Phobias: Am I Crazy?

Anxieties Site
Anxiety Self-Help
Living with Agoraphobia
NIMH
Panic Place
The Caregiver

HealthyPlace.com Radio
Anxiety Support Groups

Books on Anxiety
Conference Transcripts
Anxiety Videos
Diaries - Journals
Disorders Definitions
Mental Health News
Online Anxiety Tests
Psychiatric Medications
Resources
Site Map

Email
ICQ
Instant Messenger

Visit and Post

Abuse
ADD/ADHD
Addictions
Bipolar
Depression
Eating Disorders
OCD
Personality Disorders
Self-Injury

send this page to a friend

Phobias: Am I Crazy?

Many people who suffer from phobias begin to think that something is wrong with them or that they're crazy. This is simply not true. In fact, in a strange sort of way having a phobia proves that your brain is working.

The more primitive parts of our minds are designed to keep us alive. One of the mind's functions is to keep us away from dangerous situations. A very powerful way to do this is to create fear. Since the brain is capable of learning, you can learn new fears too.

Here's how it happens. Let's suppose that you somehow ended up in a dangerous situation - let's say you were being attacked by a bear. Our powerful subconscious mind would create fear in us. The next time we saw a bear, we might very well feel fear. The subconscious mind has linked bears to fear. From a survival standpoint, this is a good thing.

Now humans have been known to do foolish things occasionally. Fear is the way our subconscious mind keeps us from doing something foolish. It would be quite difficult to keep your hand in a bear cage - no matter how much your conscious mind decided it was OK.

So when your subconscious mind perceives a situation as dangerous, it motivates you to get out of it by creating fear. You can not override this fear consciously any more than you could keep your hand in a bear cage.

When you experience a phobia, it is proof that your subconscious mind is working properly by creating fear in a situation it thinks is dangerous.

The secret is not to convince ourselves consciously that it's OK, that the situation is safe. The secret is to teach the subconscious mind that the situation is safe. To do that, you must speak the language of the subconscious mind.

Therapy can teach you simple step-by-step methods to get the message through to your subconscious. It's not some mysterious, complex voodoo, it's just that messages must be formulated differently in order to have subconscious impact.

Phobias: Am I Crazy?

RELATED LINKS AND INFO