As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s very important to overcome phobias as soon as you realize that you have them. If you don’t overcome them, they begin to multiply. And besides, living with fears isn’t really fun.

I wrote in my previous post that I had a vehicle phobia. I didn’t try to overcome it, and very soon I realized that I developed some other phobias too: if I woke up at night and heard the sound of airplanes outside my window, I felt the same panic attack that I always felt in buses and cars. Of course, I couldn’t sleep the whole night. And besides, I started to become afraid of darkness, too.

I understood I couldn’t go on like this. For three years I was living with those fears. I didn’t sleep at nights, I didn’t go anywhere far because I didn’t want even to look at buses… But what could I do?

One night I woke up because of the noise of some airplane. When the panic attack was over, I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night. And so I found a book to read. It was a very positive and funny sci-fi book, and as I read it, it made my emotions much more positive, and soon I didn’t even realize how I fell asleep.

The next time I woke up at night and felt that the panic was going to start, I turned my light on, took that book and started to read it. I did it every time I felt that the “airplane sound in the night” phobia was going to “attack” me again. At first it was difficult to concentrate on reading. My ears were catching all the sounds outside my window, and my body was shivering. But soon I felt that the negative emotions became much weaker and then — after some time — they just disappeared.

I understood that my “airplane sound in the night” phobia was gone and decided to do the same with the vehicle phobia. I got on a bus with a nice book and I was reading it the whole way. After several weeks I could sit in a bus and feel no fear.

Later I read many books on psychology and learned that what I did was right: the best way to get rid of phobias is finding a way to distract your attention from the negative emotions and feelings that the phobia causes. Don’t make yourself endure the presence of your phobia’s trigger (for example, don’t look down from high places, if you’re afraid of heights, since it may only worsen your phobia).

Just distract your attention from the trigger of your phobia and from the negative emotions you feel; make yourself think of something else. Books are among the best ways to forget about negative emotions: just choose a book that you’ll read with interest and face your fears with this book by your side. It may seem very strange or difficult to read books at such moments, but it really works.

If you do your best, but can’t overcome your phobia by yourself, turn to a specialist to get some help. Don’t make your phobias your lifelong friends: they don’t deserve such an honor.

Photo © ckaroli

Related posts:

1. Phobias: The More The Better?
2. Know Common Phobias
3. Driving Without Fears

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