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Thank you Eric. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
One question..... what are you doing to your friend in the dark?!?!
Sorry for the thread drift... but I couldn't help it.
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Dealing with phobia
- Thread starter danielp
- Start date
Thank you Eric. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
One question..... what are you doing to your friend in the dark?!?!
Sorry for the thread drift... but I couldn't help it.
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ROTFLMAO:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
One of the best posts I have ever read on BF to date.
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That may be the issue and then again it may not. Phobias can also be the result of normal healthy brain activity. In order to survive we have developed the capability of making very strong emotional associations with certain stimuli. Think of a caveman who survives an attack by a sabertooth tiger - for many months if not years after that a mere flash of light brown will probably trigger an extremely strong emotional response to either fight or flee. Why? Because that strong emotional association with the stimuli might save the caveman's life if he's stalked by another sabertooth tiger. Forming strong emotional associations with stimuli given a single experience is something that enabled our ancestors to survive a dangerous world - and they passed that skill on to us through our genes and the neural structure of our brains.
It may be simply that DanielP has formed a strong emotional association due to some past experience. It isn't that he has a chemical deficiency - indeed his brain is working just as it was designed to do. But the brain is built to assist the organism to survive - not make life easy. The mechanism of strong emotional association from a single experience is so necessary to survival that an occassional mistake in emotional association - such as a caterpillar as a thing to be feared - can be tolerated.
More than likely DanielP's basic survival mechanism is working just the way it should - he just happened by circumstance to get it triggered by a caterpillar instead of something actually dangerous. I guess my point is that maybe it's better not to think of it as something that's wrong - it's actually something that's working the way it should but it's mis-directed. Get help - but maybe a whole bunch of serious drugs isn't necessary. :thumbup:
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Rupestris
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Not a good idea, eating hairy critters can ingraine a phobia to terminal and lethal levels. Better start eating bugs.
Well besides my fear of people or being trapped, I also had a heart attack when i was 32 yrs old. I was riding my brand new motorcycle when it happend and i got to the hospital and fell out in the emergency room. They hit me with difibulator and when i woke up i was in CCU. I know for at least 4 yrs later that i had panic attacks everyday. A panic attack felt like i was having another heart attack and i was litterally scared to go within a mile from the hospital. It was a vicious cycle. Im now 39 and i am ok so on that part i dont have panic attacks anymore. I do still have them if I am around people though. Yes it does controll my life. I guess that is why i feel so much better if i have a knife on me. I feel somewhat protected. And for as Wilderness Survival , i feel like im away from everyone. I dont know why that is the way i am. I use not to be that away. I was in the Army and went thru the Gulf war and made it fine. This just started really in my later 20s. I know i was molested as a kid, when i was 8 or 9 by this man. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Anyway thats my story. Poor me huh.
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I had a minor fear of snakes and my roommate in college had two of them. It took me a little while with him holding them and me just touching them before I felt comfortable holding them on my own. Just take it in small steps.
Tactical Folder? Are you kidding? I wouldn't confront a shadow with anything less than an AR15 with folding buttstock, La Rue rails, night vision scope and a 600 megawatt surefire up the front, with my Mossberg cruiser and a custom tuned .45 for backup. Tactical folder indeed...
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I have a fear of heights. I deal with it by confronting it often. Hopefully that cuts the edge enough that I won't panik during an emergency. Ladders, roller coasters, rock walls, etc. Practice feeling the fear. I don't know if that makes sense, or has any validity, but its what I do.
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I have a SLIGHT phobia of spiders. Only venomous spiders though. Seeing my grandfathers leg after a Brown Recluse bite really made me scared. And a Discovery Channel special only increased my fear of Black Widows. But other than that I don't really have a problem with spiders. Actually wolf spiders, I love em. Cute little buggers.
mymindisamob
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After some mandated sessions, I was told I had a condition called "Counterphobia", therefore too aggressive for most situations where good judgement was needed for others safety.
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I have one phobia and thats claustrophobia. Its not bad, but at times it can rear its ugly head up. I had to have an MRI once after a near fatal car accident. It took all I had to get in there and let the test run. The test I had was almost 40 minutes long! I sang every church hymn I ever knew and everyone one was laughing at me, but it was the only way I could cope with it. Since then, I've put myself in situations that would normally cause me to freak, but I keep an escape route in case I panic too much. I'm tons better now!
I've gone SCUBA diving under ice, I've gone caving in Kentucky and I even went in a glacier tunnel in Switzerland once. Its was a long, dark and cold place, but I did it. As with everything in life, the best thing you can NOT do is panic. Once you go there, Its very difficult to stop.
Try coping with your phobia gradually and in controlled situations. YOU keep control of the situation and don't let the situation control you. I know that sounds easier than it is, but I'm telling you from first hand experience it works.
Good luck cuz I'm with you!
I've gone SCUBA diving under ice, I've gone caving in Kentucky and I even went in a glacier tunnel in Switzerland once. Its was a long, dark and cold place, but I did it. As with everything in life, the best thing you can NOT do is panic. Once you go there, Its very difficult to stop.
Try coping with your phobia gradually and in controlled situations. YOU keep control of the situation and don't let the situation control you. I know that sounds easier than it is, but I'm telling you from first hand experience it works.
Good luck cuz I'm with you!