FREE YOURSELF OF PHOBIAS

Living with a phobia creates challenging situations on a daily basis, but there are measures you can take to ease the problem and even help cure it

From spiders and snakes to planes and public speaking, many of us claim we have a phobia of something, but a true phobia is far more than just a fear. An estimated 10 million people in the UK have some form of phobia, so if the thought of getting stuck in a lift sends shivers down your spine, chances are you’re not the only one.

“Fear is a normal response to certain situations that can cause real harm. It can often be reasonable to have fears, for instance knowing not to step close to the edge of a cliff, but phobias on the other hand aren’t always rational,” says Danny Zane, psychotherapist and practice manager at North London Therapy. “Examples of this are phobias of flying which stop a person from boarding a commercial flight or a phobia of the sight of celery.”

Despite their prevalence in daily life, there doesn’t seem to be one sole cause of a phobia. Many things could contribute to it developing, with one theory pointing to past experiences.

“One of the main things is there’ll be something in your past that has conditioned you to feel that way,” says Harley Street phobia specialist Christopher Paul Jones. “What happens with a phobia is that at some point in your past, your brain has gone, ‘This thing equals danger.’

It could be literal. Say you’re on a flight at eight years old and it’s a bit turbulent. You don’t know that turbulence isn’t dangerous and your brain goes, ‘Never do this again.’”

However, some causes aren’t as obvious. “It can be much more metaphorical,” says Christopher. “If you grew up and your parents fought a lot or you didn’t feel safe, you might have felt like you were trapped. That can then create a fear later in life of being physically trapped in confined spaces.”

If you’ve got a debilitating phobia that’s been holding you back, here are five suggestions that could help…

TRY SELF-SOOTHING

In the moment, self-soothing could help regulate your emotional state. “If you rub your hands together like you’re stroking a pet or give yourself a hug, it creates the same chemical reaction to doing those things and releases oxytocin,” says phobia specialist Christopher. “It’s very hard for two emotions to exist in the same place so self-soothing can make us more relaxed and help us feel better.”

LOOK FOR AN ANCHOR

A technique called anchoring could override any negative conditioning. “Anchoring is where you do something unique like squeeze your fist when you feel happy. What happens is the act of squeezing becomes a Pavlovian condition, so when you do this in the future it’s strong enough to take out anything that’s negative, as long as that’s stronger than whatever you’re thinking about,” says Christopher.

EMBRACE MEDITATION

Meditation and mindful breathing can help reduce stress levels when faced with a phobia such as public speaking. “If the phobia is coming to your mind, focus on your breathing,” advises psychotherapist Danny. “Deep breaths increase the amount of oxygen you have, which can reduce stress. Think about the imagined excessive fear and see

nd it as just that – your phobia is an imagined fear that is trying to control an aspect of your life.”

FIND THE ROOT CAUSE

It’s always worth tackling the root of the issue, too, says Danny. “Talking therapy is effective at dealing with phobias,” he says. “This can include exploring our pasts and the roots of these phobias alongside our attachments to them, their meaning and the impact they have on you. Cognitive behavioural therapy can be effective in enabling us to reshape our beliefs, which can change our thoughts and responses.”

POSSIBLE TREATMENT

While medication isn’t typically recommended for treating phobias, it could help treat things such as anxiety that are a result of the phobia. In this case, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may be prescribed to help treat anxiety, panic disorder, social phobia or agoraphobia. They work by boosting serotonin levels in the brain. As with all medications, SSRIS can cause side-effects in some people.