Eliminating Your Phobia, Fear or Panic Attacks

By Gary Johnston

Most people have at least one event, environment or item that induces a mild degree of anxiety or fear. Our unconscious mind does this as a safety mechanism when, for whatever reason, it believes it is protecting us from harm. When that fear becomes so intense that it stops you doing something or living a full life it becomes known as a PHOBIA. Phobias are often given names by psychologists or psychotherapists to describe what the phobia does, thereby "pigeon-holing" the phobia and giving it a kind of reality. I suggest you do not do that.

Phobias, and their close cousins Panic Attacks, both occur when your unconscious mind recognizes a particular set of circumstances that it believes are placing you in danger. It immediately begins triggering a set of physical reactions, including emotional responses that it knows will make you move away from the perceived danger. At least, this is the strategy IT HAS BEEN TOLD will get the desired protective response.

However, the response is almost always too strong under the circumstances. Of course there is a valid reason to be cautious of spiders and other sometimes toxic or furry critters. But to create an irrational response of jumping on a chair, or running screaming from the room, or simply freezing up so you can't move, combined with the debilitating physical effects of intense terror, is usually not a valid response.

The same applies to fear of being in a crowded space, or out in the open air, or panicking when your mind thinks something has germs on it. Whilst under some very RARE circumstances the response is appropriate, most of the time it is not.

So, how do you stop your mind from doing that?

The solution is slightly different for each of you, but the basic principle is the same. It applies to both phobias and panic attacks. Instead of concentrating on WHAT is happening, concentrate your conscious thoughts on HOW it is happening. In other words, instead of feeling the fear in your body and how that makes you feel, stop for a second and concentrate on how your mind is producing that feeling. Which part of your body feels different? Is it your stomach, your heart, your chest, your head? And how is it making that part different? Does it make it feel heavy, thicker, darker, colder or hotter? Does it appear to look different in your mind's eye?

Once you know that, and knowing that this response is really not a valid response, what do have to consciously change to the way that feeling is created to make it feel better. Imagine what it would be like if that part of the body was lighter, cooler, warmer, less dense, a different color. And when you feel the difference, ask your unconscious mind to take note. All it needs is better response mechanisms to help protect you. By using the new feelings it actually protects you more because you can think clearly and respond appropriately instead of in panic. That would be OK would it not?

Done correctly, your mind will begin to disassociate your circumstance from the reaction it used to create. With a little practice you can turn off the irrational reaction in a few seconds and eventually dissolve the phobia or panic entirely. The same methodology applied to Post Traumatic Stress Disorders.

How do I know this? Because of a particular set of circumstances many years ago caused me to start having panic attacks. Once I recognized what was happening, I could stop them within seconds and eventually stopped them even starting. In my clinical practice, and even in sizable groups, I have shown my clients how to totally and permanently eliminate phobias in 5 minutes. The method works every time as long as any biochemical imbalance caused by long term high stress levels has been dealt with first.

In future articles I will cover more about the techniques of doing this, but for instant gratification go to http://www.gmfint.com for additional free resources to help deal with all stress and fear based problems.

The site also discusses Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and ways of dealing with it efficiently.

Gary Johnston is a psychotherapist with extensive clinical and corporate experience in Stress and Change Management. He is a full member of the Australian Association of Clinical Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy and runs public and corporate short courses on stress management and life skills. His consulting website is found at http://www.gmfint.com

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