Phobias are intense, overwhelming and debilitating fears that disrupt the life of an otherwise healthy person. A phobia is a disrupting fear that is out of proportion to the danger posed by a particular object or situation even when it is recognized by the sufferer as groundless. Examples include an extreme fear of people (social phobia), open or crowded places (agoraphobia), heights (aviophobia), or closed spaces (claustrophobia). Phobias can become extremely painful, intrusive conditions obstructing a person in all aspects of their lives.
Social phobia – you’re likely to suffer from a social phobia if you:
- Feel anxious, fearful of speaking or performing in public, using public lavatories, eating in public, or any other activity in the presence of others.
- Have persistent, irrational fear elicited by the presence of other people.
- Attempt to avoid social situations in which you might be evaluated and behave in an embarrassing manner.
- Have symptoms of excessive blushing or sweating, extreme anxiety or even a full-blown panic attack.
- Work in an occupations or professions far below your talents or intelligence due to extreme social sensitivity.
Agoraphobia- fear of people or crowds. You’re likely to suffer from agoraphobia if you are:
- Anxious or fearful of leaving home or do so with great distress.
- Anxious or fearful of crowds, scared of going shopping or travelling.
- Anxious or fearful in public places.
- Anxious that you may not be able to escape or find help if you’re incapacitated by panic attacks.
Aviophobia – fear of flying. You’re likely to suffer from aviophobia if:
- Your fear of flying is extremely debilitating and restricts your ability to travel.
- You have panic attacks or exhibit anxiety in relation to flying.
- Flying causes you great emotional and physical distress, affects or limits employment and social opportunities for you.
Mental tension is responsible for ill health. Our personal success and failures are determined by the use of our mind. A healthy mind is the key to success, peace and freedom. The mind can be seen as the computer hardware, the beliefs and thoughts as the software and our life’s experiences as the screen. Negative thoughts and beliefs in your unconscious can be compared to software viruses on a computer. It’s only when you clear the virus from the computer that it can work to its full potential.