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Phobias
With our approaches to emotional issues - especially those involving anxiety and fear about discreet events (simple or situational phobias) we can often extinguish the fear - and all it's many varied physical symptoms in 1 or 2 sessions. Help is only a phone call away.
Phobias are the most common form of mental disorders. They can be defined as irrational fears about objects or situations. People tend to see these phobias as unreasonable, but feel incapable of giving up the fear, or confronting the situation in a calm fashion. Reasoning with the person as to the foolishness of the fear has no effect.Phobias can be categorized into three types:
Some Common Treatment Approaches
There have been a number of behavioral techniques developed for eliminating these phobias. Some of the more common of these are Systematic Desensitization, Flooding in vivo or in imagination, Modelling, and Exposure and Response Prevention.
The most widely used treatment is Exposure and Response Prevention. This involves a careful, systematic exposure to the fearful situation, with the patient learning to relax and act in a non-defensive way around the phobic event. The patient is guided through a series of situations, learning how to master one's fears in easy situations before being exposed to more fearful ones. The patient sets the speed that the therapy advances, so that the patient never gets too frightened or out of control. These approaches often take from 8 to 16 sessions for an acceptable result.
Phobics who use this method of treatment show a good rate of success, with patients with simple phobias typically taking about 8 to 16 sessions to bring the phobia under control. However, we have found that by using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and/or the Sedona Method we have been able to release the anxiety and helplessness associated with simple phobias in as few as 2 -3 sessions. When dealing with social phobias, treatment tends to be somewhat longer (sometimes taking 5 to 6 sessions) because there are often deeper underlying self-esteem issues sometimes stemming from childhood experiences. Agoraphobia also tends to be more difficult to control compared to simple phobias, again because of deeper emotional issues. However, the majority of patients can be helped by these methods. Using the methods we teach people as part of therapy, patients rarely relapse. They frequently, in fact usually, experience considerable relief from the anxiety and experience an immediate confidence in themselves. Also they tend tend to use these techniques to face their fears in other areas of their lives.
Medication
There are no effective medications to eliminate simple fears. Certain medications can be used to temporarily reduce the anxiety, such as minor tranquilizers. However, these medications do not reduce the fear permanently, and people tend to become dependent on them in order to perform these tasks. Agoraphobia is an exception to this rule in that there are several types of medication that can reduce the frequency and intensity of panics. These include the tricyclics, some of the benzodiazapines and some of the new SSRIs. Unfortunately, the panics tend to return if the medication is discontinued. Some recent studies have shown that a few social phobias may be relieved by medication also. However, the same problem tends to occur if the medication is discontinued.
Phobias are the most common form of mental disorders. They can be defined as irrational fears about objects or situations. People tend to see these phobias as unreasonable, but feel incapable of giving up the fear, or confronting the situation in a calm fashion. Reasoning with the person as to the foolishness of the fear has no effect.Phobias can be categorized into three types:
- Simple, or situational, phobias. These are fears of animals and insects, fears of injuries or injections, or fears of specific situations such as heights, tunnels, flying, or thunderstorms.
- Social phobias
. These are fears of being judged by people, or being seen as foolish. It results in the individual avoiding many social situations which the person believes he or she should otherwise attend.- Agoraphobia.
This is a somewhat more complicated phobia where the person believes that one will have a panic attack in certain situations that are difficult to escape from, such as open spaces, or tunnels. The individual is more focussed on the danger of having a panic attack, rather than believing the situation is dangerous per se.
Some Common Treatment Approaches
There have been a number of behavioral techniques developed for eliminating these phobias. Some of the more common of these are Systematic Desensitization, Flooding in vivo or in imagination, Modelling, and Exposure and Response Prevention.
The most widely used treatment is Exposure and Response Prevention. This involves a careful, systematic exposure to the fearful situation, with the patient learning to relax and act in a non-defensive way around the phobic event. The patient is guided through a series of situations, learning how to master one's fears in easy situations before being exposed to more fearful ones. The patient sets the speed that the therapy advances, so that the patient never gets too frightened or out of control. These approaches often take from 8 to 16 sessions for an acceptable result.
Phobics who use this method of treatment show a good rate of success, with patients with simple phobias typically taking about 8 to 16 sessions to bring the phobia under control. However, we have found that by using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and/or the Sedona Method we have been able to release the anxiety and helplessness associated with simple phobias in as few as 2 -3 sessions. When dealing with social phobias, treatment tends to be somewhat longer (sometimes taking 5 to 6 sessions) because there are often deeper underlying self-esteem issues sometimes stemming from childhood experiences. Agoraphobia also tends to be more difficult to control compared to simple phobias, again because of deeper emotional issues. However, the majority of patients can be helped by these methods. Using the methods we teach people as part of therapy, patients rarely relapse. They frequently, in fact usually, experience considerable relief from the anxiety and experience an immediate confidence in themselves. Also they tend tend to use these techniques to face their fears in other areas of their lives.
Medication
There are no effective medications to eliminate simple fears. Certain medications can be used to temporarily reduce the anxiety, such as minor tranquilizers. However, these medications do not reduce the fear permanently, and people tend to become dependent on them in order to perform these tasks. Agoraphobia is an exception to this rule in that there are several types of medication that can reduce the frequency and intensity of panics. These include the tricyclics, some of the benzodiazapines and some of the new SSRIs. Unfortunately, the panics tend to return if the medication is discontinued. Some recent studies have shown that a few social phobias may be relieved by medication also. However, the same problem tends to occur if the medication is discontinued.
