Being afraid of dogs isn't something to be taken lightly. Although dogs are supposed to be man's best friend - and although they've been the longest domesticated animal - that doesn't stop you from freezing in your tracks when confronted by a dog. Whether it's a seemingly friendly dog, wagging its tail, or a menacing one baring its teeth. So what can you do to overcome your cynophobia?
The most commonly used phobia treatment is the behavioral treatment. The main focus of this type of treatment is to expose people to their fears in hopes that it will extinguish their anxiety, and ultimately, OCD. There are three basic components for this treatment, namely systematic desensitization, modeling and flooding. Systematic desensitization involves the client making a list of the situations or objects they fear, ranked from the most to least feared. During this method, the therapist teaches relaxation techniques, and then proceeds to exposing the client from least feared to the most feared. Results are gradual for this method, and will end only when the client can face his or her fears without overwhelming anxiety, and the distressing compulsions are gone.
Exposure treatment has one of the higher success rates but is one of the scarier treatments, at least at first. As the name suggests, it involves exposing you to dogs. Which means that it is best carried out in a controlled environment, ideally with some friendly dogs! Depending on the therapist it could take place in one long session (maybe half a day or more), supported by counselling or over several sessions, spread out over time.Either way, you'll get closer to your new canine friend and will learn that they're not as threatening as you currently think they are. With most dogs the worst you'll experience is a cold nose rubbing against your face, an enthusiastic tongue licking you or muddy paw prints when the dog jumps up to greet you.
A special type of phobia, the blood-injection-injury phobia, needs a different kind of phobia treatment. People who are inflicted with this experience a critical decrease in blood pressure and heart rate which can lead to fainting. The phobia treatment technique used for this case is the applied tension technique. The therapist teaches the clients during treatment how to tense muscles in the arms, legs and chest until they can feel the blood rising up to their cheeks. This method increases the blood pressure and heart rate, keeping the phobic person from fainting when faced with blood-injection injuries.
There are other types of phobia treatment available. Cognitive-behavioral treatments combine the behavioral techniques mentioned above with cognitive techniques that help in identifying and challenging distressing thoughts about the feared objects. This type of treatment is very effective for social phobia since it can be administered in a group setting. Biological treatments are the last type of method. People are prescribed with medicines such as benzodiazepines, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to provide temporary relief, since they cannot extinguish phobias. There are also studies that proved that relapse happens soon after stopping the medication. To sum it up, it eems that behavior therapy, the best method, still involves the adage "confront your fears."
Extremely shy individuals only feel at ease when family members and very close friends are around. However, situations where the people are unfamiliar or if they have to communicate with a group of new individuals are very difficult for them to deal with. Social phobia may get in the way of any individual's life that's why it should be properly dealt with.
These negative experiences and beliefs can be self perpetuating. The phobic person does not see his or her part in the break-up. This reinforces the belief that he or she can not trust members of the same sex and so rejects the next person who gets close.There are some classic behaviors exhibited by phobic men and women. For clarity's sake we will use he in this list of common commitment phobic behaviors. You may see yourself or a friend in some or many of these behaviors.
A history of short relationships - he may bolt when he senses you are looking for a commitment. He may be quite satisfied with a long distance relationship and resist suggestions that either of you move to be closer.He will be moody and distant and blame you for his behavior.He refuses to plan ahead because this represents commitment for him.He is evasive and secretive in order to keep you out of his space.He is not willing to socialize with your friends and family for fear this will be construed as commitment.We could go on for pages and pages listing behaviors common to commitment phobics. However one or two of these behaviors in an individual does not make him a candidate for commitment phobia and fear treatment and cure.
Dental phobia may stem from your fear of pain, of needles, of the effects of anesthesia, unpleasant experiences with past dentists, or the fear of entrusting your mouth to a total stranger. It is therefore important to find a supportive dentist or orthodontist like those in Hornchurch or Brentwood whom you can trust and feel at ease with. Ask your friends or relatives to recommend dentists they have tried before and are satisfied with the treatment they got.
Support System.As much as therapy and medications can help in anxiety attack treatment, so does family and close friends as support system to an individual. One becomes more courageous if he knows that the important people in his life are supportive of him. Further, while he is taking small steps, setting a small goal and gradually reaching for it, the encouragements in between of family and friends will go a long way.Combating social anxiety is never easy but with the help of social phobia treatment and the support of family and friends, an individual can slowly confront anxiety. One can learn management of fear, coping with an anxiety attack symptom and develop confidence in dealing with social situations.
[Phobia Treatment]
The most commonly used phobia treatment is the behavioral treatment. The main focus of this type of treatment is to expose people to their fears in hopes that it will extinguish their anxiety, and ultimately, OCD. There are three basic components for this treatment, namely systematic desensitization, modeling and flooding. Systematic desensitization involves the client making a list of the situations or objects they fear, ranked from the most to least feared. During this method, the therapist teaches relaxation techniques, and then proceeds to exposing the client from least feared to the most feared. Results are gradual for this method, and will end only when the client can face his or her fears without overwhelming anxiety, and the distressing compulsions are gone.
Exposure treatment has one of the higher success rates but is one of the scarier treatments, at least at first. As the name suggests, it involves exposing you to dogs. Which means that it is best carried out in a controlled environment, ideally with some friendly dogs! Depending on the therapist it could take place in one long session (maybe half a day or more), supported by counselling or over several sessions, spread out over time.Either way, you'll get closer to your new canine friend and will learn that they're not as threatening as you currently think they are. With most dogs the worst you'll experience is a cold nose rubbing against your face, an enthusiastic tongue licking you or muddy paw prints when the dog jumps up to greet you.
A special type of phobia, the blood-injection-injury phobia, needs a different kind of phobia treatment. People who are inflicted with this experience a critical decrease in blood pressure and heart rate which can lead to fainting. The phobia treatment technique used for this case is the applied tension technique. The therapist teaches the clients during treatment how to tense muscles in the arms, legs and chest until they can feel the blood rising up to their cheeks. This method increases the blood pressure and heart rate, keeping the phobic person from fainting when faced with blood-injection injuries.
There are other types of phobia treatment available. Cognitive-behavioral treatments combine the behavioral techniques mentioned above with cognitive techniques that help in identifying and challenging distressing thoughts about the feared objects. This type of treatment is very effective for social phobia since it can be administered in a group setting. Biological treatments are the last type of method. People are prescribed with medicines such as benzodiazepines, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to provide temporary relief, since they cannot extinguish phobias. There are also studies that proved that relapse happens soon after stopping the medication. To sum it up, it eems that behavior therapy, the best method, still involves the adage "confront your fears."
Extremely shy individuals only feel at ease when family members and very close friends are around. However, situations where the people are unfamiliar or if they have to communicate with a group of new individuals are very difficult for them to deal with. Social phobia may get in the way of any individual's life that's why it should be properly dealt with.
These negative experiences and beliefs can be self perpetuating. The phobic person does not see his or her part in the break-up. This reinforces the belief that he or she can not trust members of the same sex and so rejects the next person who gets close.There are some classic behaviors exhibited by phobic men and women. For clarity's sake we will use he in this list of common commitment phobic behaviors. You may see yourself or a friend in some or many of these behaviors.
A history of short relationships - he may bolt when he senses you are looking for a commitment. He may be quite satisfied with a long distance relationship and resist suggestions that either of you move to be closer.He will be moody and distant and blame you for his behavior.He refuses to plan ahead because this represents commitment for him.He is evasive and secretive in order to keep you out of his space.He is not willing to socialize with your friends and family for fear this will be construed as commitment.We could go on for pages and pages listing behaviors common to commitment phobics. However one or two of these behaviors in an individual does not make him a candidate for commitment phobia and fear treatment and cure.
Dental phobia may stem from your fear of pain, of needles, of the effects of anesthesia, unpleasant experiences with past dentists, or the fear of entrusting your mouth to a total stranger. It is therefore important to find a supportive dentist or orthodontist like those in Hornchurch or Brentwood whom you can trust and feel at ease with. Ask your friends or relatives to recommend dentists they have tried before and are satisfied with the treatment they got.
Support System.As much as therapy and medications can help in anxiety attack treatment, so does family and close friends as support system to an individual. One becomes more courageous if he knows that the important people in his life are supportive of him. Further, while he is taking small steps, setting a small goal and gradually reaching for it, the encouragements in between of family and friends will go a long way.Combating social anxiety is never easy but with the help of social phobia treatment and the support of family and friends, an individual can slowly confront anxiety. One can learn management of fear, coping with an anxiety attack symptom and develop confidence in dealing with social situations.
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