It is estimated that nearly 10% of the population suffer from phobias. The definition of phobia is: An overwhelming, irrational, and persistent fear that leads to avoiding the object or situation. It can be the fear of a specific thing/object, situation/social setting, or activity.

Phobias are actually classified as a mental disorder in the category of anxiety disorders. When a person has a phobia and can’t avoid the above triggers, they will experience extreme fear, anxiety and panic. Even if the person can avoid the trigger, even thinking about it will cause anxiety.

There really is no complete list of phobias as a person can develop an irrational fear of anything. The difference between a fear and a phobia is that a person can be afraid of something for a legitimate reason such as a person who fears dogs might be afraid because they were once bitten or attacked by a dog. This would not be considered a phobia.

There is a fine line between having a healthy fear of something that could potentially be dangerous (such as snakes), and being so fearful about snakes that you are afraid to be in your own yard because you might see a garden snake or can’t see a snake on T.V. without feeling panicked. A phobia usually causes the person with the phobia to feel a sense of panic even thinking about the object or situation that they fear.

Whether you have a legitimate reason for fearing something, or you think it might be a phobia, or irrational fear, in either case the consequence is that you end up spending a lot of time and energy avoiding what you fear and worrying excessively about it. This can dramatically affect a person’s quality of life causing them to feel very isolated and alone. It is embarrassing for people to talk about a phobia because people who don’t have it don’t understand why the person can’t rationalize their way out of it.

The reason intelligence and intellect have nothing to do with getting rid of fears or phobias is because fear is instinctual, it comes before thought. Fear is a hardwired feature designed to protect us, even save our lives in a situation where there isn’t time to analyze the possible outcomes. For a person with a phobia, they are already experiencing physical symptoms like fight or flight before they have time to think.

There are many theories on what causes phobias but most people aren’t able to explain why they developed their phobia.

Using hypnotherapy, there is a way to reprogram the brain to eliminate the phobia or extreme fear a person is experiencing. It is a way of processing old memories in a new way when in the hypnotic state. The success rate is typically around 70%. This method is also used for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
If you or someone you know suffers from a fear, phobia or trauma, Hypnotherapy can help. It can take anywhere from 1 to 3 sessions to eliminate the problem for most people. It should be obvious after the first session if it is helping.

Below is a list of the most common phobias but there is no complete list because a phobia can be anything you can imagine: