Homeopathy for Fears and Phobias

Phobia is a persistent fear which is irrational. It can be of any object living, non-living or of a situation. It may or may not have any relation to an incident or a situation in one’s life. Generally, phobias are accompanied by a strong desire to avoid a particular situation or object one fears. It can also lead to an inability to function normally at job, home or at social settings.

A specific phobia is an intense fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. Grown up individuals who suffer from it, even though they realise that it is an irrational fear, try and avoid the fear factor. Whenever these individuals encounter this phobic stimulant, they get a severe anxiety attack.

Phobias can broadly be divided into three types: simple, social and agoraphobia (fear of public places).

Simple phobias: These phobias include a fear of: heights (acrophobia); enclosed spaces (claustrophobia); flying (pterygophobia); water (hydrophobia); dentists (odontiatophobia); tunnels; bridges; animals -lizards, snakes, rats etc. Fear of public places (agoraphobia) is the fear of the being alone in a place such as a mall or an elevator or a room full of people, and of there being no easy escape. This generally develops from an anticipatory fear of getting an acute anxiety attack (panic attacks) in a public place and generally occurs in patients suffering from panic attacks or acute anxiety disorder.

Social phobia: It is a strong fear involving the fear of social situations or gatherings, etc. Social phobia involves a combination of being too much conscious of self, a fear of public scrutiny or humiliation in social situations, and a fear of negative evaluation by others.

Homoeopathy and phobias

With hundreds of fears and specific medicines listed in homoeopathic repertory (books enlisting medicines against symptoms), an effective treatment of phobias is possible with homoeopathic medicines. Leave aside the common fears - lizards, heights, spider, snakes, cockroaches, mouse, etc- even if one dreads something not common, or not listed in books, homoeopathy has a way out. By studying one’s constitution (mental and physical characteristics, family history, etc.) a prescription can be made to effectively treat the specific uncommon fear.

If phobias are a part of other diseases such as chronic depressions, etc, they need to be evaluated and treated accordingly.

Relaxation

The most common forms of relaxation therapy are progressive muscle relaxation (learning to relax one’s muscles) and autogenic relaxation (using imagery to help one relax). Meditation such as yoga can be of great help.

Desensitising your fear

This therapy tries to alter your response to the feared object or situation. Measured, gradual, repeated exposure to the cause of the phobia may help one learn to conquer one’s fear

Behaviour therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy aims at altering one’s belief about the feared object or situation, the impact it has on ones life and also how one can view and cope with the feared object or situation differently.