Phobias and Fears

Blood Fear and My Birthday Blood Donation

by Dan Regan | Jun 17, 2024 | Phobias and Fears

Blood Fear and My Birthday Blood Donation

Recently, I’ve been working with a fair few people who struggle with a blood fear. That might be blood itself, having a blood test, needles and injections or even all medically related things.

Last week I celebrated my birthday and I took some time to pop along and make my latest blood donation. As it was my birthday the staff very kindly gave me a card and offered me extra snacks after my blood donation!

I can well remember my first blood donation a few years ago. I was a bit hyped up about it beforehand. I’m ok with blood, needles and injections and the like but there was still a bit of anticipation about what was going to happen and how I would feel afterwards. After all, the first time you do these sort of things there is a big element of the unknown about what is going to happen. These days it’s more in, have a bit of a chat with the staff, bosh out a pint of the red stuff, eat a snack and then back home (feeling like a hero!). This latest experience was so relaxing I felt like I could have had a little sleep whilst donating. I’d have happily sat there and relaxed for a lot longer than they let me!

I help a lot of people to overcome their fear of blood and their anxiety around needles, injections and medical type things. Sometimes even something on TV or a mention of these things can be enough to start the anxiety. Maybe you avoid these things because of your fear. Yet at some point you know that, for your own health and well-being, you are likely to need a blood test or something similar. You can put it off yet at some point it is pretty likely to become necessary.

Instead of that anxiety, fear and dread, it is very possible to have a blood test (or even give blood) whilst feeling calm, comfortable and in control.

Dental Anxiety

by Dan Regan | May 21, 2024 | Phobias and Fears

Dental Anxiety – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Do you struggle with dental anxiety and fear about the dentist?

This morning I headed over to my six monthly check up and hygienist appointment at my dentist. I can remember as a kid hating the dentist. It meant pain and discomfort and misery. Surely no one can forget the sound the drill used to make. I’d be sat there in the waiting room listening to the drill being applied to someone else and getting increasingly tense and worried that it would soon be my turn. I know it’s meant to help with relaxation but sitting there watching the goldfish in the waiting room had no effect. I would sit there listening to the drill while it created a mass of dental anxiety for me.

Of course, things have moved on masses since then. These days treatment is way more advanced and much more comfortable, certainly where I go anyway. Yet, if you struggle with dental anxiety then you may not have been along to the dentist for a long time. You likely still associate dental treatment with those old days and unpleasant experiences when much younger. With your anxiety, your fear will lead to avoidance. Then at some point you have dental issues and avoidance no longer works. You know you need to go to the dentist to get your discomfort looked at and to get it sorted. Yet the very thought of it leaves you anxious, worried and filled with dread.

Avoidance is the main strategy for dealing with anxiety. That may be ignoring the issue for as long as possible. It may mean living with avoidable pain and discomfort in your mouth. It can even mean that when you finally build up the courage to make an appointment you cancel last minute. Or, as some of my former clients have described, you may even get through the anxiety and panic and get to the dentist only to flee from the chair before you are even asked to open your mouth.

We know that regular visits to the dentist are important for your health. Yet dental anxiety leads to side stepping any sort of regular dentist visits and that can lead to all sorts of problems with your mouth, teeth and gums that will require a lot more treatment later.

Emetophobia and Fear of Vomiting – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Apr 30, 2024 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks, Phobias and Fears

Emetophobia and Fear of Vomiting – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Emetophobia and the fear of vomiting are a much more common anxiety issue than many people realise. Only recently I was talking to an anxiety client who mentioned in passing that she also has a fear of being sick. It’s one of those irrational fears that rarely gets talked about and can be hidden quite well and so many sufferers feel pretty alone with their worry.

Emetophobia is a fear of vomiting or of seeing other people being sick. Although it can be hidden quite well by avoidance, the anxious thoughts and feelings can creep into all sorts of situations, can dominate your planning before you do anything and can have a limiting impact upon your life. As with most anxiety and fear, you fear being out of control in a situation whether either you or someone else is, or could be, sick. Yet, in trying to control for the possibility of it happening, you actually feel less and less in control.

You may worry that you will be sick and so you pay attention to every physical sensation you have, especially in your stomach or throat. Many people with emetophobia that I work with may not have actually been sick for a long time. As a result, they can become convinced that every physical sensation is a sign that this is the time it is going to happen, that this time is different and that you are going to vomit. Of course, that anxiety causes more physical sensations and so your anxiety and fear spiral upwards higher and higher.

Some people with a fear of vomiting are only worried about being sick themselves. For many, there is also the fear of seeing others being sick (which could bring the increased risk that you will also then be sick). You may avoid some situations around others, or activities you associate with an increased risk of people being unwell. You may even struggle watching if an actor on TV is sick. Certain sounds, such as coughing or burping, may place you on edge. And if you know someone has been unwell then you probably try to avoid them, even if they are now better again. Rather than being supportive and empathetic, if someone says they feel sick then your first instinct is to get away.

Being sick or around someone being sick is an unpleasant experience. Most people get through it, forget about it and move on if it happens. With emetophobia, the fear and anxiety lurks and influences your decisions before you do anything. You can be on high alert in public places. And if something was to happen, it already feels like it would be the worst possible thing that could ever happen to you.

Anxiety About Driving – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Mar 9, 2024 | Phobias and Fears

Anxiety About Driving – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Anxiety about driving is a pretty common thing. With so many cars on the road, it may seem to you like everyone else just gets in the car and goes. Yet anxiety about driving can impact in all sorts of frustrating and limiting ways.

We all rely on cars so much these days that if you struggle with getting in the car and going places, it’s going to have an adverse impact upon your life. Rather than having the freedom to go places and do the things you want to do, you either miss out, battle with anxiety or have to rely on others to take you. It seems so easy for others yet you struggle with the anxious thoughts and feelings about driving that make it an ordeal, a threat and something to try and avoid.

Now, of course, anxiety about driving can impact in different ways. For some it means totally avoiding driving altogether because of the anxiety, stress, worry and fear. You may have certain routes that are more comfortable for you, such as local and slower roads, but anything beyond that is out of limits. And for others, it is only the quicker roads that seem safer and manageable. There can also be anxiety about specific aspects of driving, such as busy traffic, coping with glaring lights at night, new routes or dealing with finding a space and parking.

However, your driving anxiety impacts, you can feel tense just thinking about it and you can dread any upcoming journey. You find yourself vividly imagining all sorts of feared driving situations. You might worry about messing up, going the wrong way or being unable to park at your destination. You may worry about other road users driving dangerously. Or maybe you feel anxious as you think about the risk that you may cause an accident and harm someone else. If you feel anxious about it, your mind will find some negative worst case scenario that may happen.

You may have been told before that you are a capable driver, you may even know logically that the likelihood of that feared worst case happening is remote. Yet in the grip of anxiety the thoughts and feelings can be overwhelming. You feel relief if you can get out of driving and that relief fuels your desire to avoid any other driving situations that could occur in the future.

Yet it is very possible to change this pattern of anxiety. Rather than being filled with dread and anxiety, you can start to feel calm, comfortable and confident both before you drive and when you are behind the wheel. Rather than your thoughts being dominated with how you’ll get somewhere, you can start to become more focused on where you are going and why you are going there.

Fear of Spiders Hypnotherapy Review

by Dan Regan | Feb 27, 2024 | Phobias and Fears

Fear of Spiders Hypnotherapy Review

Today I’m sharing with you an overcoming fear of spiders hypnotherapy review video from someone I have worked with.

Our eight legged friends certainly do get around don’t they. You can just be sitting there at home or work getting on with something and then, out of the corner of your eye, you notice something scuttling across the floor or wall. Now, if you have a fear of spiders then you probably already did a little check when you came in the room. You may not even notice how you scan the corners of the room in case there is one about.

I’ve worked with people who get anxious and fearful just going near a place where they’ve seen a spider before, even though the spider they saw back then is long gone. A cobweb may put you on edge. People talking about them or a picture of one may get your heart rate up. And if there is one anywhere near you then you can panic and either freeze with your eyes locked onto the spider, or you may run as fast as you can from the room. You may have to get someone else to get rid of the spider and you either can’t look at it or need evidence that it has been removed. And my client who is sharing her hypnotherapy review today couldn’t even say the word spider when we first met, let alone get near enough to get rid of one.

You know that your fear of spiders is irrational. Yet that doesn’t stop the anxiety, worry and panic whenever you see one. Although there is a time of year when they are more likely to come in your house, they can appear anytime. Perhaps even more worryingly they can soon disappear into any little dark space so that you don’t know where they are or when they may appear. For some it’s any spider and for others it’s the bigger bodied ones. Either way, hypnotherapy can help you to feel calm, confident and in control to either humanely remove a spider or to just let it be as you get on with other things.

Blood Phobia and Needle Phobia – Hypnotherapy Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Jan 18, 2024 | Phobias and Fears

Blood Phobia and Needle Phobia – Hypnotherapy Ely and Newmarket

Blood phobia and needle phobia are two of the main fears that I help people to overcome. And the other day, as I was donating blood again, I was reminded of all the people that I’ve helped over the years to overcome this specific fear, anxiety and phobia.

As with all phobias and fears, if you can avoid anything to do with blood and needles then you very much will. That can mean avoiding anything on TV that is related to it and feeling anxious and uncomfortable if someone mentions the subject. Just the thought of anything to do with blood or needles may be enough to ramp up your anxiety. And with avoidance being the number one strategy for blood phobia and needle phobia, you may have been able to swerve things like blood tests for a a long time. Yet, at some point a need arises for a blood test or injection of some kind and your fear and anxiety quickly escalates.

Before I gave blood for the first time I was very apprehensive. I had no idea then of how easy and straightforward it all is and how, apart from a bit of tiredness afterwards, there are no real impacts. And with your phobia, you may logically know that it’s all a bit harmless and painless yet the overwhelming anxiety, worry and panic still strikes.

No matter how severe your anxiety seems, it is possible to change how your mind perceives blood and injections from something fearful and threatening, to something more calm and comfortable. I’ve helped people at all levels of fear, including those who cancel appointments that they really should attend for their health. There have been those who can’t lift their arm for the nurse to have a blood test. And there have been those who, before hypnotherapy, used to pass out at the sight of blood or a needle.

Your mind works on patterns, habit and repetition and so, once you overcome your phobia, you can calmly and confidently be exposed to anything blood or needle related. You can handle it in the way you would many other straightforward things that you already deal with now with hardly a troublesome thought.

Fear of Spiders – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Aug 31, 2023 | Phobias and Fears

Fear of Spiders – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Spider season is now well and truly upon us here in the UK. Barely a day goes past at the moment where I’m not called upon to trap a spider in our house and then release it back out into the garden. And as well as the little house spiders, there have been some whoppers recently with dark, chunky bodies and long, thick legs.

If you have a fear of spiders then this can be one of the most challenging times of the year. During spider season, you’re more likely to encounter the little critters and they may well seem to be more active (I’m told it’s spider mating season so those male spiders are out and about looking for a mate). Sometimes they are just sitting there on the floor or ceiling, and other times you notice that bit of movement out of the corner of your eye and then turn and see one scuttling across the floor towards a dark space.

I’ve worked with many people to help them overcome their fear of spiders. Rather than feeling anxious, having to check everywhere you go, and struggling with panic when you encounter one, you can learn how to calmly and confidently handle, deal and cope with any spiders should you come across one.

Fear of Flying Help and Support – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Jul 19, 2023 | Phobias and Fears

Fear of Flying Help and Support – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

More and more people are discovering the fear of flying help and support available through hypnotherapy and from my individual, bespoke fear of flying course.

We’ve just completed yet another awesome fear of flying course, and the feedback is that this has certainly helped the person we worked with to take control over their own thoughts and feelings about flying. Our course, which is held at the simulator centre in Mildenhall, is designed to make sure that you come away with the knowledge and information you need about planes and flying. Fear thrives on uncertainty and so knowing what is happening and why on the plane starts to remove the scope for your imagination to make up terrible, unfounded, scenarios.

As well as gaining understanding about flying, you also get a bespoke hypnotherapy session and a whole range of strategies and techniques for taking back control over your own thoughts, feelings and behaviours when you fly. There’s then the chance to have a flight in the Boeing simulator (which uses some amazing technology) and to immerse yourself in the experience of flying.

If you’ve ever had questions about the sights and sounds on the plane, about what turbulence actually is and how it affects the aircraft, and you also want to be able to relax and feel more comfortable on your flight, then our fear of flying help and support may be just what you need.

Injections, Needles and Giving Blood – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

by Dan Regan | May 24, 2023 | Phobias and Fears

Injections, Needles and Giving Blood – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

The other day I went to give blood here in Ely for perhaps the fifth or sixth time, and certainly the first time since the pandemic. My Dad was a regular donor of blood and it means a lot to me to follow in his footsteps (although I’m not sure I remember him acting as weak and pathetic as I do after a donation!). It’s also nice to know that for someone somewhere that I will never meet, my blood could make all the difference to them.

Whenever I mention to people that I’ve been to give blood there will undoubtedly be several people who tell me how they couldn’t do that because of their fear around needles and injections, or because of a phobia about blood.

It really does seem to be one of the most prevalent fears and phobias around. And, for the most part, if you are healthy then you may not have much need to go near a needle or injection, or to need something like a blood test. And so, when people come to see me for hypnotherapy to overcome their fear then it is likely that their avoidance strategy has failed because they need something dental or medical done, or because their health now requires regular blood tests or injections.

And, of course, you know logically that there is no need to fear that little needle, or to fear the sight of blood (after all you carry enough of it around inside you), yet the fear and anxiety can take over to the point where you delay things, suffer overwhelming panic, want to run from the room (and just keep running) or you worry you may faint. And if you’ve been anxious, fearful and had unpleasant experiences around blood, needles and injections, then those memories are a lingering reminder of what an ordeal you are facing.

Fears around needles, injections and blood are not uncommon and that pattern of anxiety can certainly be changed. You can learn how to feel calm, comfortable and in control to get done anything you need to get done, and to relax if a need for something like a blood test crops up.

(Note: There is a picture of me at my blood donation with a needle in my arm further down this article. Please scroll carefully if you want to avoid it).

Fear of Flying Help – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | May 23, 2023 | Phobias and Fears

Fear of Flying Help – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Holiday season is approaching and the number of people seeking help for their fear of flying is rising.

For many people with a fear of flying the pandemic has an unintended consequence. Rather than having to hope flying somewhere wasn’t mentioned or feeling anxious about the possibility of flying, the restrictions probably meant a period of relief where you didn’t have to worry about it. Yet now, it is much more likely that either friends of family, or work, will be talking about booking flights and going away somewhere.

If you have a fear of flying, then no matter how much you love going away or seeing other places, your primary strategy is likely to always be avoidance. You’ll try to suggest other options, find reasons not to fly, look for other methods of travel or you’ll do just about anything else to get out of that thing that is filled with nervousness, dread, fear and anxiety.

Through avoidance you can find temporary relief from your fear of flying, yet the next time there is a possibility you may need to fly, the same old anxiety and fear resurfaces. And if your friends and family or work keep pushing you to commit to going somewhere that involves flying then, sooner or later, the prevarication, excuses and avoidance strategies will probably run out.

Pretty much every person with a fear of flying knows logically that flying is the safest mode of transport and that their fear is irrational. Yet that logic and reasoning can’t prevent all of the anxious feelings and emotions arising and all of the associated thoughts about the plane you will fly on being the one that is certain to fall out of the sky.

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