racheH
Well-known member
www.dentalfearcentral.com/overcome_phobia_neuro.html+phobia+reaction+brain+aware&hl=en
OK, I know it's about dental phobia. But the facts and methods could be applied to any phobia, I'm sure. It's also rare to find a website that isn't asking for money in return for more information.
Only one thing: I've noticed that unlike so-called specific phobias, like of dentists, people with social anxieties aren't often sure of what their phobia is of. I wasn't, and understanding what it was was an important step for me. E.g. I used to think I was scared of talking to people. I was, but that wasn't the phobia, and using techniques to reverse phobias would not have worked to reduce my fear of conversation, because the fear of conversation was only caused by the real phobia.
My phobia wasn't of doing anything in particular; it was of other people's disapproval, and the same may true for many here. The fear of doing things in front of people was actually rational, because it was fear of the fear, and fear does actually hurt you - potentially, it can kill you. It's called anticipation anxiety. You've probably heard of it, and it's important to distinguish between this and the phobia that causes it. I say all this because if you've tried such techniques before and they failed, it might be down to the fact that you tried to cure anticipation anxiety with a technique designed to cure phobias.
I used to tell myself not to be scared to approach someone, because they were unlikely to disapprove of me. That was not addressing the phobia; it was addressing the anticipation of the phobic response. If I had been addressing the phobic response itself, I would have told myself: 'don't be scared to approach that person, because their simple disapproval cannot harm you'. (Of course this wouldn't have cured a phobia, but it would have been a start - and it was
)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at it!!! It only needs the click of a mouse and if it helps just one person, if I've helped one person, it will have been worth going through the phobia myself... hence the passion
OK, I know it's about dental phobia. But the facts and methods could be applied to any phobia, I'm sure. It's also rare to find a website that isn't asking for money in return for more information.
Only one thing: I've noticed that unlike so-called specific phobias, like of dentists, people with social anxieties aren't often sure of what their phobia is of. I wasn't, and understanding what it was was an important step for me. E.g. I used to think I was scared of talking to people. I was, but that wasn't the phobia, and using techniques to reverse phobias would not have worked to reduce my fear of conversation, because the fear of conversation was only caused by the real phobia.
My phobia wasn't of doing anything in particular; it was of other people's disapproval, and the same may true for many here. The fear of doing things in front of people was actually rational, because it was fear of the fear, and fear does actually hurt you - potentially, it can kill you. It's called anticipation anxiety. You've probably heard of it, and it's important to distinguish between this and the phobia that causes it. I say all this because if you've tried such techniques before and they failed, it might be down to the fact that you tried to cure anticipation anxiety with a technique designed to cure phobias.
I used to tell myself not to be scared to approach someone, because they were unlikely to disapprove of me. That was not addressing the phobia; it was addressing the anticipation of the phobic response. If I had been addressing the phobic response itself, I would have told myself: 'don't be scared to approach that person, because their simple disapproval cannot harm you'. (Of course this wouldn't have cured a phobia, but it would have been a start - and it was
)PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at it!!! It only needs the click of a mouse and if it helps just one person, if I've helped one person, it will have been worth going through the phobia myself... hence the passion
