Most of us will have experienced feeling fear over something in our lives. To feel scared from time to time or experience a level of fear over certain things is natural.

Sometimes though these fears have a more serious effect.

A fear becomes a phobia when it starts to impact your life in such a way that you make changes which adversely impact you.

Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder based in fear. They have a more serious effect on us although fears can have a dramatic impact on us too. Phobias are totally irrational and result in an extreme fear response when either being exposed to the trigger or even a representation or imagining of it.

Phobia Effects

The effect of an extreme fear or phobia can be physical as well as emotional. Some of the symptoms people might experience include:

• Terror, uncontrollable urge to escape, disgust or severe anxiety.
• Increased heart rate or skipped beats
• Shortness of breath, gasping or increased rate of breathing
• Sweating
• Feeling wobbly or faint
• Panic attack symptoms such as tingling fingers and toes
• Nausea or being sick

 When should I seek help?

If a phobia or fear is causing you to change your behaviour or alter your life to fit around the phobia or fear then it is time to think about getting help. It is also time if the physical symptoms or level of anxiety is so high it is having an adverse effects on your physical or mental health.

You may not know what has led to your phobia or you might have an idea. Either way hypnosis is a tried and tested method for getting to the root of a fear/phobia and getting rid of it.