Fears and Phobias including a fear of flying and needle phobia amongst others explained

A phobia is an exaggerated and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation which is a type of anxiety disorder that causes a person to experience extreme, irrational fear about a situation, living creature, place or object.

A phobia is something that a person fears to such an extent that they feel that they have to change their behaviour to keep themselves 'safe'.   When a person has a phobia they tend to shape their lives to avoid, what they consider, to be dangerous.  The imagined threat is greater than any actual threat posed by the cause of the terror.  An individual will experience intense distress when faced with the source of their phobia.  This can prevent them from functioning normally and can sometimes spark a panic attack.  Despite an individual being aware that their phobia is irrational they are unable to control the fear reaction.

There are three main types of phobia and these are:-

• Specific phobia - which is an intense, irrational fear, for example, this could be a fear of flying, spiders, enclosed spaces, snakes, heights.  These are known as simple phobias and can be linked to an identifiable cause that may not frequently occur in their every day life, like snakes.
• Social phobia or social anxiety - this is a profound fear of public humiliation, of being singled out or judged by others, large social gatherings are terrifying for a person with social anxiety, this is not the same as shyness and can also include; public speaking, crowded places, meetings, parties
• Agoraphobia - this is a fear of situations from which it would be difficult to escape from if you were to experience extreme panic and this could be in a lift, public transport or literally just being outside your own home.  If you suffer from agoraphobia you will generally have an increased risk of a panic disorder
  

The fear of either of these phobias can have a massive impact on your life and leave you feeling out of control and you may have physical symptoms which include sweating, chest pains and pins and needles.

Fear of flying and how hypnotherapy can help

There are many reasons why people have a fear of flying and these can include that the person is a nervous flyer because they suffer from claustrophobia or that the person does not like not being in control of the situation or maybe it is a fear of turbulence or possibly they may have had a traumatic experience.  It could be that they are worried that the plane will crash.  Fear of flying is one of the most common phobias and there is a high percentage of people who have some degree of anxiety around flying. 

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy for a fear of flying would involve an Initial Consultation and between three and five sessions and this approach can help you to look positively towards your next and future flights and reduce your stress levels so that it is not a traumatic event but an enjoyable experience whether it is for business or pleasure.

What causes a phobia?

When asked you may say that nothing has caused it, it just happened and that you have always been afraid of dogs, you must have been exposed to an event, or perhaps your parents were afraid of dogs and by default you have taken on their fear.  This event has been stored in your subconscious mind and it may have caused an emotional response and you would have stored this away.  Your subconscious mind can set up a kind of false predisposition whereby any instigation including by association can cause a phobic reaction and your body's flight or fight response will kick in and you may begin to panic.