Phobias and Fears

Fear is a natural human response and is a necessary response. It is certainly an important response in situations when we need to react quickly - it stimulates our body and our minds to prepare for swift action.

A phobia is a greatly exagerated fear and the emotional feeling of fear can be accompanied by physical symptoms such as feeling faint, sweating and trembling. Many phobias develop during childhood, maybe learning through family reactions but any situation can be enough to initiate fear and subsequent events may serve to compound the fear. Suddenly a situation can become extremely frightening - something to be avoided at all costs.

If the situation that causes the phobic reaction is something that can be avoided in your life, then you cope with the problem. If you find that you have a fear or phobia which is holding you back, perhaps keeping you from enjoying your life to the full, or maybe it is something which is stopping you from doing something you really want to do, it's time to allow yourself the time and space to deal with the fear.

Phobias and fears are diverse and can include:-
Fear of flying
Fear of travelling on the underground
Fear of being trapped in traffic
Fear of injections
Fear of visiting the dentist
Fear of lifts
Fear of insects
Fear of heights
Fear of being alone