Phobia Treatment: How to Overcome Your Cynophobia

By Bessie D. Burton


There are a number of effective behavioral techniques that are used by therapists for phobia treatment. Cognitive techniques and medications are also deemed to be useful for treatments. Before discussing these treatments, it is important to note that there exists a relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobias. OCD is an anxiety disorder wherein people afflicted with it are burdened with uncontrollable thoughts, and distressing compulsions. A phobia is the irrational fear over almost anything. For example, germ phobic people have obsessive thoughts about the possibility of contacting microbes, and they always feel the need to wash themselves over and over.

There are various treatments in common use for this phobia. You may instinctively know which one is likely to be best for you or it may be a process of trial and error to see which one produces the best results for you. We're all different - in much the same way as there are many breeds of dogs, each with their own temperament and personality - which means there's no one size fits all treatment.

Exposure treatment has one of the higher success rates but is one of the scarier treatments, at least at first. As the name suggests, it involves exposing you to dogs. Which means that it is best carried out in a controlled environment, ideally with some friendly dogs! Depending on the therapist it could take place in one long session (maybe half a day or more), supported by counselling or over several sessions, spread out over time.Either way, you'll get closer to your new canine friend and will learn that they're not as threatening as you currently think they are. With most dogs the worst you'll experience is a cold nose rubbing against your face, an enthusiastic tongue licking you or muddy paw prints when the dog jumps up to greet you.

Actually it's this last option that is one of the more common fears about dogs. They can get just too enthusiastic in their greeting. Bounding up fast towards you and then leaping up to reinforce their enthusiasm. Maybe even bowling you over when they haven't slowed down quite enough in those last couple of paces. This can be a daunting experience even for those people who aren't actually afraid of dogs on a general basis.If exposure treatment sounds a bit too over the top for you, there are other methods available.Another common way to deal with dog phobia is to use hypnosis. This can be a face-to-face session with a hypnotist in your locality or it can be as simple as playing a pre-recorded MP3 to yourself.Whichever method you choose, the general process is the same.

There are other types of phobia treatment available. Cognitive-behavioral treatments combine the behavioral techniques mentioned above with cognitive techniques that help in identifying and challenging distressing thoughts about the feared objects. This type of treatment is very effective for social phobia since it can be administered in a group setting. Biological treatments are the last type of method. People are prescribed with medicines such as benzodiazepines, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to provide temporary relief, since they cannot extinguish phobias. There are also studies that proved that relapse happens soon after stopping the medication. To sum it up, it eems that behavior therapy, the best method, still involves the adage "confront your fears."

Extremely shy individuals only feel at ease when family members and very close friends are around. However, situations where the people are unfamiliar or if they have to communicate with a group of new individuals are very difficult for them to deal with. Social phobia may get in the way of any individual's life that's why it should be properly dealt with.

These negative experiences and beliefs can be self perpetuating. The phobic person does not see his or her part in the break-up. This reinforces the belief that he or she can not trust members of the same sex and so rejects the next person who gets close.There are some classic behaviors exhibited by phobic men and women. For clarity's sake we will use he in this list of common commitment phobic behaviors. You may see yourself or a friend in some or many of these behaviors.

Because dental phobia, other people would be willing to bear the excruciating pain rather than visiting a dentist, but do you know that leaving a toothache unattended can lead to problems that are more serious? Bearing the pain and waiting until it is too late may lead to have your tooth extracted, and you will have another set of problems to face.Your teeth play a very important role in your overall appearance and self-esteem. If you have missing, chipped, or broken teeth, or if they are discolored or yellowed, you will refrain from smiling and socializing with other people and shun away from invitations instead of looking forward to them.

Dental phobia may stem from your fear of pain, of needles, of the effects of anesthesia, unpleasant experiences with past dentists, or the fear of entrusting your mouth to a total stranger. It is therefore important to find a supportive dentist or orthodontist like those in Hornchurch or Brentwood whom you can trust and feel at ease with. Ask your friends or relatives to recommend dentists they have tried before and are satisfied with the treatment they got.

Word of mouth is still the most reliable form of recommendation.An orthodontist like those in Brentwood or Hornchurch, or professionals in the dental practice in Brentwood can now perform modern pain-free cosmetic dentistry procedures in Essex to help patients feel at ease. Dental fear varies on different levels. Some patients would be slightly nervous while others suffer from severe phobia. Learn to open up to your cosmetic dentist. Talk to your dentist and express your fears. If you will not conquer your dental phobia, you will never get that smile makeover in Essex that you only dream of.




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