Many people think that fear is the only thingdoes, which poisons life. But this is not so, or rather, not only so. Fear is one of the basic human emotions, accordingly, in addition to negative, it also has positive sides. It is designed to protect us from various kinds of dangers, sending a signal to the brain: “Move away! What are you doing? This could end badly!” But panic fear, unlike normal fear, does not give us energy to escape from danger, but paralyzes, so its benefit remains in great question. Let's try to figure out what it is and how to live with it.
Where does panic come from?
The history of the emergence of this concept goes backroots to ancient times. Legend has it that the god Pan, the patron of the forests, frightened his mother very much with his appearance and behavior: born with hooves, a goatee and a crushed nose, he immediately began to jump and laugh. Naturally, the mother felt horror when she saw this. A person now experiences approximately the same thing when he sees the object of his fear. A panic attack manifests itself in the following symptoms:
- increased heart rate;
- trembling over the body;
- numbness and temporary paralysis;
- suffocation;
- chaotic thoughts or their complete absence;
- a sense of horror;
Sharp attacks of panic fear are acceptedcall panic attacks. The first episodes leave an indelible impression in a person's memory, and he begins to fear the panic attack itself. You understand, this only worsens the condition. When panic attacks are repeated in some similar circumstances, a person perceives this as a pattern and begins to try to avoid them. Unfortunately, the onset of these attacks is difficult to predict, so gradually a person limits himself in almost everything. Thus, his quality of life significantly decreases, and he begins to suffer. What causes can cause panic fear? Often, emotional instability, impressionability and impulsiveness are at the root. Chronic stress can aggravate this condition and provoke the first attack of panic fear. A trigger can also be a situation of psycho-emotional overload, for example, performing on stage and traveling on the capital's metro after living in a provincial city. As a rule, panic attacks are also based on physiological features of the body: disorders of the endocrine, nervous, cardiovascular and other systems of internal organs. Doctors even describe a panic attack without fear, when there is only a vegetative component (trembling, rapid heartbeat, etc. ...).
Types of phobias
Phobias are worth talking about separately.A phobia is not just a fear, it is irrational, obsessive and uncontrollable. A person begins to fear and avoid certain phenomena, objects and activities. The natural instinct for self-preservation in such situations is inflated to enormous proportions, and instead of protecting life, it begins to poison it. The difference between a phobia and a fear is the intensity of the experience: in the first case, you are forced to change your entire lifestyle so as not to encounter the object that worries you. Usually, a phobia does not arise out of nowhere: its onset is preceded by some traumatic event. For example, a person is bitten by a dog, and he begins to experience horror and panic in front of dogs. In general, there are a great many different phobias - as many as there are things in the world! You are probably familiar with such fears as fear of heights, spiders and cancer. We would like to draw your attention to the most unusual of them:
- Acarophobia - fear of scratching A person is afraid of this action, directed at others and at himself. I wonder what happens when he finally wants to scratch something?
- Venustraphobia - fear of beautiful womenHmm, probably each of us has encountered a man who had similar traits! But seriously, this phobia is usually based on some traumatic event associated with an attractive girl. Such a person will either have to spend his life surrounded by women who are not burdened with beauty, or cure this phobia.
- Gamophobia is another disorder,concerning personal relationships This is a fear of everything related to a wedding. Some women believe that all men are subject to this fear to some degree, although a person who actually suffers from this phobia will be afraid of all the smallest wedding attributes: a white dress, rings, limousines and even a toastmaster.
- Crometophobia - fear of money Yes, yes, it happenssuch! Some people not only have no desire for these despicable pieces of paper, but also feel hostility. They are wary of everything connected with money: their images, the bills themselves, and sometimes even non-cash transactions.
- Nosophobia - fear of getting sick with somethingThe person is constantly worried about his health. Any, even the most ordinary sensations seem to him to be something out of the ordinary, unpleasant and painful. In fact, this is hypochondria that has reached its extreme point.
- Mageirokofobiya A person suffering from thisfrustrated, afraid to cook food. Agree, this phobia can significantly poison life, because in this case a person becomes unable to make even a banal fried egg. He is afraid of everything related to cooking, including cooks, so the process of eating is very difficult for him.
How to deal with all this?
Remember that the treatment of real and deep phobiasrequires the mandatory participation of a psychotherapist or psychologist. Only a specialist can select a set of adequate measures aimed at eliminating this disorder. But sometimes it happens that in everyday life we call a phobia an ordinary obsessive fear and hostility. And in this case, you can try to cope with it using “home” psychological methods. Training your behavior and thinking can be very effective. If we assume that a phobia is just a formed reflex reaction to something that is a threatening factor, then you can get rid of it by gradually getting closer to what worries and irritates. How is this done? We will tell you using the example of a child and his fear of dogs. First, the child is shown a picture of a dog, and he gets used to it. Then the child watches someone in his presence, but at a distance, playing with the dog, gradually approaching it over some time. And it all ends with a leisurely stroking of the dog. Gradual approach allows the child to get used to the threatening object (i.e. the dog) and form a positive attitude towards it. Another option that is effective in combating neurotic fears and phobias is resolving internal problems. It is no secret that they often underlie most personality disorders. If you try to break down a phobia into figures, you will get the following components:
- what they fear;
- he who fears;
- One who treats someone as someone who is afraid;
The last figure is the most difficult tounderstanding, but also the most important. Our culture is designed in such a way that experiencing fear is shameful, wrong and bad. and when we talk about it, we speak on behalf of this figure, in its terms and feelings. Thus, this part of your personality shows a negative attitude towards the afraid part. Psychologists believe that it is these experiences that transfer ordinary fear into the category of phobia. Therefore, the first thing you need to clarify is how you feel about your fear and what meaning it has for you: are you ashamed of it, condemn it or even afraid. As soon as this becomes clear, you should try to formulate an attitude that determines your attitude towards fear and cowards. For example, “being afraid is shameful”. As soon as you stop separating yourself from anxiety and instead of “I have fear” say “I am afraid”, this will be a signal that the first step is complete. Next, you should continue working with the object of fear, that is, with what you are afraid of. Two points are important here. Firstly, it is often very difficult to determine what exactly scares you in this figure: it looks like a lump of various anxieties stuck together. For example, if we talk about social phobia - hostility towards people - it may turn out that different personalities are afraid of different things: communication, condemnation, aggression, rejection or something else. Awareness of these phenomena and acceptance that there is always a rational grain in them (for example, a traumatic past experience) is a necessary stage in working with a phobia. Unraveling this tangle into separate components helps to reduce the strength of the general fear. The second important point is that we often attribute to the objects around us some properties or actions that we reject in ourselves, but subconsciously want to implement or experience. For example, a person afraid of snakes describes them as aggressive and evil, and secretly wants to try this model of behavior. Or someone who is afraid of heights actually wants to experience the feeling of flying, which would be possible if they jumped down from a high-rise building. This flight can symbolize freedom and serenity, which are often lacking in life. If you have completed the previous steps, and fear still periodically takes hold of you, then you need to sit down and think about possible resources that would help you cope with it. For example, if you are afraid of aggression from people, then methods and options for protecting yourself from an attack will be useful to you. Well, and if we are talking about such fatal things as the fear of death or loss, then it is worth considering accepting your powerlessness in such situations. This experience is difficult to experience, but it is very important for the development of the human personality. Any problem can be solved, and eliminating a phobia is no exception. As you know, the very first step towards this is awareness. And since you are reading our article, you have already taken it. It remains to try to implement our psychological recommendations in life and allow yourself to seek help from a specialist in case of unforeseen difficulties. Remember that there are no fearless people, and everyone has the right to weakness, but it is the smart person who knows that he can be happy. We recommend reading:
