How do i get rid of my phobia of tornadoes?
I’ve always been scared of them. Always. I freak out during thunderstorms because i think that every sound of thunder is a tornadoe touhing down. I live thirty minutes from new orleans, and tornadoes are the rarest thing in the world. Its kind of a pointless phobia.I just want ot get over it so my panic attacks will stop.
please help!
i think, more or less, is that the unpredictability is what scares me most:[
Fears of storms/tornados are actually pretty common. This is hard for you, I know–but believe it or not, as long as nothing else is going on, this is an easy difficulty to have treated.
This type of phobia is actually easily treated by a licensed psychologist specializing in anxiety disorders. Most "treatments," "self-help," and other things you get off the internet and even other "Answers" (life coaching, EMDR, hypnosis, EFT, NLP, and the like) are just rip offs and wastes of time and money (most with no real empirical support), typically put out by those looking to take advantage of desparate people or by those without appropriate training/qualifications, or those who are no where near the mainstream of competent psychological care.
The only scientifically proven way to treat phobias is with exposure and you’ll want that done under the care of a trained professional. There typically aren’t many complications to this kind of treatment and there certainly aren’t any deep or underlying problems that require years of therapy (In other words, ignore suggestions for psychodynamic or psychoanalytic treatment–your fear is not because of the way your mom treated you when you were 2 or some other such nonsense!). Exposure sounds scary, but nothing should be forced on you, nothing should take you by surprise, and everything should go at a controlled, gradual pace. The goal with exposure is not to give you more than you can handle–doing that is just another bad experience which defeats the purpose.
You should expect as little as 3-4 hours of treatment on one end to around 8-10 sessions/hours at the other to see results. Skip psychodynamic or psychoanalytic therapy–no proven benefits. Also, medication is NOT recommended for specific phobias and generally won’t help with the fear itself. The buzz words to use are that you want either a "behavioral" or a "cognitive-behavioral" psychologist who will use an "empirically supported treatment" (this just means using one of several treatments that have received considerable study and have been found to work the best).
You’ve got several options. Most universities that have graduate programs in psychology have training centers where the clinical psychology professors (the experts!) supervise care for a significantly reduced price (some as little as 10-15% of community prices!). Some may even have treatment studies going where you can get treated for free (maybe try LSU, UNO, Tulane, etc.). You can also try ADAA or ABCT’s websites and their find a therapist links.
You taken an important step by asking the right questions and realizing the fear is getting in the way of you living your life, now the challenge is to find a qualified professional and keep your motivation to overcome this just a little while longer.
Best of luck.
Comments
Comment from Super Gato
Time January 17, 2010 at 11:41 am
Oo. I used to have that fear, I had a close friend who was trying to be a psychiatrist and they told me tornadoes represent turmoil in people’s lives[in dreams], and that’s where the root of that "irrational" fear comes from, and i was constantly thinking about them, I mean I lived somewhere where a tornado was HIGHLY unlikely, so I’m sure thats what it meant. I got over it and now I think if a tornado I’d be outside to witness it.
References :
Moi.
Comment from Rebecca R
Time January 17, 2010 at 11:49 am
http://desire.around.at
you can get much information in this website, If you will check anyone blue link in website.
References :
Comment from [BaMbi]
Time January 17, 2010 at 11:57 am
idk, try not to be a scray person, face ur fears & go thru one or witness one up close
References :
Comment from lefty4237
Time January 17, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Actually, there are simple and effective techniques to eliminate these fears and phobias.
One of the more popular is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).
You can read more about this at my website, where you can also view a video and download the free manual to learn how to do it.
References :
"http://www.best-self-help-sites.com/emotion.html"
Comment from Chris Harrison
Time January 17, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Have you ever heard of the NLP fast phobia cure?
There is an explanation of it on my website listed below. It’s very easy, and a powerful technique you can do yourself.
Otherwise, EFT as mentioned in another post may be an approach worth trying
References :
http://www.planetnlp.com/nlp_exercise_phobia_cure.html
Comment from Doc
Time January 17, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Fears of storms/tornados are actually pretty common. This is hard for you, I know–but believe it or not, as long as nothing else is going on, this is an easy difficulty to have treated.
This type of phobia is actually easily treated by a licensed psychologist specializing in anxiety disorders. Most "treatments," "self-help," and other things you get off the internet and even other "Answers" (life coaching, EMDR, hypnosis, EFT, NLP, and the like) are just rip offs and wastes of time and money (most with no real empirical support), typically put out by those looking to take advantage of desparate people or by those without appropriate training/qualifications, or those who are no where near the mainstream of competent psychological care.
The only scientifically proven way to treat phobias is with exposure and you’ll want that done under the care of a trained professional. There typically aren’t many complications to this kind of treatment and there certainly aren’t any deep or underlying problems that require years of therapy (In other words, ignore suggestions for psychodynamic or psychoanalytic treatment–your fear is not because of the way your mom treated you when you were 2 or some other such nonsense!). Exposure sounds scary, but nothing should be forced on you, nothing should take you by surprise, and everything should go at a controlled, gradual pace. The goal with exposure is not to give you more than you can handle–doing that is just another bad experience which defeats the purpose.
You should expect as little as 3-4 hours of treatment on one end to around 8-10 sessions/hours at the other to see results. Skip psychodynamic or psychoanalytic therapy–no proven benefits. Also, medication is NOT recommended for specific phobias and generally won’t help with the fear itself. The buzz words to use are that you want either a "behavioral" or a "cognitive-behavioral" psychologist who will use an "empirically supported treatment" (this just means using one of several treatments that have received considerable study and have been found to work the best).
You’ve got several options. Most universities that have graduate programs in psychology have training centers where the clinical psychology professors (the experts!) supervise care for a significantly reduced price (some as little as 10-15% of community prices!). Some may even have treatment studies going where you can get treated for free (maybe try LSU, UNO, Tulane, etc.). You can also try ADAA or ABCT’s websites and their find a therapist links.
You taken an important step by asking the right questions and realizing the fear is getting in the way of you living your life, now the challenge is to find a qualified professional and keep your motivation to overcome this just a little while longer.
Best of luck.
References :
anxiety expert
Comment from AliB30
Time January 17, 2010 at 10:55 am
You could try therapy but in my opinion I don’t really see anything wrong with being afraid of tornadoes. They are pretty scary.
References :