Does It Work To Tell People With A Needle Phobia That Vaccine Injections Wont Hurt
No. While getting the COVID-19 vaccine can be relatively painless for many children and adults, some people experience real pain. And kids who get multiple vaccines at each well-child visit can be sore after vaccines. So, its best to tell people the truth and not to minimize their feelings.
Whether or not theyre phobic, kids dont buy it when you say it wont hurt because what you experience as a harmless pinch they might feel as a giant pain, so its better to give them facts like it will be over fast, and let them talk about things they can do to get through it. Rollins said.
Thats because the phobia is real. The anxiety is real. And, for some people, the pain is quite real.
Az List Of Some Of The More Common Phobias
While not comprehensive, this phobia list offers a glimpse of the many phobias that can have a serious impact on a person’s life. As you may notice while you browse through this list, most specific phobias fall into one of four major categories:
- Fears of the natural environment
- Fears related to animals
- Fear related to medical treatments or issues
- Fears related to specific situations
One important thing to remember is that virtually any object can become a fear object. The names of specific phobias are often formed as nonce words, or words coined for a single occasion only.
These names themselves are often formed by taking a Greek prefix that represents the fear object and adding the -phobia suffix. Because of this, any attempt at a completely exhaustive list of phobias would simply be an exercise in futility. Any list of phobias could grow with the addition of newly coined terms for previously unnamed specific phobias.
While listing all of the phobias that may exist is not possible, it can be helpful to look through a list of some of the more commonly described phobias. As you can see by looking at this list, almost any object or situation can become the source of fear.
Where Do Phobias Come From
Some specific phobias originate directly from our life experiences.
Early childhood experiences often form the basis for simple phobias.
A child who fell from a tree may now fear heights.
A teenager injured in a rally may now fear all crowds.
Indirect absorption can be a factor as we can learn and unconsciously absorb the fears of those around us.
A mother frightened of spiders may unconsciously pass that fear to her children.
Complex phobias develop during adulthood and impact more severely upon daily life.
Genetics, life experience and brain chemistry may all be contributory factors.
Recommended Reading: What’s The Phobia Of Long Words
Tools For Overcoming Your Fears
Once youve treated the most extreme symptoms of fear of failure, you can begin to harness your fear and leverage it for success.
Embracing our fear is not only a sign of courage it is also an opportunity for us to reach beyond the fear and harness that energy for success.
Many experts recommend visualization as way of overcoming the negative thoughts so often associated with failure. Instead of letting negative self-talk keep you from taking risks, imagine how great life will be after youve succeeded. By visualizing yourself as a success, you diffuse your fear of failure.
Also, consider breaking down large, fear-inducing goals into smaller, less intimidating ones. When you reach each small goal, recognize that these are early successes in the grand scheme of the overall project.
Another thing to consider, which may sound counterintuitive, is to be open to taking risks. Honestly ask yourself: whats the worst that could happen? Even your worst fears probably arent that terrible when you actually confront them.
Perhaps most importantly, accept that failure is inevitable. At some point along the way, you will fail. But heres the critical point: failure is not something to fear. Rather, it is something to learn and grow from.
Once you have freed yourself from fear, you can change your perspective. You will be more able to recognize obstacles and take them on with a more successful attitude. This will allow you to grow.
When To Seek Help For Phobias And Fears
Although phobias are common, they dont always cause considerable distress or significantly disrupt your life. For example, if you have a snake phobia, it may cause no problems in your everyday activities if you live in a city where youre not likely to run into one. On the other hand, if you have a severe phobia of crowded spaces, living in a big city would pose a problem.
If your phobia doesnt impact your life that much, its probably nothing to be concerned about. But if avoidance of the object, activity, or situation that triggers your phobia interferes with your normal functioning, or keeps you from doing things you would otherwise enjoy, its time to seek help.
Consider treatment for your phobia if:
- It causes intense and disabling fear, anxiety, and panic
- You recognize that your fear is excessive and unreasonable
- You avoid certain situations and places because of your phobia
- Your avoidance interferes with your normal routine or causes significant distress
- Youve had the phobia for at least six months
Read Also: Three Phases Of Schizophrenia
Take The Fear Seriously
Sometimes in an effort to help our kids, we say things like Theres nothing to be scared of or Dont worry about that. This doesnt make your child less afraid. Instead, it can send the message that you expect your child to get over it. Or that you dont believe your child is truly scared.
Not taking fears seriously can make your child feel like its not OK to be afraid or that its not OK to talk to you about it.
Simple Yet Effective Methods For Overcoming Fear Of Failure
Is a fear of failure holding you back from success?
If were honest, most of us are terrified of failing, whether at our jobs, in school or in social circles. We see failure as an undesirable experience that should be avoided at all costs. We also assume that when we fail at an activity, it means that we have failed as people.
But, we could choose to look at failure as a valuable learning experience. We should be looking for important lessons when we fail. Failure only stops us if we let it. In fact, it can be a catalyst for significant growth.
Some of the most successful people in the world have experienced significant failures:
- Michael Jordan, widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time, was cut from his high school basketball team because his coach didnt think he had enough skill.
- Warren Buffet, one of the richest and most successful businessmen ever, was rejected by Harvard.
- Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin empire, dropped out of high school.
How would our world look today if these failures had given up? What failures do we allow to stop our futures? And is it really failure that we fear?
If we want to succeed, we need to learn to reframe failure.
You May Like: Does Bipolar Go Away With Age
Whats The Outlook For People With A Fear Of Loud Noises
If you recognize that you have phonophobia, you have already taken the first step towards conquering it. Phonophobia is a highly treatable condition. It will take work on your part to get past your fear, but positive and powerful results may not take as long to achieve as you may think.
Exposure therapy and CBT can help you experience significant reductions in phobic reactions within 2 to 5 months.
How Is Fear Of Loud Noises Treated
There are several types of therapy that are used to treat phobias. Fear of loud noise may be treated through:
- Exposure therapy . This is a type of psychotherapy . It uses guided and repeated exposure to the source of your fear. Exposure therapy can be done on an individual basis, or in groups. It can be very effective for the treatment of all types of specific phobias.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy . This is a type of psychotherapy thats also highly effective for the treatment of specific phobia. It uses some elements of exposure therapy, combined with techniques that help you alter negative thoughts and behaviors.
- Relaxation techniques. Activities such as meditation can also help, especially when combined with other treatments.
Therapy with a mental health professional is usually all it takes to help people with phonophobia. Sometimes medications may be prescribed in conjunction with psychotherapy. These include anti-anxiety medications and beta blockers that help reduce the symptoms caused by panic attacks.
Read Also: Does Celine Dion Have An Eating Disorder
What Are The Causes Of Ophidiophobia
Much like other specific phobias, a fear of snakes can come from a variety of causes. It may actually have multiple factors, each layered on top of the other, taking a latent fear and turning it into something anxiety inducing. Some causes of ophidiophobia include:
- A negative experience. A traumatic experience with a snake, especially at a young age, could leave you with a long-term phobia of the creatures. This could include being bitten or being in a frightening environment that prominently featured snakes and in which you felt trapped or helpless.
- Learned behaviors. If you grew up seeing a parent or relative demonstrating terror around snakes, then you may have learned they were something to fear. This is true of many specific phobias, including ophidiophobia.
- Portrayal in media. Often we learn to fear something because popular media or society tells us it is scary. Clowns, bats, mice, and indeed snakes often end up in this position. If you saw too many scary movies or frightening images featuring snakes over a long period of time, you could learn to be afraid of them.
- Learning about negative experiences. Hearing someone describe a frightening experience with a snake could be triggering. Fear often comes from the expectation of something causing pain or discomfort as opposed to a memory of actually experiencing it.
Create Goals That Are Musts
Oftentimes the process of overcoming fear becomes stymied by uninspiring or elusive goals we set for ourselves. To turn this around, ask yourself: What does the life you desire and deserve look like? Is it just a someday, maybe plan or do you actively work toward it? Is it something that is attainable and youre willing to commit to? The first step in overcoming fear is identifying whether or notyoure creating a compelling goal. If you accomplish this, will you feel fulfilled? Conversely, if you dont accomplish this, will you be lost?
Dig deeper into your goal. What is your ideal outcome? Is it financial growth more money in the bank? Maybe you want the financial independence to travel anytime, anywhere? Consider what your life will look like if you dont achieve this outcome and compare it to what your life will look like if you do. Once you feel that your goal is essential, the fear of not trying at all eclipses the fear of failure thats when youll be inspired to act.
Don’t Miss: What’s The Phobia Of Long Words
Allow Yourself Coping Strategies To Start
Alamy Stock Photo
Bourne advocates jump-starting your exposure with coping measures, like bringing along a therapist or trusted friend, writing coping statements like This will pass and These are just thoughts not reality on an index card and taping it to your dashboard, practicing deep abdominal breathing, and taking a break as needed. These tools are not meant to be used forever, though just to get your toe in the water.
To Overcome Your Fear Of Public Speaking Stop Thinking About Yourself
Even the most confident speakers find ways to distance themselves from their audience. Its how our brains are programmed, so how can we overcome it? Human generosity. The key to calming the amygdala and disarming our panic button is to turn the focus away from ourselves away from whether we will mess up or whether the audience will like us and toward helping the audience. Showing kindness and generosity to others has been shown to activate the vagus nerve, which has the power to calm the fight-or-flight response. When we are kind to others, we tend to feel calmer and less stressed. The same principle applies in speaking. When we approach speaking with a spirit of generosity, we counteract the sensation of being under attack and we feel less nervous.
Most of us even those at the top struggle with public-speaking anxiety. When I ask my clients what makes them nervous, invariably they respond with the same answers:
I dont like being watched.
I dont like the eyes on me.
I dont like being in the spotlight.
And it follows that when they get up to speak, nearly all of them initially avoid making eye contact with members of the audience. Therein lies the problem: While avoiding direct eye contact may seem like an effective strategy for coping with speaking anxiety, it actually makes you even more nervous.
Also Check: Phobia Define
What Causes Intense Fears Or Phobias
Often when there are specific phobias or fears in children, there will be a starting point something that happened that first made the fear come to life. It might be something that happened to the person, to someone else, or something that was heard about in a story, a movie or in the news. A fear of dogs for example, could have its beginnings in an actual scary encounter with a dog, hearing about someone being traumatised by a dog, or seeing a news story or a movie about a dog attack. That event is then generalised from something that happened because of one gnarly dog, to something that could happen with any dog. All dogs are then avoided in order to avoid the frightening feelings that is associated with them.
With a phobia, being in the presence of the feared thing will bring on a fight or flight reaction that is so strong as to send parts of the brain offline. This is because the brain believes so strongly in the threat, that it makes way for the person to act automatically, on raw instinct, without the intrusion of the part of the brain that would prefer to take time to analyse the situation and come up with a different plan.
The once-harmless thing becomes the warning alarm that bad feelings are found here, and it drives avoidance, or fear of the fear. The trigger and the feelings become wrapped up in one scary bundle.
Avoidance is an adaptive, obvious solution, but it also comes with its own problems.
Coping With Community Unrest And Destruction
Get strategies to help you and your family cope with community unrest and destruction.
Community unrest and destruction can bring up a range of emotions. Whether being directly involved, witnessing it live, or watching it on the news, the impact can be traumatic in the moment and continue to leave us feeling unsettled and distressed as we move forward with daily life.
In this article we offer strategies to help you overcome the difficulties of the present and manage the uncertainty of the future
Read Also: Does Pristiq Treat Anxiety
Fight Your Fears And Challenge Negative Feelings
We worry about the future many times, recall events passed in the past, that make us feel tensed or depressed.
These tensed or stressed feelings may drain you or distract you from important issues.
Steps to overcome the fear
Develop Anxiety Management Skills
With the help of various techniques, you can surely deal with your anxieties.
Make a plan strategically to solve your problems and then implement it.
You can do with a combination of mindfulness and meditation.
How to overcome fear?
How to control fear?
- Take time out for yourself or you can either walk or take the bath to relax.
- Practice breathing when in panic or stress.
- Face your fears, when you start to face your fears it tends to fade away.
You can read about How to Deal with Depression & Anxiety?
Don’t Miss: Fear Of Bees And Wasps Phobia
Talk To Family Or Friends About Phobia
Talking to Family and Friends is a helpful way to reduce phobia symptom.
You can ask for the company of your friend if you have a fear of going alone in crowded places.
Talk to your family and friends about your fear and seek their help to deal with the situations.
You can also take help of self-help resources such as books, music, online programmes and other methods.
It will bring more understanding and awareness and make it easy to face your anxieties.
How to treat phobias?
The Different Types Of Phobia
There are usually said to be two different types of phobia:
1) Specific phobias
Specific phobias are just what they sound like. They are an intense, irrational fear of a specific item, object, animal, or situation this is usually called a trigger.
A common example of this type of phobia is arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, for which many types of arachnids can be the trigger.
Because a person can usually live their life by avoiding specific items such as this, specific phobias do not normally cause severe impairment in the way an individual can live their life.
2) Complex phobias
The triggers of complex phobias are more difficult to spot. The two most common complex phobias are social phobia and agoraphobia.
Although it is commonly thought of as the fear of open spaces, agoraphobia is actually the fear of a situation from which it is difficult to escape from.
Because the triggers of complex phobias tend to be trickier to diagnose, they can cause severe problems. People who suffer from them try to live their lives by avoiding otherwise common situations, such as being outside of their home or a certain type of social situation.
Also Check: Phobia Of Clowns Is Called