Conquering fears and phobias

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

In conquering fears and phobias which contribute to physical effects, where does one start?

If psycho-therapy, which particular school is best to address them?

If it is spiritual in nature, what 8s the best method to conquer it?

If it will take a while to resolve it, how do you address tye physical effects - medications, shadow work, etc?

 

[Roma]

It rather depends on the fear.

When I was young I was wary of small spaces. Later I had a memory of waking up in a coffin about to be buried.

If it happened these days I would go into meditation and look to leave the physical body. So the fear has gone

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

0articularly large stores, heights and water bodies.

 

[Xenophon]

In conquering fears and phobias which contribute to physical effects, where does one start?

If psycho-therapy, which particular school is best to address them?

If it is spiritual in nature, what 8s the best method to conquer it?

If it will take a while to resolve it, how do you address tye physical effects - medications, shadow work, etc?

Which phobias exactly? Some can be licked by peer pressure. I overcame a real fear of heights by a lass I lusted after inadvertently shaming me into parachute jumping. (I still hate heights like anything, but I can steel myself to deal with them.) Uncle Sam cured my arachnophobia by sending me to a spider-rich environment for BCT. So simple exposure and confrontation can work.

If the problem is more perduring, maybe ask yourself if you NEED to cure it. I imagine I'd probably have a phobia about being buggered by a donkey. But---the school of chaos magi nothwithstanding---there's no real need for me to address this "issue" of mine. (I'd rather excoriate those who make an issue of my issue.) If it seems you DO need to cure your phobia, I'd just say ask what any given psychotherapeutic school is going to cost you in terms of buying into the subtly inculcated world-views most of them quietly traffic in.

To twist all that down into a manageable sized skein, can you tell us the phobia(s)? It'd be easier to offer suggestions then.

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

0articularly large stores, heights and water bodies.

Sorry---I paged right past your post when I was pondering mine.

 

[Roma]

large stores

Fear of crowds/mobs? I can be useful to find your own inner authority.

heights

Conquering fear of physical death used to be part of the ancient mysteries. Many did not survive that test.

water bodies

You did not say "water" but "water bodies" That suggests a physical (sacral chakra) memory of drowning at sea or on a lake perhaps from/in a boat.

Locally I found a women's sacred site where the girls were held fully under the water until they absorbed enough Pleiades energy out of the water.

There were two lines of graves a little further down the stream.

 

[Xenophon]

Google "exposure therapy." That's the most straightforward cure for most phobias. The therapist gradually eases you into dealing with the feared situation. No ideology. Just slowly getting acclimated

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

Fear of crowds/mobs? I can be useful to find your own inner authority.


Conquering fear of physical death used to be part of the ancient mysteries. Many did not survive that test.


You did not say "water" but "water bodies" That suggests a physical (sacral chakra) memory of drowning at sea or on a lake perhaps from/in a boat.

Locally I found a women's sacred site where the girls were held fully under the water until they absorbed enough Pleiades energy out of the water.

There were two lines of graves a little further down the stream.

Fascinating stuff there, Karnak. Not really effecting a cure though, are we.

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

In any case,

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had this:
"Therapeutic interventions run the gamut but can include group therapy, in-office therapy, and online therapy. Each of these delivery methods has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses, and finding the right method for you could be a matter of trial and error. Whichever route you take, take heart: thalassophobia can be treated and does not have to dominate your thoughts and feelings for the rest of your life.
Read More"

If you have insurance, you can probably find someone to help. I recall the suburban Detroit area was pretty well-equipped hat way. I imagine Ann Arbor gets the spillover. Heck, with UM nearby, they probably have a great many folks who can assist.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Thank you both for the recommendations!

 

[Roma]

Some fears can be grown out of naturally while others require more conscious understanding.

For 20 years I knew quite well an older couple that were into Theosophical spirituality. Late in that process I found out that when younger she had had anxiety "attacks" that were treated by ECT. It would work for a few years and then she would "need" more treatment.

Eventually her anxiety about losing her husband of 50 years was so great she could not even dress herself.

So I had a look and couple of lifetimes ago he was her brother in UK and had gone to sea but never returned.

I suspect the ECT was burning out some neurons so that the subtle memories of loss were temporarily displaced. But the subtle memories persisted and eventually dominated.

ECT is not an automatic treatment these days, even requiring consent in psychiatric institutions.

It is better to understand the origin of each fear so that it may be dealt with delicately and precisely.

The concept of conquering fears may be a male construct. Understanding may be more effective

 

[HoldAll]

The concept of conquering fears may be a male construct. Understanding may be more effective

Having been in similar situations myself I vehemently disagree. What's was so agonizing about them was that I perfectly understood what was going on and why while being completely unable to do something about it. It's that linear "problem - analysis - realization - solution" fallacy. Sometimes it just doesn't work that way. Exposure therapy may be the standard way of treating fears and anxiety but I'd say you'll have to be pretty stable in all other mental health respects. When I think back at the time when I was really in a bad way and teetering on the brink of Xanax dependency... brrr. Exposure therapy would have definitely exacerbated my sorry state. The only think that helped back then were antidepressants, only then was I capable to try psychological methods of treatment.

 

[Roma]

Understanding: seeing what stands under

 

[HoldAll]

Understanding one's mental health issues, having insight and even accepting certain unpleasant truths about oneself doesn't necessarily mean you're halfway there. Any possible remedy requires more than mere understanding, that's all I'm saying.

 

[stratamaster78]

There isn't a standard solution or answer to this because everyone is different and we all respond to medication and therapies differently.

I have struggled with many fears and phobias and have faced and conquered some and others I have not faced or conquered but have tried to understand and learn about the underlying issues that bore them.

I've also tried therapy and medication and for a season those both helped me to a degree but they also numbed me to everything and I felt like a zombie and so I discontinued both.

My only advice would be to try address these issues from multiple angles until you find what helps you in the now.

If one method works then stick with it until it doesn't and then try another method.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Thank you all

 

[Ziran]

0articularly large stores, heights and water bodies.

OK.

If psycho-therapy, which particular school is best to address them?

Exposure therapy.

If it is spiritual in nature, what 8s the best method to conquer it?

Understanding what fear is and how it operates. Fear is a soul-power. It's a gift. If an individual is naturally fearful, that fear can be flipped to an advantage.

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

Any possible remedy requires more than mere understanding

Understanding is like havng a pocket full of keys that open many doors. Wisdom is knowing which one to use and when.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

So exposure therapy seems to be popular, yet some disagree. Being epileptic and tremors as a med side effect, electro convulsive therapy may not be a winner.
Understanding and transforming the fears, that would be nice.

Again, thanks to all for the input!

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

Well, it appears that several large psychiatric clinics prescribe Xanax in acute cases, but normally several episodes of exposure therapy.

 

[Roma]

It turns out that the problem with psychiatry is actually Treatment Resistance. It is not a deficiency in the "adequate course of treatment". Perhaps the resistant patients should be spoken to.

The discovery of medications with clinically meaningful antidepressant and antipsychotic effects in the mid-twentieth century was a landmark in the treatment of mental disorders. However, soon afterwards it was recognised that in some patients, their condition showed limited or no response to these drugs [

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,

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,

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]. Where an illness does not respond despite an adequate course of treatment, it is generally termed treatment resistant....

Treatment resistance affects 20–60% of patients with psychiatric disorders; and is associated with increased healthcare burden and costs up to ten-fold higher relative to patients in general.

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[Xenophon]

Some fears can be grown out of naturally while others require more conscious understanding.

For 20 years I knew quite well an older couple that were into Theosophical spirituality. Late in that process I found out that when younger she had had anxiety "attacks" that were treated by ECT. It would work for a few years and then she would "need" more treatment.

Eventually her anxiety about losing her husband of 50 years was so great she could not even dress herself.

So I had a look and couple of lifetimes ago he was her brother in UK and had gone to sea but never returned.

I suspect the ECT was burning out some neurons so that the subtle memories of loss were temporarily displaced. But the subtle memories persisted and eventually dominated.

ECT is not an automatic treatment these days, even requiring consent in psychiatric institutions.

It is better to understand the origin of each fear so that it may be dealt with delicately and precisely.

The concept of conquering fears may be a male construct. Understanding may be more effective

Good until the last line. What's automatically wrong about a "male construct"? I have conquered some few of my fears and guess what, dearie, it worked. Still works.
Sure, sometimes one comes to understand the "cobra" in the corner is in fact a coiled rope. That's understanding. But when the coiled rope turns out to be cobra, understanding does not work. You still gotta shoot or shoo away the snake.

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2023

So exposure therapy seems to be popular, yet some disagree. Being epileptic and tremors as a med side effect, electro convulsive therapy may not be a winner.
Understanding and transforming the fears, that would be nice.

Again, thanks to all for the input!

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

Well, it appears that several large psychiatric clinics prescribe Xanax in acute cases, but normally several episodes of exposure therapy.

The only way to decide about exposure therapy is to expose oneself to it. Glib but true.

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2023

OK.



Exposure therapy.



Understanding what fear is and how it operates. Fear is a soul-power. It's a gift. If an individual is naturally fearful, that fear can be flipped to an advantage.

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2023

Understanding is like havng a pocket full of keys that open many doors. Wisdom is knowing which one to use and when.

I know an enemy with a knife is in one of three rooms, all locked. He and I both have keys to all. Fighting off sleep, I wait till I hear snoring. I have the "wisdom" to open that door. I still need to deal with the enemy. So "wisdom" might better be defined as knowing how to deal with what lies behind the door.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

I think exposure therapy is working.
Heights I'm still not good with except in a car, and only at a treetop level.
We had Thanksgiving dinner on the Pacific Beach side at Crystal Cove.
I did not go to dip my feet in the Pacific while I had the chance. Perhaps a pool or jacuzzi somewhere.
The others, well, luckily no snakes around.

 

[Roma]

What's automatically wrong about a "male construct"?

Recognizing a male construct allows conscious choice in methods of approach.

Personally I prefer choice. One size might fit all, but not all the time.

As an aside, is Western education primarily based on male thinking?

What does female thinking look like?

Do females make better ecosystem scientists? How would that occur?

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Recognizing a male construct allows conscious choice in methods of approach.

Personally I prefer choice. One size might fit all, but not all the time.

As an aside, is Western education primarily based on male thinking?

What does female thinking look like?

Do females make better ecosystem scientists? How would that occur?

The Celtic goddesses had equal footing with the gods of the Celts, women had equal footing with men, and would fight alongside each other, even the children.