Conquering fears and phobias

[Xenophon]

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.

If you're in a car sailing along at treetop level, you probably have reason to be afraid. Unless, of course you're on a freeway interchange, parking lot ramp etc. Something soaring but solid.

Anyway it's good to hear you're not one of the types who endlessly collect advice, but use none of it. Keep at it. (A colleague in the States had a husband who had a gun collection of 50+ pieces of ordinance, only two of which he had ever fired. Some people are like that with advice.)

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2023

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.

What's so great about that? I fight against children all the time and WIN! (Usually)

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2023

If you're in a car sailing along at treetop level, you probably have reason to be afraid. Unless, of course you're on a freeway interchange, parking lot ramp etc. Something soaring but solid.

Anyway it's good to hear you're not one of the types who endlessly collect advice, but use none of it. Keep at it. (A colleague in the States had a husband who had a gun collection of 50+ pieces of ordinance, only two of which he had ever fired. Some people are like that with advice.)

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2023

What's so great about that? I fight against children all the time and WIN! (Usually)

Be careful about the "woman warrior" thing. Celtic literature contains more references to women fighting than other contemporary cultures. But I've viewed a lot of graves in museums (e.g., Hallein and Hallstatt in Austria.) Women buried with weapons were few and far between. Probably the situation was like with U.S. high school football now. Girls CAN play if they want, but it's scarcely expected. Remember that physical strength was at a premium in ancient war. Men are bigger and stronger, on average. I've read Caesar's Gallic Wars several times. I recall how he says the Celt women cheered the men on, committed suicide if the men lost. Missing are passages where the ladies don war gear and mix it up.

Presently, a lot of women who have never seen a real fight think it'd be "empowering" to be in one. (Which it is...IF you win.) So academia (which IS more and more part of the entertainment industry) "discovers" "new evidence" that "proves" that the past was even more like the present than the present.

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2023

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?

"Oh he is the very model of a piece of post-mod programming"---Gilbert & Sullivan

 

[Wintruz]

What does female thinking look like?

"Is the number seven odd or just different?".

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2023

"Is the number seven odd or just different?".

I probably should clarify this by saying that the idea that there is such a thing as "female thinking" (invariably associated with woo) and "male thinking" (invariably associated with hard facts/analysis) is not only yet another Leftist redundancy but it has ensnared otherwise intelligent minds, especially formative minds. It has fostered a generation of men terrified of feelings and women who think that daisy chains will make the world a better place.

There is only good thinking (knowing the right mental faculty for the purpose and developing those faculties through use) and bad thinking (no discipline, no applied wisdom). Anyone with a baseline of decent intellect and emotional intelligence, is capable of good thinking.

 

[Roma]

If there were women on the forum they might have their own view of male thought processes

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

As Earl Nightingale says, men don't think.
Think of cavemen. Does it seem the hunters really thought much? Gatherers was where the juicy gossip about Og was at

 

[Roma]

Think of cavemen. Does it seem the hunters really thought much?

Since modern humans are the smartest ever, we can deduce that earlier humans were not so smart.

It helps not to think about the enormous ancient structures, the delicate granite vases and the beautiful cave art that was done without using flames for light (no smoke residues)

 

[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?

So I gather from all the replies, exposure therapy was the hands down winner for question one.
Question two I would tend to say Jung or Maslow.
Question 3 and 4 seem to be lacking.

 

[Roma]

Conquering is a very male approach.

If we see what stands under the phobia, we may find a way of growing out of it.

I grew out of my fear of waking up in the coffin by getting better at meditation - thus being able to move my awareness out of the coffin

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Okay ... Heights. Tricky subject but earliest recollection was.either halfway up the Statue of Liberty, or being forced to climb up onto the garage with my sister by our slut of a babysitter at the time.

Water .. was given permission to steer a pontoon boat a bunch of us were on, and stepped up the speed, nearly knocking a couple people off the boat.
Summer camp got entangled in seaweed or lake grass, and nearly drowned only to come face to face with a cottonmouth snake.
Swimming class ... Couldn't swim and was humiliated by a female teacher.
Early teen .. was on a raft with friends and my Dad and their dad. My Dad and their dad were hanging onto the pole, and anchor was down. A black water snake started to get on the raft near my feet, and their dad whisked me up and killed it with the oar.
Mid teens ... Was on a cruise ship from Maine to Nova Scotia, and was bored one rainy evening .. misting rain, and decided to ignore the warning of going out on the deck alone. Wind picked up and had I not grasped the rail at the last minute, would have been pushed out by the wind into ice cold water.
Snakes ...several unwanted meetings with them.

 

[Roma]

Are you sure those are phobias?

Perhaps you are just learning to be careful when out in Nature

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Possibly. Doesn't explain my aversion to airports, grocery stores or heights, while being fine in an airplane not traveling over large bodies of water.

 

[Roma]

Explaining (away) is very common - and then we can go back to sleep

Personally I prefer experiments

You may wish, while meditating, to go back to an airport aversion experience and wander through the scene looking for what aspects are difficult

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Another Heights experience or two ...
Elevators over escalators. Took the escalator as usual in a Barnes and Noble store, and had a panic attack and near seizure on the second floor.

Vertigo in a service elevator.

Mid 2000s .. nervous on top of a double decker bus in a California zoo. Seeing treetops going by.

Mid 90s .. Cannot walk over highways due to an unserviced walkway chain link wall and metal grate floor. With gaps in the flooring.

Early 2000s .. going up in the Sears Tower elevator to the sightseeing roof area .. nearly fainted or had a panic attack.

Early childhood was out with my scouts troop bicycling and were going 9vwr the highway sidewalk when I noticed a snake in front of me and froze. Turns out it was stunned or dead anyway, but still can't walk over highways .. have to be in a car or bus to do so.

 

[Roma]

Took the escalator as usual in a Barnes and Noble store, and had a panic attack and near seizure on the second floor.

Have a look at pictures of the racks that were used as torture in the Middle Ages.

What happens when you look at the pictures?

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Have a look at pictures of the racks that were used as torture in the Middle Ages.

What happens when you look at the pictures?

I get nervous.

 

[Roma]

Quite so. It has often occurred to me that escalators, in their mechanics, are closely related to the rack

Go back in your imagination to 1680 in a dungeon just north of London UK. What is happening?

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Quite so. It has often occurred to me that escalators, in their mechanics, are closely related to the rack

Go back in your imagination to 1680 in a dungeon just north of London UK. What is happening?

Only thing that comes to mind is the Spanish Inquisition, though there were many uprisings in Europe during that time.

 

[Roma]

Sit down and meditate and then go back in your imagination to 1680 in a dungeon just north of London UK. What is happening?

 

[Lemongrass00]

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?

Meditation and shadow work. Dream work if you can, I am currently working through some personal problems through archetypal figures in dreams.

Elemental work also, it has a powerful transformational power on the psyche.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Sit down and meditate and then go back in your imagination to 1680 in a dungeon just north of London UK. What is happening?

I started to meditate and my niece was about to leave back north, so had to stop just after regulating my breath. Will be restarting shortly.

Post automatically merged: Nov 25, 2023

Too much distraction at the moment for me. Will keep at it. I did feel spiky pain in my back for a moment however.

Post automatically merged: Nov 25, 2023

Meditation time after a restroom break.
First meditation was a five minute Heart Flame meditation with attempted proper posture and breathing, though breath is choppy due to my ginormous gut.

 

[Xenophon]

If there were women on the forum they might have their own view of male thought processes

I'm married. I am well aware that women have their own views of everything male. I also am well aware that it is not my duty to kowtow to every "alternative view" that comes flitting my way.

An interesting tale: 朱德， Zhu De commanded Mao's 8th Route Army during the early revolution in China and on into WW2. He notes that, early on, the Communists in a spirit of fairness did not have commanders simply issue orders. Rather every evening came a long meeting where issues were hashed out by the rank-and-file in excruciating detail. The practice was soon abandoned. Quoth Zhu, "We had no time left over for fighting the enemy."

Moral? If someone wants to put a view out there, fine. But it is not my duty, all things considered, to consider all things. It is especially not my duty to make a shibboleth of denying what I am. (Which is the pitfall of straight white omega males: sacrificing to the sacred cows of whatever is trendy in terms of sexuality, gender, and pigmentation this week.)

Post automatically merged: Nov 25, 2023

Sit down and meditate and then go back in your imagination to 1680 in a dungeon just north of London UK. What is happening?

I am running away from the creepy man who invites me into a dungeon.