Not all fears are harmful. In fact, many are even useful. For example, a four-year-old who has not been conditioned to fear traffic may stroll in front of a two-ton truck with the same ease with which he crosses the path of the family cat. In this case fear is useful and beneficial for personal safety.
If a fear is useless, that does not necessarily indicate that it is harmful, either. In fact, there are useless fears that nearly all people seem to manifest from birth, such as the fear of snakes, spiders, and excessive heights. A person with a useless fear that is magnified into a single simple phobia can most often function quite well by avoiding the one object, animal, or situation that stimulates the fear. It is easy, for example, for a person to live with certain phobias such as fear of feathers, flutes, or frogs. If the phobia does not interfere with a one’s emotional , social, or work life, then it may not require treatment.
To gauge the degree to which your fear is affecting you, ask yourself the following:
- Is my fear taking up a lot of my time? Do I think about it obsessively?
- Is my fear forcing me to do things the hard way? Do I drive to work using a route that takes me five miles out of my way, so as not to panic in a tunnel?
- If my fear affecting the other relationships in my life? Do I avoid going to bed at the same time as my partner because I am extremely fearful about my sexual performance?
- Is my fear affecting my physical condition? Do my hands shake frequently? Is my pulse often rapid? Do I get lots of headaches? Do I have blurred vision or nausea? Do I stutter? Am I often depressed?
If you responded yes to any of these questions, you might be a likely candidate for treatment using hypnosis. Hypnosis has been found to be very effective in the treatment of phobias. If you have any questions or think that I can help, please do not hesitate to contact me.