The Most Unexpected Fears Hypnotherapy Can Help With

Fear and phobia are two terms that have been used interchangeably in daily language. We all heard -or said- “I have a fear of spiders” or “I can’t fly, I have fear of flying”. Clearly, some fears are just words indicating that we don’t feel comfortable during or before that “thing” comes across our way. However, some fears are much more serious and can disturb the everyday living. Let’s start with understanding the difference between phobia and fear.

What is Phobia?

A phobia is an irrational fear that can lead to panic, anxiety, or avoidance behaviors. For example, fear of spiders, fear of flying, or fear of heights are usually phobias since the feeling of fear related to these phobias is excessive and irrational.

What is Fear?

Fear is a very primitive human emotion that is intended to protect us from harmful situations. Thanks to fear, we can be alert and aware of physical or psychological threats. So, it’s easy to see how fear and phobia may easily be confused because during a phobia trigger, fear is the dominant emotion.

However, unless there is an earlier life experience or serious threat to the person’s physical or psychological well-being, there is no need to be fearful of spiders, flying, or any other phobia as such.

For instance, someone can develop a fear of flying because they were in a flight where there was serious turbulence that threatened the person’s well-being. In that case, the fear wouldn’t be as irrational however, it is still treatable with the right therapeutic tools.

Phobias are different than fears because phobias are purely based on irrational thinking, anticipation, and intense anxiety. Most often, we may not even know the reasons why the phobia developed in the first place. However, still, hypnotherapy is a very successful therapeutic tool to help with phobias because hypnosis helps with changing the subconscious negative association about that specific phobia.

You may not have heard of some of these fears and phobias. Many people who experience these are usually uncomfortable with sharing their negative unpleasant emotions with others. However, phobias and fears can be very intense and disturbing. Here are a few common but very unexpected fears and phobias that can be helped with hypnotherapy:

Emetophobia

Emetophobia is an extreme phobia of vomiting, seeing people vomit, nausea, or seeing vomit. Of course, no one really enjoys vomiting but if this leads to certain avoidance behaviors such as avoiding public places, public transportation, certain foods, or uncontrollable fear, you may have emetophobia.  

Hypnosis is very helpful with fear of vomiting because not only it can help with shifting the negative irrational thinking, but also it can help with encouraging the person to overcome the avoidance behaviors.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is one of the worst fears anyone can experience because it severely disturbs daily life. Cleveland Clinic describes agoraphobia as an anxiety disorder that causes an intense fear of becoming overwhelmed or unable to escape. It doesn’t end here. People who have agoraphobia may resist leaving home, using public transportation, driving, or shopping.

Hypnotherapy has been widely used to treat agoraphobia. Desensitization technique and physical calmness and relaxation that are created during hypnosis are two common helpful techniques that are used with hypnotherapy.

Fear of driving

Driving is one of those things that we learn once and we perform automatically after we get comfortable. So how do people develop a fear of driving?  Fear of driving is actually very common. Some people may fear driving on the freeway, on small streets, or even sitting on the passenger seat. Fear of driving may be a symptom of agoraphobia, claustrophobia, or a phobia developed by itself.  

Hypnotic approaches for fear of driving are similar to agoraphobia. Step by step desensitization to triggering events during hypnosis helps the person associate calm feelings to previously triggering circumstances. During hypnotherapy, it is possible to condition the body to feel calmness and relaxation instead of anxiety as well.

Trypophobia

You may not have heard of trypophobia but it is actually very common. Trypophobia is disgust or fear of small holes. People who experience trypophobia may have a hard time looking at things like honeycombs, pomegranates, ceilings, or clusters. They may also develop anticipatory anxiety before the encounter. There is not much known about tryphohobia but one thing is certain; the subconscious mind believes that small holes are disgusting or threatening.

Just like all the other phobias, trypophobia is directly related to anxiety as well. By releasing anxiety, we can see significant improvements in trypophobia symptoms. Additionally, during hypnosis, we can trace back the very first time when this uncomfortable feeling was experienced and bring a resolution starting from that event.

Aerophobia 

Aerophobia, in other words, fear of flying, is an intense fear of flying or air travel. Fear of flying is very common and usually develops later in life when anxiety was present before, during, or after flying. With the addition of negative anticipation and perceiving normal situations as triggering, flying turns into a fearful event.  

Hypnotherapy is widely known for helping with the fear of flying. Some techniques include systematic desensitization, regression, or anxiety relief.

Fear of certain foods

People who approached me for help with fear of food were usually hesitant or shy because they thought this was very uncommon and silly. However, fear of certain foods is actually very common and disturbing. Some people may feel disgusted in eating certain vegetables or some people may find it hard to swallow.

Usually, during hypnosis, we work on finding the cause of this fear or disgust. Additionally, we can work on creating positive beliefs or expectations about those triggering foods under hypnosis.

What about you?

Do you have a fear or a phobia that feels unusual or even silly? Your fear or phobia may actually be very common. Don’t be afraid to seek help for an issue that is disturbing your daily life. Hypnotherapy can be an excellent option to resolve your fear or phobia!

***The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Website.