused due to unresolved issues which is perceived as a threat by the person and hence manifested in the form of emotional and physiological responses. These responses are apparent; causes are not. The cause of fear triggers the reactions.

Hypnotherapists usually adopts approach which help in treating symptomatically first, but if it fails one needs to resolve the unresolved issues. Finding and treating the cause not only completely removes the phobias but also diminishes anxiety associated with the fear. Various techniques like circle therapy for identifying and desensitizing the causes, age regression to locate the cause can be adopted in treating and managing Fears and Phobias.

According to Beyond Blue 15.4% of Australians aged 16 to 24 have experienced an anxiety disorder in the last 12 months’. This is equivalent to 440,000 young people today. What is true for Australia; is sadly true for Sydney.

You and me shall win this battle against Fear and phobia together. All you need to do is give me a quick call to discuss issues that you are struggling with. And always remember “cessat effectus; cessat causa” i.e.. to stop the effect, we need to stop the cause.