The Six Basic Fears and How to Eliminate Them

The positivity in life is often shadowed by some fears, which continue to trouble the human mind. Following is a list of the basic fears and a description of the ways to eliminate them.

Fear of Loss of Love: When one starts feeling jealous about one's loved one; when he/she starts finding faults in the loved one or tends to suspect the loved one of having done something ill, it may result in the person falling prey to the fear of the loss of love. Lack of trust between you and your loved one is the basic reason for your fear of losing him. An intense feeling of insecurity about your love leads you towards fearing its loss. The habits of cheating, perpetual lying and disbelief are the important factors causing a fear of the loss of love. An overly possessive feeling is sure to lead you to a fear of loss of love.

The simple ways of eliminating this fear is to build trust in the relationship. You should strictly avoid cheating and suspecting your loved one. Both in the relationship should respect each other's identities. The best way of eliminating the fear of loss of love is to prevent the thoughts of the loss from entering your mind. Try to stop thinking about solitude and bear only positive feelings about your loved one.

Claustrophobia: Claustrophobia is the fear of enclosed spaces. It is a situational fear that is triggered in certain circumstances when one is caught up in a confined space. A childhood experience of being confined in a small space or trapped in an enclosed space may result in the development of claustrophobia. An experience like that of being stuck in an elevator can also make one feel claustrophobic. Studies say that an unpleasant experience makes the brain link anxiety to being caught in an enclosed space. The idea of being in a confined space is associated with fear; an anxiety grips the person in any of his/her future experiences of remaining in an enclosed space. Sweating, palpitation, shaking, fainting and a fear of physical harm characterize this basic fear. Being in an enclosed vehicle or being in a closed room can trigger claustrophobia.

Behavioral therapies teach a person to dissociate the feelings of fear and enclosed spaces. Hypnotherapy, non-linguistic therapy and medication are other promising treatments for the fear of enclosed spaces. Flooding is a way of exposing a person to a fear situation until the fear attack passes.

Fear of Darkness: Known as Achluophobia or Nyctophobia, the fear of darkness is one of the most commonly found fears in society today. Symptoms like rapid breathing, irregular heart rate, sweating and nausea characterize the fear of darkness. This fear largely impacts the quality of one's life and often bothers the associates of the sufferer. Like most other fears, the fear of darkness is a protection mechanism of the unconscious mind. Media is responsible to a certain extent for establishing the association between darkness and negativity. The absence of bright light is also responsible for triggering a certain kind of gloom, which may lead to anxiety in some people.

The cure may require a fairly long time and involve exposure to darkness. Thanks to the new discoveries in medicine, there are drugs available today, which can help in the elimination of the fear of darkness, serving as temporary freedom from this fear. The true means of elimination of the fear of darkness is self-help.

Demophobia: Demophobia is the fear of crowds. It is characterized by the symptoms such as breathlessness, dizziness, sweating, anxiety and an inability to think and speak. This fear grips a person even while being a part of the safest of the crowds. Most of the sufferers panic on the thought of mixing in a group. When groups of people appear as being dangerous crowds, there is an obvious reaction of astonishment from both the sufferer and the people in the crowd. Even the thought of facing a crowd frightens the people who have a demophobia.

Thinking of how to eliminate it? There is a way to do that and is called energy therapy. Energy therapy is an emerging branch in psychology that deals with the energy system of the body. Research has brought about the fact that certain negative emotions relate to the energy systems of the body. Talk therapy, which involves sessions with energy therapists who make you talk about your fear, is an excellent way of eliminating demophobia. Self-help is also highly effective.

Fear of Criticism: Criticism is one of the basic tendencies of human nature. To beat down an opponent, to stand in the competition, to justify one's behavior, one feels the need to criticize the others around him. The fear of criticism grips a person as a result of his/her tendency to be a part of the crowd. One tends to do as the masses do to stay away from criticism. The fear of criticism is one of the basic fears and one of the most commonly observed ones. The fear of criticism is manifested in terms of timidness, fear of conversation, shifting of eyes, lack of poise and an inferiority complex.

The best way of eliminating the fear of criticism is trying to accept it in the right spirit. One should learn to take criticism positively and use it in improving one's own personality. Consider criticism as the means of betterment and work on your traits that are criticized by many. This attitude is sure to help you in getting rid of the fear of criticism.

Fear of Death: It is known as Thantophobia and is quite a natural phenomenon. There are theories talking about life after death, there are religious beliefs about what happens after a person dies, but there is no conclusive evidence of what will happen to us when we die. Death remains the ultimate reality and continues to fear most of us.

However, we should understand that fearing death is harmful for our health. Fearing death prevents us from enjoying life. Dreading the future always deprives us of the joy of the present! Studies show that due to the violent movies, suicides and murders, the fear of death in people has increased. Changing our thought patterns and behavior helps us eliminate the fear of death. Thantophobia can also be cured by hypnotherapy. Neuro-Linguistic programming is a treatment that has revolutionized psychology. It attempts to change our constructs by reprogramming them.

Apart from these fears, human mind fears poverty, it fears old age and illness. One often fears solitude. Fear displays itself in the form of fear of heights, depths, fire and water. Fears deprive us from the enjoyment in life. Life is beautiful but fears eclipse it. The best way of eliminating the basic fears is self-help.