These 3 Tips Can Help You Get Over Any Phobia
Phobias can be about any topic. Some people have phobias for public speaking while others are afraid of insects or spiders. However, according to a phobia specialist who spoke to CNBC Make It, all of these phobias have one thing in common, they’re irrational.
Christopher Paul Jones is a London-based phobia specialist who says that “a phobia is an irrational response to a benign substance.” Luckily, there are many ways to get over almost any phobia.
Challenge your perception
To do this you think of your fear in a different way. A good example of this is the classic “imagine everyone is in their underwear” if you have a fear of public speaking. This way of thinking can be applied to all situations. If you have a fear of something physical like bugs, you can imagine that they’re dressed in clown shoes or smoking a cigarette.
If your own inner dialogue is the problem Jones says to use this technique in a different way. He says, “if you’re going ‘Oh my god, I’m going to get scared’ or ‘This is going to make me jump’ or ‘What if I embarrass myself?’ If you imagine that inner dialogue like it was Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, with a squeaky voice it’s going to take all the power out of it.”
Hug yourself
Jones says that hugging yourself is one of the easiest ways to comfort yourself when dealing with a phobia. He says “if you basically cross your arms and go up and down your shoulders, like you’re hugging yourself, it releases the same chemicals as if you were hugging someone else or if someone else was hugging you.” The chemicals that are released are all good for self soothing and relaxation.
Recondition you mind
Jones states that when the brain is trained to fear something, it can also be reconditioned to not fear it anymore. To do this he says that you can simply start doing a certain action anytime you’re happy or calm, like making a fist, when you’re at the peak of the good emotion. After a while you can start squeezing your fist when you’re in scary situations and your body will believe that you’re actually in a happy or calm situation and it’ll help you relax.
