“Yes he came to kill you,” my brother mocked at my fear for the hideous lizard – eek, I’m shaking like a leaf writing about it. The Gecko to me was nothing less than the scruffy doll, Annabelle, and just like holy water peacock feathers, onions, and eggshells protected me from her. A terrible incident during my childhood made me phobic even to the name of lizard. Growing up, I learned that my irrational anxiety really has a name: herpetophobia.
Who is not petrified of contracting Covid-19? While many of us have shown courage through our strong will to push the ball back with spikes, some have lost hope and succumbed to the “fear” of this deadly loop even without contracting it. Researchers around the world have observed that agitation and panic beyond normal cautious behavior to keep the virus at bay has given way to “coronaphobia”. Was there less in the world to fear? It might seem strange to hear about the weird fears people have – the insanity you experience when you’re around your annoying loved ones is actually called syngenesophobia. And guess what? For some, peanut butter can be terrifying too!
Animals, heights, colors, water, words, trees, falling asleep and even making friends, all can press your red alert button.
When our mind attaches something specific with a sense of danger, the phobia emerges like a huge snake to petrify us to death. For you and me it can be sporadic, but some let their fear define who they are!
Is it really a threat or just a perception created by our mind that leaves our being as frozen as Olaf?
An unforeseen event coupled with immense fear and a feeling that you cannot escape is a perfect concoction to develop a phobia. But the good news is that it can be eradicated as quickly as it was acquired.
The Fast Phobia model – a neurolinguistic programming tool is here to save the day. The phobia resonates with heavy and unpleasant emotional energy. Maybe subconsciously, but you have “learned” how to do it, so it is quite possible to “unlearn” it by erasing it from your memory.
Imagine sitting in front of a big movie screen. The dissociated experience – “do you see” on this big screen. At normal speed, play out the most meaningful moment that sparked your fear.
The color of your screen should be black and white – this will help you expel the emotions associated with it.
Then the associated experience – wipe the screen and at a much faster speed replay the whole incident backwards as if you were seeing it “with your own eyes”. The screen should be colored this time. Repeat the entire process until the negative energy attached to it is completely cleared.
It’s time for the “convict”: get out there and experience the situation that once made you phobic. After all, the snake sleeping on the bottom of the ocean was just a fiction fabricated by your mind!
Warning
The opinions expressed above are those of the author.
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