Learn How Your Phobia Started

“How do I cure a phobia?” is such an important question to all who suffer - often on a daily basis - from some form of irrational fear. A fear that can be so severe it debilitates both the mind and the body of the sufferer. Take the first step on the road to your own cure by searching first for the answer to the question “How did my phobia start?” This article gives you some great ideas of how to do this and painlessly!

One of the inherent aspects of an irrational fear or phobia is the very fact that it is irrational! Since the fear or phobia is irrational in nature this can make it hard or even impossible for the sufferer to think in a logical or sensible way about any aspect of that phobia. However, to find an answer to the important question on every sufferer’s lips, “How do I cure a phobia” a good starting point is to give some serious thought to how and when the fear or phobia originally started. This requires detective work.

It should be possible to do this detective work without setting off the phobic reaction if you start in a calm and relaxed state of mind and then come at things from the outside of your memories almost as a casual observer of your past experiences rather than the one who had the experience. In this way you should find it possible to remain detached from the experience.
It is important not to try and face your fear when searching back through your memories to determine how the phobia started because this is more likely to trigger and activate your autonomic defence mechanism. The result of this will be a phobic reaction and you won’t be capable of thinking clearly; the irrational mode will have taken control.

To find out how your fear or phobia started try the following:

1. Go over past experiences that have left you with a strong memory. Was it a trauma or accident of some kind that has left you terrified of a particular thing or situation?

2. Look for experiences involving fearful reactions from family members. Your fear may be the result of seeing someone you trusted, such as your mother of a sibling, reacting to their own fear; which could have caused the fear to be passed on to you?

3. Examine closely your home life and education. Has there been anything that might have made you afraid by what others told you or repeatedly said to you?
By gently revisiting your past memories of significant events, one by one, it should be possible to identify the key event, moment in time, or learned behaviour that started your fear.

Once you have identified the core issue that kick-started your fear or phobia you are in a strong position to find the answer to the question posed earlier, “How do I cure a phobia.” Knowing the original cause, or if not the original cause (often this can be very elusive) at least the circumstances surrounding the cause, is the first important step towards a cure.

Armed with this knowledge, and also being able to think clearly about the memories related to the core issue, you can take the next step towards your own cure in preparation for the moment when you have freedom from fear and begin to live a fear free life once again.