Fears and Phobias
Fantasy Envisaged As Real
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear."
H.P. Lovecraft
Fears and phobias are extremely common, and I see many clients on a wide range of different fears and phobias at a given time.
It is estimated that over 10% of people will experience a simple phobia at some time or another. From lifts, spiders and birds, to heights, dentists, clowns to being in an enclosed space, there is nothing we can't develop a phobias about.
The word phobia comes from the Greek "Phobos" meaning Fear, and is defined as a persistent, abnormal and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.
So a phobia is a mainly irrational fear of something. It is not an illness. It is not a mental disorder. Nor is it a lack of will-power, or 'moral fibre', or determination.
A phobia can make one's life miserable, cause embarrassment, and undermine a persons self confidence and self esteem.
A common phobic response is ... "I know I am being stupid / silly / mad but I can't ...."
We are only born with two fears:
a) a fear of sudden loud noises
b) a fear of falling
There are well over 350 documented phobias, and the list is growing all the time. For a really informative website on phobias, please visit:
Some of the most common phobias that people come to see a therapist for are:
Acrophobia - Fear of heights
Agoraphobia - Fear of open spaces
Aichmophobia - Fear of needles
Ailurophobia - Fear of cats
Apiphobia - Fear of bees
Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders
Aviophobia - Fear of flying
Brontophobia - Fear of thunderstorms
Claustrophobia - Fear of confined spaces
Coulrophobia - Fear of clowns
Cynophobia - Fear of dogs
Dentophobia - Fear of dentists
Emetophobia - Fear of vomit / vomiting
Enochlophobia - Fear of crowds
Ereuthrophobia - Fear of blushing
Gephyrophobia - Fear of crossing bridges
Globophobia - Fear of balloons
Glossophobia - Fear of public speaking
Hydrophobia - Fear of water
Mottophobia - Fear of moths
Musophobia - Fear of rats or mice
Myctophobia - Fear of darkness
Mysophobia - Fear of germs or dirt
Nosocomephobia - Fear of hospital
Nyctophobia - Fear of the dark or night
Ophidiophobia - Fear of snakes
Ornithophobia - Fear of birds
Rhypophobia - Fear of filth or dirt
Social phobia - Fear of being in social situations
Spheksophobia - Fear of wasps
Thanatophobia - Fear of death or dying
Triskadekaphobia - Fear of the number 13
Trypanophobia - Fear of injections
A phobia can be catagorised as the following.
Simple Phobias: fear of a single stimulus such as fear of heights, ladders, frogs, enclosed places, etc.
Complex Phobias: a fear of a number of stimuli. In fear of flying, for example, the person may be afraid of crashing, being enclosed in the plane, losing self control etc.
Social Phobias: simply put means you are afraid of what might occur or perceived what may happen when in the company of other people, for example, fear of eating in company, fear of blushing, fear of being boring or uninteresting, fear of having nothing to say or what you about to say, fear of losing self control, fear of trembling, etc.
Agoraphobia: Literally 'fear of the market place' and, up to a decade or so ago, the term was used to describe people who were afraid of open spaces. 'Agoraphobia' is now used to describe those who experience increasing nervousness the further they travel from their own home. In severe cases they may not venture from home at all.
What they all have in common is FEAR.
I use a combination of Clinical Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy and NLP to help you overcome all kinds of fears and phobias, from fear of flying to fear of being sick to fear of speaking in public.
Many people have phobias but don't do anything about it or feel too ashamed or embarrassed to tell anyone or to seek help. However if you have a phobia, and it's now become a problem for you, then I can help you.
Remember ... anyone can be afraid of anything!
It is not an illness. It is not a mental disorder. Nor is it a lack of will-power, or 'moral fibre', or determination or something to just get over.