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A phobia is described as a disproportional or irrational fear someone expresses with respect to an object or situation and that person then goes to great lengths to avoid. The phobia that most people will be familiar with is a fear of a closed space (claustrophobia) or an open space, (agoraphobia); but phobias may also be associated with a specific object, birds, bridges, flying, snakes or spiders for example or even to a fear of a social situations, a social phobia such as a fear of public humiliation or embarrassment. All these fears and phobias are very common, about 10% of the population have a phobia of some kind. Sufferers notice an increased level of anxiety with the anticipation of exposure to the phobic situation. A sudden exposure usually triggers a panic attack.
How and why phobias take root is not fully understood. Simple phobias such as a fear of dogs or spiders often start in childhood perhaps by being bitten by a dog (fear imprint) or when the child observes an adult react in a certain way. As the child grows up the phobia often disappears; whereas complex phobias such as social phobias surface during the teens. Sometimes phobias continue into adulthood for many years.
Hypnosis has a long track record of helping people conquer phobias, fears and anxieties. By combining deep relaxation, successful approaches work by decoupling the emotional response helping individuals discover better ways to respond and cope better when they encounter the situation in future.