Phobias and fears

Every inhabitant of the planet is haunted by various phobias and fears, and if you do not try to get rid of them, then they, like a shadow, follow people from childhood, increasingly worsening as a person grows up.

A phobia is a strong fear that worsens in certain conditions and situations and is accompanied by autonomic dysfunction (sweating palms, difficulty breathing, abnormal heart rhythm, anxiety). Fear can be useful because it promotes survival, but when it becomes excessive, it ceases to perform a protective function. Phobias and fears can cause chronic stress, serious illness, and severe emotional distress.

The condition that occurs in a person who is overcome by phobias and fears often drives him into a stupor and is uncontrollable. At the same time, a person loses the ability to think clearly and can incorrectly assess the symptoms that appear, classifying them as signs of a dangerous disease.

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What causes phobias and fears?

If phobias and fears arise with frequent periodicity, a person may well become passive and sluggish, withdraw into himself, or, on the contrary, get worked up for no reason. Before you begin to fight your fear, you need to determine the reasons for its appearance, of which there may be many, for example:

• disruption of the vestibular system, the organ responsible for our spatial orientation. If it is disrupted, a person may develop insecurity, which can later develop into phobias and fears.
• experiences and fears from childhood that emerge in the memory of an adult.
• excessive sensitivity and emotionality, weak psyche, rich imagination.
• intra-family conflicts, the presence of negativity in the relationship between parents and children.

Science distinguishes three types of phobias:

1. Simple, when phobias and fears are caused by specific things (fear of water, injections, rodents, driving a car, specific numbers, etc.).
2. Social. With this type of fear, a person is afraid to do something in public and avoids crowded places in every possible way.
3. Agoraphobia, based on the fear of some unfamiliar place.

How are phobias and fears treated?

Phobias and fears need to be overcome. This can be done both with medical help and through psychological influence. In addition to taking antidepressants, sedatives, and adrenergic blockers, meditation is also used (and it is good for a variety of syndromes: fear of exams, closed spaces, loneliness). Also, gradual familiarization with the causes of fears can teach a person to overcome them. For example, if there is a fear of flying on airplanes, then a person will be able to achieve progress in therapy if he moves from thoughts to actions: he starts looking at pictures of airplanes, visits an airport, sits in the cabin of an airplane, and finally flies somewhere.

Phobias and fears can be cured in another way. A person simply needs to drive away negative, scary thoughts. If the imagination draws unpleasant pictures, you need to try to turn the situation around and imagine everything in a cheerful and happy light. You need to tune in to the positive and think about something pleasant, good. Whatever the method of treatment chosen, its goal will be to develop a person's ability to face their phobias and fears and to be in an unpleasant situation and to convince a person not intellectually, but through experience, that in fact the situation is not dangerous. You can win over fear, you just need to stop avoiding it and fight back, not allowing it to become entrenched in your consciousness.