Feeling Fear of Germs or Going Out? Here are 2 Ways You Can Overcome It (Without Therapy or Meds)
We all experience fear but when your phobia gets to a point where it causes serious consequences for your life, it may be time to start looking for help. While behavioral therapy is useful, it may not be easily reachable for all. So, here are a few helpful tips that helped me manage my phobias better.
During this difficult time, not only our anxiety levels are rising but also our phobias are. Some old phobias may have resurfaced at this time or you may have been triggered into developing new phobias. After all, phobias are a type of anxiety disorders and yes, we’ve been through one of the most anxious times our collective consciousness has ever gone through.
While the world is reopening after COVID-19 crisis, it is only natural to feel anxious about facing the world again.
We’ve been locked inside our apartments for months and in rare short moments we could go outside, we learned to fear strangers who walked too close-by, in case they had the virus. We obsessively cleaned and sanitized everything. We hid behind masks and closed ourselves in. We maybe gained some weight and now we’re going back to normal life after spending months in this state.
I genuinely suspect that I developed a phobia of germs (OCD) and a social phobia after this crisis. I am going through a mix of emotions where while I want to go out and I want this to stop, at the same time I dread the mere thought of social interactions again.
Phobias are irrational fears of something that’s unlikely to cause harm.
They’re generally categorized under 3:
- specific phobias
- social phobia
- agoraphobia
Particularly, agoraphobia is pretty complex and I suspect many of us could be its victim once the lockdown is over.
According to NHS, agoraphobia is a fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or that help wouldn’t be available if things go wrong. Someone with agoraphobia can be scared of leaving your home, taking public transit or visiting a mall.
Even when the COVID-19 cases disappear almost completely, you may be find yourself experience agoraphobia and it can be hard to distinguish whether you’re staying in out of safety or out of fear.
We did an interview with Sasha who experiences fear of flying since a couple of years. She couldn’t go to therapy and didn’t want to get medication for this phobias, so she had to find ways that helped her. She shared with us two things that helped her deal with her phobia of flights. You can watch down below in my interview with her and discover 2 ways that helped her overcome her fears and feel better!
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