‘Fear is normal.’ I probably use these three words every time I see a new client who comes to me with phobic anxiety or panic. The problem with fear is that, as with many normal phenomena, it can simply get out of hand. Fear can grow into a phobia, so that the presence of a particular object, or being in a particular situation, leads to a level of fear that is unpleasant and overwhelming and makes you want to escape from it at the earliest possible opportunity. Likewise, ‘nervousness’, which everyone feels on some occasions, can grow to such an extent that we become overwhelmed by a mixture of physical feelings and thoughts of such intensity that we feel like a catastrophe is about to occur – death is imminent, or a loss of control, or madness.
Fear is an essential part of all our lives. If you think about it, people without fear would be killed the first time they crossed a road. Ask yourself: ‘Is it normal to have some fear and apprehension?’ If the choice is walking down a well-lit road or taking a shortcut through a dark underpass late at night, what stops us choosing the riskier route? Fear has a survival function: it protects us from making unwise choices and walking through the dark underpass instead of down the well-lit road. Fear also protects us in a physical sense. The hormone of fear – adrenaline – prepares our body for ‘fight or flight’ responses to situations.
Phobias and panic may happen when fear gets out of hand, and I deal with these two topics together as they are often inextricably linked. The majority of people I see in outpatient clinics with phobias experience panic attacks, and the pattern of their panic can become as much of a problem as the phobia. In this book I describe a tried and tested self-help programme, which I designed more than 15 years ago.
A key word is exposure. To remove phobic fears from your life, you need to face them, and this guide teaches you how to do that.
There is an emphasis on two principles:
1exposure to phobias and panic needs to be carried out in steps, with you gradually increasing your efforts;
2exposure should be at a level that you find difficult, but manageable. If you try to push yourself too far, you will suffer setbacks.
I must emphasize that this book will not have all the answers. I do hope, however, that in helping you to help yourself, I can at the very least point you in the right direction.