Hypnosis and Phobias Part 1
Let's talk about hypnosis and phobias. Here is potentially a huge subject that I will spread over more than one post, but I want to cover this subject because there are so many sufferers in this world that needn't be suffering.
That sounds like an almighty sweeping statement, but when I get to explaining what I mean, you might begin to understand what is happening and why I believe that phobias can be removed completely from people's lives.
What is a Phobia?
First of all, define phobia. Oh boy...
In its simplest definition, a phobia is a deep fear of a situation, object or experience that cannot be explained by the sufferer as to why they have it.
Of course, that was very simple and there are varying degrees of fear and the associated suffering that goes with it.
I'll give an example to clarify a little.
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is a well known fear of enclosed spaces. The sufferer may be perfectly fine in a small room as long as there are windows to look out of, or the door remains open so they are confident they can leave at any time.
If there are no windows, the open door can often be enough to allay any fear. The moment that door is closed, however, the sufferer experiences several sensations associated with extreme fear, anxiety and terror of the unknown.
Physical symptoms may appear in the form of sweating, body temperature rise, heart rate increase, dizziness, nausea - the list can be lengthy. These are associated with a sharp rise in adrenaline secretion and the body goes into fight or flight mode, causing immense stress.
There is no explainable reason for these experiences for the sufferer, they just know they have them and that's all there is to it.
Often psychologists can make educated guesses as to the cause of claustrophobia as being a deeply ingrained fear that all humans have of being restricted or unable to escape from predators dating back to our prehistoric ancestors - a sort of animal instinct.
These fears are normally suppressed in modern humans, but can be brought out by certain terrifying experiences in childhood, such as being locked in a small dark cupboard as punishment for some unacceptable bahaviour as defined by parents or guardians at the time.
Ok, these theories may have some truth in them and are certainly logical probabilities in the case of claustrophobia. But there are other intangibles that are not taken into account that certain fields of psychology and psychiatry cannot explain.
As advanced as humankind has become, our best minds still cannot with any certainty fathom the workings of a human mind, much less have an accurate set of definitions to explain how and why certain experiences affect one person and not another.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud put forward his own theories as to the origins of phobias and associated psychological problems such as anxiety attacks and depression, lack of confidence, susceptibility to certain habitual practices etc.
His attempts at early psychoanalysis and the subsequent explanations of the workings pf the psyche may have been closer to the truth than many people have given him credit for.
Psychoanalysis is again a huge subject and not one for fitting into a few blog posts - the collected works of Freud make lengthy and often difficult reading, but are necessary to even begin to understand what he had discovered.
Unfortunately, his theories meet with disgust and often ridicule by those that like an easy road through life, the politically correct and liberal mind just won't accept what he was trying to tell us.
So that makes what I intend to write about in a series of posts controversial even to this day. Difficult to comprehend and believe it all may be, but if you can get your head around the basics, then you might just, just see what his theories were all about.
In Practice
As a professional, practicing hypnotherapist I saw far too many cases of phobias and anxiety attacks cured by psychoanalytic techniques combined with the relaxing and inhibition lifting power of hypnosis (known as hypno-analysis) to doubt the Freudian theories.
What I saw with my own two eyes is pretty hard to ignore, much less to disregard just because it doesn't fit in with a politically correct ideal.
So prepare to be amazed, left speechless, annoyed, dismayed or even downright angry at what I will impart in future posts. But whatever you feel, please keep an open mind and try not to judge based on your own beliefs, ideals and morals.
Closed minds and closed hearts are the defences of fear and ignorance which belong in the dark Ages, not in (supposedly) enlightened times such as these.
Terry Didcott
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Posted on Tue 18 Sep, 2007 in Hypnotherapy | 0 Comments
Last Updated on Mon 9 May, 2022