What are fears and phobias?

Fear is one of the most basic human emotions, and the truth is everyone has fears.  Whether it is a fear of the dark, or of spiders, or of being left alone, all people have one fear or another.  It is one of our survival

instincts, meaning that as a species, it is the natural sensation that alerts us to danger and helps us react to a situation.

However, sometimes fears can be really intense and in some cases can

grow into phobias.  A phobia is an extreme form of fear or anxiety that is triggered by a particular object, event, or situation.  Even when the fear itself is not present, the idea or thought of it can trigger terrible reactions.

Types of phobias

There are many different phobias out in the world, but according to the NHS the main groups of phobias are:

  • animal phobias – dogs, spiders, snakes, or rodents
  • environment phobias – heights, deep water, or germs
  • situational phobias – dentists, school, or flying, or social anxiety
  • bodily phobias – blood, vomit, or having injections
  • sexual phobias – performance anxiety, or the fear of catching an STI

When to get help

In itself being afraid of something is not a problem and is really just a normal part of life.  Sometimes fear can make you feel a variety of symptoms, these are all a natural response to perceived fear, they can be things such as:

  • dizziness
  • sweating
  • upset stomach or nausea
  • trembling
  • shortness of breath
  • increased heart rate

However, if the fear is causing a significant disturbance in your life it may be beneficial to reach out for help and if you find that you are  feeling any of the following, it might be a good idea to seek out some professional support, which includes things such as:

  • feeling completely disabled or having panic attacks
  • avoiding certain situations
  • avoiding places
  • stopping you from receiving medical treatment
  • or causing an interruption to your daily life

How counselling can help

There are many approaches and therapeutic interventions used to help treat and manage extreme fear and phobia.

Counselling can help you explore your fear, we can use images or props to examine your own fear response and then I can introduce you to techniques to help ground yourself in those particularly difficult situations.  However, the key to this is to go slow and steady, to move at the pace of the client and not move to the next stage until the client is 100% able to do so.