Most people have some phobia (it is estimated that about 10 percent of the population suffer from one or more phobias) but manage to keep it controlled either by avoiding the stimulus or by suppressing their fears.
Phobias are only serious when fear becomes disabling and begins to affect lifestyle to the extent that it has to be altered or normal situations avoided.
The causes of a phobia may be unknown or the result of an experience that has left a long-lasting impression. It can, however, be copied or adopted from parents, teachers, or carers, or very occasionally be the result of some organic disease, such as epilepsy or brain injury.
Panic and anxiety are also the result of low blood sugar, and can be more common in people with borderline diabetes or a sensitivity to sugar. Phobias can also be the result of prolonged stress (which in itself can cause blood sugar levels to drop), anxiety, or panic. Anxious, nervy, or easily stressed people are more vulnerable than others to phobias.
Symptoms of a phobia include overt fear and feeling overwhelmed when confronted with the object of that fear. Physical symptoms include breathlessness, palpitations, sweating, nausea, giddiness, and trembling. A sufferer may go to extreme lengths to avoid a confrontation with the object of their fear.Learning to CopeThere is some evidence that sufferers can help themselves, usually through graduated exposure.
In the case of a serious phobia, people are unable even to think about it. The first step is being able to do so, and then taking it one step further by drawing pictures of the object of a phobia, looking at pictures in a magazine, perhaps watching them on television, and so on.In the case of a situation phobia, like flying, it may be suggested that you go to the airport and watch airplanes taking off and landing. Then, on the next visit, you might go as far as the departure lounge (many airlines offer sessions for phobics and do not consider this unusual). On the third visit you might sit on an airplane, or try an electronically simulated flight. You will gradually learn to control your phobia.Take one step at a time. Draw lists, keep diaries that provide a record of your progress. Even when you find you are progressing at a very slow rate - some sufferers complain of taking two steps back for every one step forward - there are changes in your situation and your acceptance of it, and a diary makes them obvious. The key to overcoming a phobia is harnessing the panic, and with practice it is possible to do so.
Panic can be overwhelming, and it may appear uncontrollable, but in time you can learn to distance yourself from the feelings and learn how to turn them off. Many exposures to panic may be necessary to do so, but eventually it becomes clear that panic attacks do end and go away and that it is possible to master feelings about a phobic situation or object.
TreatmentPsychotherapy Treatment may involve relaxation techniques and desensitization.Homeopathy Treatment would be constitutional but specific remedies include: Borax and Sulfur for fear of heights; Lycopodium, Gelsemium
, and Anarcardium for stagefright and fear of performing in public. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
2 comments:
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about the cause of fear of flying. It is not caused by a bad flight; most people on a bad flight don't develop fear of flying. Difficulty with flying is caused by insufficient ability to regulate feelings when facing uncertainty.
Research since the advent of the functional MRI just eight years ago has helps us understand how the brain works. We now recognize that the ability to regulate feelings is learned and that the part of the brain that does this regulation requires stimulation of the right kind during the first two years of life. The right kind of stimulation requires a caregiver who is empathically attuned to the infant and responds to the infants signals, rather than simply providing for the infant according to an agenda set by the caregiver.
If the child is afraid, the caregiver needs to tune into the child's fear in a way the child really knows the caregiver feels the same way. Thus the child knows he or she is not alone.
Then, the magic happens; the caregiver then lets the child know that -- though the child's fear is 100% shared -- the adult has an additional point of view, which is that it is not the end of the world; it will work out alright.
Many of us, obviously, didn't get such optimal early development. Thus, when facing uncertainty, we control our anxiety by being in control of the situation, or by having a way to out of it.
That works fairly well on the ground -- except for annoying those who regard us as control freaks. But when flying, there is uncertainty, of course. And, not being in control and not having a way out, there is no way to regulate the feelings.
Therapists try to help with CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), but anxiety can develop so rapidly that CBT techniques cannot keep up with the anxiety build-up.
Hypnosis is pretty "hit or miss". If it helps on one flight, it can fail to help on another flight.
Medications are not to be recommended -- according to the World Health Organization -- because when sedated, the passenger doesn't move around enough to protect against DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis. If a DVT clot forms, it is a serious and potentially life-threatening problem.
Also, use of medications -- according to research -- is only helpful in very mild cases of fear of flying. In more severe cases, medications make the flight worse!
I have tried to give a good understanding of the cause and cure of fear of flying in a video at
http://www.fearofflying.com/video_hs.shtml
Your Extra Information are Really appreciated Captain Tom
Thank You for The addition
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