Definition of Phobias
A fear is a rational or legitimate concern, a survival instinct which warns us that we are in the presence of real danger. Having a fear of fire for example is very rational, because experience has taught us that fire can burn and potentially kill us. So to safeguard ourselves, we fear fire.
However when this fear becomes irrational, when we become overly concerned about something that does not present a real danger to us, this is when the fear becomes a phobia and when it can start affecting our lives in a significantly negative way. For example a fear of flying can prevent us from travelling to countries we’d love to explore. A fear of the dentist can prevent us from visiting one, potentially leading to some very significant health issues. And social phobias can prevent us from going out and living happy and fulfilling lives.
Phobias have their roots in our unconscious minds and can be described as learned responses. The reason they are described as learned is because no one is born with a phobia – they develop over time as result of us either us modelling someone else’s response to a particular stimuli or, as a result of a one off specific event that has stayed with us.
Either way, Hypnotherapy and NLP is the route to take if you want to live a life free of unnecessary phobias, because these two treatments focus on retraining our unconscious mind to see the perceived threat or danger in a more rational and resourceful way.