Anxiety is a natural reaction to fear or dangerous situations and it keeps us safe. You may feel anxious before an interview or walking down a poorly lit street. Anxiety in these types of situations is normal and serves to make us more alert and careful. Anxiety should start to diminish once you are free of the situation or object that caused it. However, for the millions of people who suffer from an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away, and will likely worsen over time.

What is a phobia?

A phobia is an anxiety disorder that produces a strong, irrational fear of a situation or an object that poses little or no actual danger. Most of us experience fear or mild anxiety at some time, before getting on an airplane, public speaking or even the sight of blood. However, if a fear becomes so intense that it impedes your day-to-day living and impacts your quality of life, you may have a phobia.

Someone with a phobia or anxiety disorder, will probably realise that their fear is irrational and excessive, yet they still can’t control it and might even adopt extreme measures to avoid whatever triggers it. If they cannot, they may experience:

Panic and fear

Shortness of breath

Trembling

Rapid heartbeat

In most cases phobias can be succesfully treated. Options may include medicines, therapy or both.

Panic attacks

When someone expieriences fear, our sympathetic nervous system produces adrenalin which floods the body preparing us to fight or to flee the physical threat. Adrenalin raises the heart rate, increases blood flow to our large muscles, and increases blood sugar. With our bodies energised and minds alert we are able to respond quickly and protect ourselves.

These changes to body chemistry can make some people overly anxious, and this releases more adrenalin into the body. This vicious circle can lead to a full-blown attack. Many people experience panic attacks during their lives. If they happen very frequently, in situations that are generally considered harmless you may be described as having a panic disorder.

Panic disorder self-Test

If you suspect you may be suffering from panic disorder try this online Panic Disorder Self-Test, print out the test and show the results to your health care professional. You might also consider enroling on an NLP Training Course where you can learn techniques that will help you cope, if not compleatly purge, irational phobias that are holding you back and lowering the quality of life.

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