Phobias and Fears

Dealing with Dental Fear

by Dan Regan | Oct 5, 2015 | Phobias and Fears

Recently I’ve been helping a huge number of people to overcome their dental anxiety in Ely. Many of them have been referred to me by their dentist or hygenist to get help to overcome their intense fear and anxiety around having dental treatment.

As with all fears, I’ve encountered a wide spectrum of experiences from those who can manage check ups but dread having work done, to those who have avoided the dentist for decades. I’ve recently helped people who are in acute tooth pain and know they need dental treatment yet keep putting it off, and those who now face the prospect of losing teeth because they have avoided check ups for so long.

And if you currently struggle with fear of the dentist, you may worry about experiencing pain or having injections, or you may remember previous times when you’ve panicked and worry about it happening again. Or perhaps it’s a feeling of being out of control, a fear of all medical situations, the smell of the dentist surgery or – and this is commonly cited as an issue – the sound of the drill.

Fear of Needles and Blood

by Dan Regan | Aug 8, 2015 | Phobias and Fears

Recently I went to give blood for the second time in Ely – something everyone I’ve spoken to agrees is a useful and valuable thing to do. So what stops so many people actually taking an hour out and giving blood?

Many people I’ve spoken to tell me they have a fear of needles or blood or are worried about fainting afterwards. And of course, needles, blood and the possibility of fainting are certainly part of the process! In fact, while I was there, one person did pass out despite being a regular blood donor, and another person felt faint and had to rest for a while.

I remember the first time I gave blood – afterwards I went a bit dizzy and had to sit down for a while. But it soon passed, and just like the lady who did faint, I was soon up and on my way again feeling fine.

Overcome Your Dog Phobia with Hypnotherapy

by Dan Regan | Feb 25, 2015 | Phobias and Fears

Do you struggle with a dog phobia?

In the video below, Alison explains how hypnotherapy helped her young daughter end her phobia of dogs. Before coming to see me, Katie was fearful of all dogs; she wouldn’t go near them and would actively avoid them. If she went to a friend’s house and they had a dog, she had to know in advance that it would be shut away before she would agree to go there.

As with any phobia you have, with a fear of dogs, you will be on high alert whenever they may be around. The fear and panic can be so overwhelming that you may avoid certain places, you may hear every dog bark and constantly check whether dogs are on a lead or could come closer.

Yet after just a few sessions, Katie was totally free of her dog phobia.

End Your Dentist Phobia

by Dan Regan | Jan 31, 2015 | Phobias and Fears

Do you hate going to the dentist? Is the thought of it enough to bring the nerves and fear that stop you going?

Along with needle phobia, dentist phobia is one of the most common fears I help people to overcome.

Most people with a fear of the dentist will do all they can to avoid making an appointment – they may go years without even a check up – until something happens like tooth pain and they are left with no choice.

And the nearer the appointment gets the more you feel anxious or try to not think about it. In the waiting room you may feel hot, sweaty, on edge and like you want to pace up and down the room. And once they call your name you may find that panic increases, sometimes even to the point of a panic attack where you have to get out of the dentist chair as quickly as possible.

I have worked with clients who in the past had been to the dentist four or five times, but every time their dentist fear had taken over and they had left without treatment. Some have even been told not to come back until they have sorted their dentist phobia.

Overcoming Dog Phobia

by Dan Regan | Dec 29, 2014 | Phobias and Fears

One of the hardest things if you suffer with a dog phobia is that dogs are everywhere! With many other phobias like the dentist or flying you can try and control your fear by avoiding those things.

Yet dogs can be found everywhere in your day to day life – outside shops, by play areas, on green spaces and even walking towards you down the street. And with a dog phobia you are likely to be alert to any possible sounds or sightings of dogs – especially dogs off their lead who could run towards you.

And most people with dog phobias whom I have helped have also carefully managed their contact with friends who own dogs. This may be making sure the dog will be shut in another room or even avoiding going to their house altogether.

When you are around or near a dog, that fear response will kick in. You will feel on edge, alert, probably keeping one eye constantly on the dog. Depending on how near the dog is and what it is doing you may even experience shaking, sweating, breathing changes and a racing heart.

End Your Food Phobia

by Dan Regan | Dec 3, 2014 | Phobias and Fears

Over the last year I have been working with an increasing number of adults who struggle with food phobia or selective eating problems.

Whilst they do eat certain familiar foods, people with a food phobia tend to struggle with any new foods – they just physically cannot take a mouthful and swallow it. Depending on how long it has been going on, and the range of foods they can eat, this can impact on health – as well as causing social problems about eating around others.

If you struggle with something similar then it may well have been going on so long that it’s just become what you do around food. You’ll have a mental list of foods that are ok for you to calmly eat, and you will have developed practices to avoid getting into embarassing and anxious situations around food (e.g. making up excuses to avoid social eating, cooking your own meals).

How Claire Ended Fear Of Flying

by Dan Regan | Oct 21, 2014 | Phobias and Fears

When Claire came to see me she told me all about how her fear of flying affected her life. She would dread the prospect of flying for weeks beforehand, she would struggle with her fear during the flight itself and would then spend her holidays worried about the upcoming flight back rather than enjoyng herself. Now that she had children, she was worried that they may pick up on her fear and start to learn to have their own fear of flying.

Fear of flying can turn what should be a wonderful holiday into a draining anxiety-ridden ordeal. Even before the flight you may run many scenarios over in your mind of what may happen – and all those ‘what if’s’ only add fuel to your fear. The fear only increases if you catch any stories in the news about things happening to planes.

And all that fear and anxiety is even before the flight itself, where the anxiety levels may rocket as you wait at the airport, only to increase further when you get on the plane, take your seat and await take off.

Many people try using medication or alcohol to numb some of the anxiety, yet often even that isn’t enough to stop the fear taking hold. And even if you do force yourself through the flight, there is still the daunting prospect of repeating the whole ordeal on the return flight to contend with.

In The Cambridge News…

by Dan Regan | Oct 21, 2014 | Phobias and Fears

The Cambridge News has just featured an article about how I helped Steve Miller finally overcome his 40 year phobia.

Before working with me, Steve had struggled with anything to do with blood and needles. Even saying the word ‘blood’ or seeing anything with blood on TV would cause him anxiety.

Steve now tells me that he is completely calm and relaxed about those things that used to cause him such fear.

You can read the article here: Cambridge_News_201014_Steve_Miller_end_phobia_with_hypnotherapy.pdf

How to End Your Phobia

by Dan Regan | Sep 25, 2014 | Phobias and Fears

Phobias are often funny things aren’t they? How is it that the sight of a spider can make a grown person desperate to get out of the room? Or the sound of a dog barking can generate intense panic? Or even,as was the case with one client I worked with, the thought of being somewhere with balloons was enough to make him avoid places.

Logically you know that you are not in physical danger. Yet somehow out of your logical control all that fear kicks in – you may feel faint, sick, sweaty, on edge or any of the other symptoms associated with panic and fear. You may even suffer panic attacks.

And having learnt to experince all that fear and those feelings in relation to your phobia, you’ll have soon found how reliable your keeping safe reactions are when in other similar situations.

Do you have a fear of giving blood?

by Dan Regan | Jul 2, 2014 | Phobias and Fears

A couple of months ago, I worked with a client who suffered with a massive level of health anxiety. She avoided anything to do with the doctor, dentist or optician because the fear and worry was too overwhelming.

And by far the biggest fear she had was about giving blood. It was unimaginable for her – just the thought of it made her anxious and worried. There were all sorts of imagined fears around needles and blood whirring through her mind.

Yet after just a few sessions she had been to the dentist for a check up, had her eyes tested AND given blood (and enjoyed it!). Amazing!

Giving Blood

I may be up on my soap box with this one a bit but please bear with me because it is important.

If you are anything like me then giving blood is one of those things you mean to get around to doing (unless you suffer with needle axiety or blood phobia in which case you don’t!).

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