Managing "Morbid Fears", "Irrational Fears", or Phobias

Definition - A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, defined by a persistent fear of an object or situation.  The word phobia comes from the Greek: φόβος (phóbos), meaning "aversion", "fear", or "morbid fear".

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Here are some resources to that might help manage morbid fears or phobias:

Internet Links....

1. Phobias: Causes, Symptoms, and Diagnosis - Medical News Today and
   phobia

2. The Phobia List

3. The Treatment of Phobias - The Phobia List

4. Understanding Phobias -- Treatment - WebMD

5. Phobias - Treatment - NHS Choices

6. Phobias and Irrational Fears: Symptoms, Treatment, and Self-Help for ...

7. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Short-term ...

8. Dealing with a Fear of Death - Uncommon Help

9. A cure for social anxiety disorders

10. Social anxiety disorders? Cognitive therapy most effective treatment

11. The Many Treatment Methodologies for Phobias: Finding the Best Fit ...

12. Reducing Fear Without Fear Itself

13. NLP Technique | Fast Phobia Cure

14. Phobia - Hypnotherapy 

15. PressTV-Scientists use Virtual Reality to treat phobias

16. Overcome a Phobia With Self Hypnosis - Health Guidance

17. Thames Medical Lectures - Phobias Script for Clinical Hypnosis ...

18. Hypnosis Scripts for Fears & Phobias | Hypnotic World

19. Phobia Hypnosis Scripts | Hypnosis Tutorials

20. The Effect of Play Therapy on Phobia in 5-11 Years Old Children Who ...

21. Prevalence of social phobia disorder in high school students in Abhar ...

22. Effect of Meta-Cognitive Therapy on Self Assertiveness Skill in ...

23. Full Text (PDF) - Iran Red Crescent Med J - The Effectivenessof Mindfulness-Based CognitiveTherapy on Iranian Female Adolescents Suffering FromSocial Anxiety

Books....

1. Cognitive-behavioral Group Therapy for Social Phobia: Basic Mechanisms and Clinical Strategies by Richard G. Heimberg, Robert E. Becker, Guilford Press, 2002 
2. Handbook of Phobia Therapy: Rapid Symptom Relief in Anxiety Disorders by
   Carol G. Lindemann, J. Aronson, 1989 
3. Phobia: the facts, by Donald W. Goodwin, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1983 
4. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, by Edmund Bourne,
   New Harbinger Publications, 2011

Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical or legal advice.

Did You Know that Your Emotional “Hot Buttons” Could Be Causing Your Bad Health?

Did You Know that Your Emotional “Hot Buttons” Could Be Causing Your Bad Health?

Determine Your “Stress Profile” with Phototherapy and Biofeedback

Paging through old photos can sure bring back memories. Some of the memories are pleasant and some not so. Some memories are downright traumatic. Yet, memories shape our lives today. These memories created our belief systems and sustain that belief system to this day. 

It might very well happen that our memories are causing us health problems today. 

Doesn't it make sense then to understand and make peace with our memories? 

Photo therapy has been around for many years. Essentially, it involves looking at photographs or other visual means, in order to evoke an emotional response. The emotional response, especially negative, is very valuable in determining our emotional "hot buttons". 

Everyone has "hot buttons" and these create the negative stress, or distress, that causes us health problems. It is not life events that cause us stress, but rather how we react to these events. Very few of us know our "Stress Profile" or our "Emotional Triggers". 

If we want to heal or even stay healthy, we had better know our "Stress Profile". 

Here is one way to scientifically determine a "Stress Profile", determine "Emotional Triggers", or maybe even develop a treatment plan for PTSD:

1. Find out about Phototherapy. See what others have done in the past.
2. Find out what Phototherapy tools are available or make your own. Sometimes paging through old family albums is helpful. Others have used magazine photos.
3. Use biofeedback or polygraph equipment to identify emotional arousal. The patient's body will react to a troubling photo, even if there is little or no dialogue or facial expression. When a person is emotionally activated, they perspire, especially on the palm of the hands. Biofeedback or polygraph devices use this skin perspiration to track emotional response. Some devices have analysis software to view easily the results.
4. Once a person knows their emotional triggers, they can deal with them. It might involve changing their belief system. Other times it might be helpful to desensitize gradually to troubling events. It might involve getting over resentment from the past. On the other hand, it might involve forgiving someone. Forgiving for health reasons is not for the offender. Forgiving reduces internal stress and promotes patient healing.

Takeaways:

• Negative stress, or distress, creates or prolongs sickness.
• Reducing stress promotes healing.
• Phototherapy with Biofeedback can be used to identify a person's "Stress Profile".
• A person can heal from the past and learn new and better ways.

For more information:

• PhotoTherapy Techniques: Exploring the Secrets of Personal Snapshots and Family Albums by Judy Weiser, PhotoTherapy Centre, 1999
• Phototherapy in Mental Health by David A. Krauss, et al. al., Charles C Thomas Pub Limited, 1983
• Magazine Photo Collage: A Multicultural Assessment and Treatment Technique by Helen B. Landgarten, Taylor & Francis Group, 1993
• Cardiac response to relevant stimuli as an adjunctive tool for diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans by Blanchard EB, Kolb LC, Gerardi RJ., Behavior Therapy 1986; 17:592- 606.
• Mapping Trauma And Its Wake: Autobiographic Essays by Pioneer Trauma by Charles R. Figley, CRC Press, 2006 - See section around Lawrence C. Kolb, page 103

Some Biofeedback Tools available to the public:

 

· Mindplace Thoughtstream USB Personal Biofeedback

· GSR2 Home Biofeedback Unit

· CalmLink Biofeedback Software

· Wearable 'Q Sensor' Helps Monitor Stress Levels

 

Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical advice.

Using Biofeedback With Art Therapy

Using Biofeedback With Art Therapy

Combining Biofeedback and Art Therapy Might Be Particularly Helpful to Those With PTSD, Autism, And/or Epilepsy

Could Art Therapy be enhanced by using Biofeedback? Could Biofeedback quantify the effectiveness of Art Therapy? Could Biofeedback help hone in on the most helpful method of Art Therapy?

 
These were questions I asked at a recent Symposium on Art Therapy. At least one person thought Biofeedback might help with Art Therapy. Therefore, I thought I'd write this article to stimulate discussion and innovation in this area.

Art Therapy has proven to be a very helpful adjunct to psychotherapy, especially when cognitive approaches have been unsuccessful. Biofeedback combined with psychotherapy could be viewed as a form of Polygraphy, revealing the inner emotions of the patient.

Biofeedback might provide relief from those suffering from PTSD, according to an article from PubMed. In addition, Art Therapy could be helpful those with PTSD, according to another article from PubMed. Therefore, it makes sense to me to combine Biofeedback with Art Therapy, especially for those with PTSD. I'm not a health care professional, in any sense, but I thought I'd at least propose this new concept to the public in this article.

Some ideas on how Biofeedback could be helpful are listed below. 

1.  Emotional triggers (stressors) could be identified for those with PTSD, Autism, Epilepsy, etc.
2.  A patient's stressor profile could be determined.
3.  Using Art, Music, Sculpture, etc. a patient could learn how to deal with difficult emotions, thoughts, etc., using standard Biofeedback Therapy techniques.
4.  The Art Therapist could have a visual readout of the emotional state of the patient, thereby regulating the amount of trigger stimulation.
5.  The emotional state of non-communicative patients could be determined.
6.  The therapist could determine if the patient is "playing her", giving the "expected response or reply".

I couldn't find much previous work in this area. Perhaps the following might give others clues, however, on how this concept might be implemented. I used this search string - ("art therapy" (biofeedback OR polygraphy OR lie-detector))

1.  "Medical Art Therapy with Children", by Cathy A. Malchiodi, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1999 - Page 201
2.  "Confirming the Efficacy of Art Therapy with College Students Through Biofeedback", by Shubha Chatterjee, Emporia State University, 2010
3.  "Music Therapy & Biofeedback" by Eric B.Miller Ph.D. CMT-BC BCIAC

Some Biofeedback Tools available to the public: 

1.  Mindplace Thoughtstream USB Personal Biofeedback
2.  GSR2 Home Biofeedback Unit 
3.  CalmLink Biofeedback Software 

Takeaways - 

1.  Art Therapy can be helpful to those with PTSD and other emotional disorders.
2.  Biofeedback can also be helpful to those with PTSD and other emotional disorders.
3.  Perhaps, Biofeedback could be combined with Art Therapy, to especially help those with PTSD and other emotional disorders.

Disclaimer - Article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice.