The two types of Fear; Irrational and Rational, can both be a major cause for concern in you to enjoy life as it comes. Rational Fears; fears that are based off of solid evidence or a personal experience, are healthy fears to have, if you do not let them control your life. Irrational Fears can also be based off of personal experience, but are more often than not elaborations on a feeling of unease or an association with a bad experience. These fears do more harm than good, so it is important to know how to identify these fears and to start going about getting control over them.
Identifying the Fear and the Possible Cause of It
Let us say that you have a fear of enclosed spaces. In part, this is a totally rational fear as evolution tells us that being caught in enclosed spaces is not beneficial for our survival. The fear is present in years and years of conditioning that enables you to look at a small space and think ‘that is not safe, I do not like that space’ and therefore feel fear from it. However this cannot hinder your ability to work in small or enclosed spaces and how it affects you personally can have an effect on how you live your life.
When the fear starts to negatively affect the way in which you live, this becomes a problem. If you have never personally experienced a bad situation as a result of enclosed spaces, this is where the fear starts to cross over into the realms of irrational fears.
The fear is of enclosed spaces; the cause of this fear is that people have died before from being trapped in enclosed spaces.
The Challenges with Avoiding or even facing the Fear
As you go through life, there may be situations where you will be required to face your fear. This is a natural part of life and although many people go through life without ever having to face their fears, a fear of enclosed spaces is one which you are likely to face often throughout your lifetime. How society is currently living; with daily commutes, office blocks filled with hundreds of people, cars, elevators, all of these encompass the idea of being in an enclosed space. Now you see your problem.
With a fear such as enclosed spaces, avoiding such a fear when we encounter closed space every single day can be an impossible task. However facing a fear can also have an adverse affect, if you do not approach it in the right way. Gradual acceptance of the fear is often proved more effective than just simple ‘throwing someone in at the deep end’ and Cognitive Hypnotherapy works in conjunction with this gradual process in order to help you realise and control your fear.
Accepting the Fear as a Part of you
Denial is just a way to hinder your own progress. Fears can be debilitating, embarrassing, situational and even life-changing, but they are a part of you. By realising this, you are on your way to accepting your fear and making mental and emotional adjustments in order to change the way you think about your fear. All behaviour has a purpose, and with Cognitive Hypnotherapy it is believed that 90% of the actions you take from day to day are driven by the unconscious or subconscious mind. Negative behaviours, including fears, brought on by the unconscious mind are done as a result of the brain thinking that these behaviours will bring your life benefit.
It is important to start proactively thinking about these behaviours and how you want to change them. The brain if not a series of functions set in stone; it makes mistakes, it can be developed, it can also be changed in order to re-think a preconceived notion about a thing; enclosed spaces for example. The brain is given these signals particularly when you are very young and these can develop into serious problems.
How Cognitive Hypnotherapy Can Help
By using Cognitive Hypnotherapy you are essentially re-wiring your brain in a manner that suits you. This includes activities conducted that help alleviate the stress and negative connotations associated with the fear. For example, a good way to face a fear is to use the reasoning technique; Why am I frightened? What happened in the past? What are the chances of it happening again? What would I do in such a situation? How likely is it that this situation will be completely inescapable? How many people have encountered this situation before?
Providing yourself with an internal monolog of actions and re-actions to a perceived fear can help you with it. However it is important to keep a calm head and to work through each action and re-action slowly, as trying to think of a hypothetical solution too quickly could lead to panicking and overall worsening of the fears. All in all, slow and steady, positive thinking can work wonders in helping you come to terms with a fear and then eventually, overcoming it.
Sarah Price is a marketing executive for www.helendaytherapy.co.uk; a UK based cognitive hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner specialising in conquering stress, anxiety and confidence issues.