Phobias, irrational or otherwise

[petra]

Posted by 5th (here)
Incidentally, psychoanalysis is much misunderstood and badly named because there is zero analysis in the process and any therapist who introduces analysis is likely to be injecting their own messed up psyche into the game...

Made me laugh

Posted by 5th (here)
But for sure, every phobia without exception is caused by a trapped trauma and no, non are rational. While it may seen sensible to be afraid of small places to fear them when there is no real chance of being trapped in one is irrational! I used to have a fear of sharp knives and razor blades but now I can quite happily imagine being sliced open everywhere and feel no emotion whatsoever...

I tend to disagree that none are rational because I think there's a root for every single phobia. I don't think any of them are random. The phobia itself would be rational, if we knew the reason. The feeling/emotion is what's irrational. I tend to pay very close attention to my "inappropriate feelings".

Curing one phobia and causing another phobia is something I have never considered either. I've always thought hypnosis to be dangerous, and I guess that's because we don't fully understand how it works yet.

[5th]

Sorry but if a person fears something that is not actually present, that is irrational.

It is of course very common but that's a result of the messed up condition of humanity and just because it's 'normal' doesn't mean it's rational. Everyone has repressed traumas.

A well balanced (trauma free) person simply has no fears at all. The point is that all phobias are irrational because they are caused by an unknown fear latching onto something (anything) so that the conscious mind can explain the anxiety. Of course, the sufferer will often explain it conveniently - I have claustrophobia because I was shut in a cupboard as a child. In most cases that turns out not to be the real cause at all. Maybe they were abused by somebody and that got repressed but shows itself as a fear of being shut in small spaces - or it could just as well be a fear of birds.

[petra]

Posted by 5th (here)
Sorry but if a person fears something that is not actually present, that is irrational.

It is of course very common but that's a result of the messed up condition of humanity and just because it's 'normal' doesn't mean it's rational. Everyone has repressed traumas.

That's what I mean by irrational feelings or emotions yes.
I agree the phobia itself is irrational though, it just makes no sense at all to the person experiencing it.

Posted by 5th (here)
A well balanced (trauma free) person simply has no fears at all. The point is that all phobias are irrational because they are caused by an unknown fear latching onto something (anything) so that the conscious mind can explain the anxiety. Of course, the sufferer will often explain it conveniently - I have claustrophobia because I was shut in a cupboard as a child. In most cases that turns out not to be the real cause at all. Maybe they were abused by somebody and that got repressed but shows itself as a fear of being shut in small spaces - or it could just as well be a fear of birds.

I agree with this too, I find it pretty impressive when I come across a trauma free person.

I have claustrophobia too! It's interesting how you can rationalize that one easily from being shut in a cupboard.

For me, I used to like closed spaces as a child. I enjoyed playing in my closet, and a few times I even crammed a friend in there too But then towards adulthood I started having claustrophobic dreams, and I think that contributed to it a lot. One dream I was trapped in the back of a car, and I remember wishing I had one of those glass-breaking doodads. Some time before that I had another dream I was being buried alive in a coffin, and there was a stranger in there with me. That one was the worst - because I think we were both claustrophobic already :/

EDIT: I think that was supposed to be an example because 5th, you've already dealt with yours. That's a great example though

[Wind]

I always wondered why I was afraid of the dark sea, sharp objects such as needles, things around my neck (I never even liked to wear any necklaces), etc.

The answer is a bit gruesome, but turns out that it has had everything to do with past lives. In them I've drowned, been hanged and stabbed among other things, but I'll spare you from rest of the details. There's a myriad of ways that a human can leave this world rather painfully and sadly that can often be quite traumatic and leave an imprint on the soul which does carry on from one life to another until the trauma is being resolved and released. Traumas created even in this current life can affect us so much and we humans surely need a lot of healing to recover from them.

Violence has been so ingrained to our species and I don't think that is normal thing at all or should be, but that's the way it has been for thousands of years. It is truly a blessing to leave this world quietly and without any pain, that's for sure. Everyone should be granted a dignified death when their time is up.

[AutumnW]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by petra (here)
Does anyone think it might be possible to be born with a phobia?

Yes, for sure. The cause is a past life trauma.

And past life trauma can include species memory or ancestral trauma. f course we have "irrational" fears of spiders and snakes. Inborn fears kept our ancestors safe.

Way too much is made of suppression in this life causing phobias.

[Bubu]

Posted by enfoldedblue (here)
When I decided to study hypnosis a friend of mine voiced her concern. She told me about an obese woman who couldn't leave her house due to built up internal fears from a traumatic childhood. Feeling so frustrated with her inability to live life she called a hypnotist. He worked on her and voila...fears conquered she was able to attend the workshop where my friend met her.

Only my friend said she actually did not believe it was a good thing. She said the woman's energy was horrible and was negatively affecting everyone in the room. My friend is good at reading energy and said that she could feel the woman's inner child was in crazy distress, but because of the hypnosis was able to ignore it. So it seems the hypnosis the woman recieved didn't in anyway heal the trauma... it just sort of created a wall between her cetral self and her inner parts that were experiencing the terror.

This story helped me greatly as a practitioner. I don't want to block or overide any internal parts or aspects. Instead i use the deep delta brainwave state as a means to allow the client to self explore, find blocks, discover what the aspects who are holding onto the blocks need to feeel safe enough to let them go. This seems to create more long term results.

Thanks Blue, always objectively wise and seeing through the veil.

[scotslad]

True story...

I was shot aged 15 and lost my left eye. Was in hospital for weeks, didnt speak for week due to trauma. Since then I have had a phobia of needles.

This year (30+ years later), I returned abroad from holiday, stayed at hotel near airport and went to bed. Woke up next morning and couldnt see. My wife took me to an emergency appt to an optician then rushed to hospital. I had lost the sight in my right eye.

Hospital Consultant said a course of injections into my right eye might recover it - no guarantees and there were risks.

I explained my situation and fear and his response - "dont intellectualise it". That was the extent of the conversation/consultation. BLUNT!

Done a lot of "soul searching" thinking etc why me, how. Karma? Past life? Punishment? Pass. How would I cope - INJECTIONS IN MY ONLY EYE!!!

No. I cant do it. No way. WTF....Life, money, wife, kids, house....what ? I cant do it - not needles in my eye fully awake and conscious. Shhhhhiiiittttt!

Fast forward 5 months...

What I've learned - "Do not dwell, worry or play over and over what it is you are fearful of".

Plan forward, set goal(s) initiate desire to fire up your enthusiasm, energy and project forward what u do want, not dwell on what you dont want or what you're fearful of.

(Bear with me, I'm getting there.)

Weeks of sleepness nights - mini panic attacks, thinking about mindfulness, meditation, playing relaxing music what would I do? (they wouldnt knock me out for the injections)

OK, here we go...

The first injection was traumatic as hell, I played the scene from clockwork orange over and over in my head and added a huge canon sized javelin for weeks leading up to it.

I got through that first injection, albeit shirt soaking wet, knuckles white and the adrenalin kicked in and I was in shock constantly shaking for 90 mins after the 2 second long procedure. Nae likey. But it flicked a switched in my head. Done it once. Can do it again.

As you can see by my typing, I can see and its getting better. That was May. I've overcome my fear and now have regular injections.

What I've learned?

Prior to and in the middle of an (any) experience its like being in a sandstorm all you can think about is DWELL and worrry and fill yourself full of negative emotions which perpetuate the experience. Be positive and focus on what you do want - and start experiencing the feelings you want to experience and the new circumstances you do want to create not the emotions you experience re the fear or situation that perpetuate the negative experience.

As for the real source of my phobia of needles? Past life - probably. Which one not sure.

Onwards and upwards.

[petra]

Posted by scotslad (here)
What I've learned?

Prior to and in the middle of an (any) experience its like being in a sandstorm all you can think about is DWELL and worrry and fill yourself full of negative emotions which perpetuate the experience. Be positive and focus on what you do want - and start experiencing the feelings you want to experience and the new circumstances you do want to create not the emotions you experience re the fear or situation that perpetuate the negative experience.

As for the real source of my phobia of needles? Past life - probably. Which one not sure.

Onwards and upwards.

Thanks for all the detail scotslad, that's exactly what I am looking for is people's thought process! Lucky for me, I don't think my fear of spiders could blind me. You had a very good reason for needing to overcome this phobia and you did it.

I don't know if I could deal with blindness. So glad we have two eyes, and that you can still see!!

Posted by Wind (here)
I always wondered why I was afraid of the dark sea, sharp objects such as needles, things around my neck (I never even liked to wear any necklaces), etc.

The answer is a bit gruesome, but turns out that it has had everything to do with past lives. In them I've drowned, been hanged and stabbed among other things, but I'll spare you from rest of the details. There's a myriad of ways that a human can leave this world rather painfully and sadly that can often be quite traumatic and leave an imprint on the soul which does carry on from one life to another until the trauma is being resolved and released. Traumas created even in this current life can affect us so much and we humans surely need a lot of healing to recover from them.

Violence has been so ingrained to our species and I don't think that is normal thing at all or should be, but that's the way it has been for thousands of years. It is truly a blessing to leave this world quietly and without any pain, that's for sure. Everyone should be granted a dignified death when their time is up.

That's what my mom wrote in her last will and testament, "Please let me die peacefully". She got her wish - I made sure of it.

I read something in Arthur Ford Speaks From Beyond book (that coincidentally belonged to her), and although it's channeled material, he explains souls needing a bit of time to heal in between incarnations. Now, that would make sense to me. If that's true, it'd stand to reason that some of us could be incarnating too early. Could be totally false I know, just a possible guess.

Current life traumas which get repressed might as well be the exact same thing as past life traumas. It boils down to the same thing, essentially.

Spoiler alert!
In the movie Memento, the lead character spends his life looking for his wife's rapist/murderer. Problem is, every time he goes to sleep, he represses all his new memories. Why is this relevant? Because he already found and killed the rapist, he just doesn't remember.

OK so maybe it's not quite so dramatic in real life. But my point is, he forgets/represses memories that are VERY IMPORTANT! He's his own worst enemy essentially.