Problems with PHOBIAS.?

I have bad phobias. I am scared of hights and big spaces, tornados, the doctor, and especially small dogs.

I dont want to go to a doctor. I just want to figure this out myself

Any help?!

What I have been doing to help myself through some phobias that I have is simple visualization. I imaging walking into a yard with a tall privacy fence, then slowly expand the fence in my mind including more and more open space. I tell myself that I am ok, that I won't fall off, that sort of thing. When faced with open country on a drive, I remind myself of the peaceful feelings of the visualizations and it helps.

Mostly, when exposed to something that makes me phobic, I have to recognize that my thoughts are racing, that I am breathing hard, etc. Then I stop and breath in and out just thinking about slowing down my breathing, then start to change my thoughts. I stop allowing myself to think the phobic thoughts of panic, and force thoughts in that are calmer. Practicing with visualizations helps me know what thoughts and phrases to concentrate on when the real thing hits.

Hope that helps. Nothing super technical, but it is what has been helping me.

If you want to do it yourself, you have to try to desensitize yourself by exposing yourself to the things you are afraid of in small doses...and keep reassuring yourself that the fears are unreasonable. It will be very difficult, but worth the effort.

"Specific phobias" (the term used in mental health today) are intense fear and discomfort proscribed or limited to specific situations. The most effective treatment for phobias is a process called "flooding," where people are exposed to excessive and overwhelming amounts of the fearful stimulus. The stimulus is continued constantly, without any breaks, until the fear and discomfort remit. This process usually takes minutes to hours, but has the highest chance for success.

"Systematic desensitization" is a process that has been less well studied and probably takes longer, but is still effective. People are regularly exposed to gradually increasing amounts of stimulus until their goals are met.

These are the best treatments for specific phobias. Unfortunately, it is less likely that you have specific phobias, as it is unlikely that people will have a large number of specific phobias (1-2 are usually the norm).

Your condition could be alternately better described as either normal anxious behavior, generalized anxiety disorder, avoidant personality disorder and agoraphobia among a large number of other things.

I realize you are not interested in evaluation by a physician, but I would strongly suggest you do so if these symptoms are significant in your life. Any suggestions will simply be guessing since there is not adequate information to judge what is happening.