Irrational Fears - What They Are And How To Eliminate Them With NLP

DEFINITION AND SYMPTOMS OF PHOBIAS:
A phobia can be defined as an illogical fear or dread. When a person experiences a panic attack, they get worried feelings; their breathing and heart rates increase; they may experience feeling choked up like their heart is in their throat; their palms may get sweaty; they may experience the sound of ringing in their ears; and they quite often find that they are unable to partake in an activity. These feelings push the individual to avoid the activities and places that cause them.

EXAMPLES OF COMMON PHOBIAS:
For example, if an individual has a fear of driving, that individual would show evidence of these symptoms at the time they make an effort to drive their car, or probably even when they think about driving. Or a panic attack may well occur only while driving in certain places like in heavy traffic.

The fear of talking in front of a group of people is a comparatively common phobia. The panicky feelings appear when the person tries to talk in front of a person that they are intimidated by, or they might perhaps experience panicky feelings only when in front of a group of people. The size of the crowd of people can differ. This phobia can be set off by fears of inadequacy, or a lack of self-assurance.

Those who suffer from social phobias can get horrifically panicky just being around other folks, even folks that they are familiar with. It is a fear of being criticized or evaluated by others. This fear can be set off by any variety of social interaction. A person could be standing on line at a restaurant and get stressful feelings as they think about having to talk to the checker while they checkout.

The fear of taking a test (frequently known as test anxiety) is a frequent phobia. A phobia to taking tests is rooted in comparing yourself to other folks, and is deeply rooted in a fear of failure.

People have experienced irrational fears to every category of experience under the sun. For instance: High places; animals; small enclosed places; relationships; flying; bugs; snakes; and even the great outdoors.

Agoraphobia is generally defined as a fear of open spaces. However, this definition is quite deceptive because Agoraphobics are really afraid of having a panic attack, wherever they may happen to be. Agoraphobia develops when a person begins to avoid places or situations they have associated with anxiety. For example, they could have a panic attack at church, at home, or at a gas station.

For many phobics, once their panic attacks have started to occur, they begin to anticipate them to occur. And this expectation actually triggers them with increasing frequency. Other folks experience fearful feelings on a continuous basis. These feelings cause an overall sense of discomfort, rather than panic.

AVAILABLE FORMS OF TREATMENT

DRUGS:
Some doctors treat their patients using sedatives, which can make the condition worse over prolonged usage. Sedatives don't treat the core cause of a phobia; they only disguise some of the symptoms.

TALK THERAPY:
Some schools of therapy prescribe "Talk Therapy." Talk therapy is just talking about what is bothering you. Unfortunately, thinking about or talking about a situation or environment that triggers a panic attack can trigger a panic attack!

HYPNOTHERAPY:
Traditional hypnosis has been used to treat phobias, but with only meager success. Traditional hypnotherapy is accomplished when the therapist places the patient in a relaxed state of self-hypnosis and gives the subject post-hypnotic suggestions or commands. Since most people in this generation question and resist direct post-hypnotic suggestions, they also reject the concept that they will be more relaxed and at ease when they encounter the situation or environment that triggers their panic attacks.

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION:
Systematic Desensitization is the process of gradually desensitizing a person to the environment or situation that triggers a panic attack. For example, if a woman wants to dive from a high board but fears it, she is asked to first dive from a height that she feels safe with. She dives in and realizes that she did not get hurt and that she is secure.

The next thing she is asked to do is to dive in from the first step of the ladder going up to the high diving board. Again, she dives in and realizes that she wasn't hurt and that she is again safe.

Over a period of time the person is asked to dive in from increasingly higher steps on the ladder. Each time she dives in and realizes that she didn't get hurt and that she is safe, she is able to move up to the next rung on the ladder. If she experiences fear, then she's told to step back down one rung on the ladder and dive from there until she feels complete comfort and security. In the end she makes it to the top of the ladder and dives in from the high board itself.

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION WHILE IN THE STATE OF HYPNOSIS:
Systematic Desensitization can be done virtually while in the state of hypnosis with as good as or even better results. While in a relaxed state of self hypnosis, the woman would be told to visualize herself diving in from each rung of the ladder. She would be told to visualize herself feeling confident and relaxed as she dives in. Since she is actually disassociated while picturing herself, she is unable to cause a panic attack.

Next she's told to associate, or imagine the camera inside of her head so she would see what she would see through her own eyes if she was actually diving in from each rung of the ladder. She is told to imagine feeling safe and relaxed as she dives in.

Just as in a live (in vivo) systematic desensitization, if she feels any anxiety she's told to go back to the previous lower rung on the ladder and visualize diving in from there. She might be trained to create a kinesthetic (feeling or touch) "anchor" of feelings of security and safety. She could then activate that anchor while imagining that she's diving, and the feelings of security and safety could be subjectively transferred to the act of diving.

Systematic Desensitization while in hypnosis can be extremely useful and successful, but is can also be slow and take several hypnotic sessions to bring about a cure.

NLP (NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING) V/K DISASSOCIATION:
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is the study of how we create our reality. The V/K stands for visual / kinesthetic. The V/K Disassociation is a technique that allows a trained NLP Practitioner to guide a subject through specific visual imagery that quickly and in many cases instantly disconnects or disassociates the feelings of terror from the phobia that causes them. The V/K Disassociation is known as the "One session phobia cure" in Neuro-Linguistic Programming circles, and with good cause.

CONCLUSION:
Phobias are common in our culture. They are fears that aren't based in reality. There are many ways of treating phobias, but so far in my view, the best finest are Systematic Desensitization while in the state of hypnosis, and the Neuro-Linguistic Programming V/K Disassociation technique.

Alan B. Densky, CH is a trained hypnotist and NLP Practitioner who's been in practice since 1978. He can be reached through his Neuro-VISION Self Hypnosis site which offers hypnosis CDs for phobias. Visit his hypnosis research library, or download a free MP3.