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Phobias and fears

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
 
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Every inhabitant of the planet is haunted by various phobias and fears, and if you do not try to get rid of them, they, like a shadow, follow people from childhood, becoming more aggravated with the moment of growing up.

The phobia is a strong fear, aggravated in certain conditions and situations, and accompanied by autonomic dysfunction (palms sweating, difficulty breathing, violation of the normal rhythm of the heart, excitement). 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, a serious illness, a strong emotional disorder.

The condition that occurs in a person who has been overcome by phobias and fears, often drives him into a stupor and can not be controlled. At the same time, a person loses the ability to think sensibly 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 occur with frequent periodicity, a person can become passive and lethargic, close up in himself, or vice versa, start without reason. Before you start fighting with your fear, you need to determine the reasons for its appearance, which can be many, for example:

  • violation of the work of the vestibular apparatus - the body responsible for our spatial orientation. If it is broken, then a person may develop uncertainty, which later can develop into phobias and fears.
  • experiences and fears from childhood, emerging in the memory of an adult.
  • excessive sensitivity and emotionality, weak psyche, rich imagination.
  • family conflicts, the presence of negativity in relations between parents and children.

Science distinguishes three types of phobias:

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

Who to contact?

How are phobias and fears treated?

Phobias and fears need to be defeated. This can be done with both medical assistance and psychological influence. In addition to taking antidepressants, sedatives, adrenoblockers, meditation is also used (moreover, it is good for a variety of syndromes: fear of examinations, closed space, loneliness). Also, the gradual acquaintance 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 thought to action: he will look at the images of planes, visit the airport, sit in the cabin and finally fly somewhere.

Phobias and fears can be cured in another way. A person simply needs to drive away negative thoughts that are terrible for him. If the imagination paints unpleasant pictures, you need to try to turn the situation around and imagine everything in a cheerful and cheerful light. It is necessary to tune in to the positive and think about something pleasant, good. Whatever method of treatment has been chosen, its purpose will be to develop a person's ability to face his phobias and fears face to face and stay in an unpleasant situation and to convince a person not intellectually, but by experience that in fact, the situation is not dangerous. Over fear you can win, you just have to stop avoiding it and fight back, not letting it get fixed in your mind.

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