What to do if you have a phobia following a trauma 

When something traumatic happens, it can create a huge impact on our lives. We may start to avoid certain places, people or situations, things that felt quite normal to us before.

These once-simple activities can start to evoke feelings of fear and intense overwhelm.

The good news? There are steps out there that you can take to be able to manage and eventually overcome these phobias.  

How trauma can lead to a phobia

In a traumatic moment, your brain doesn’t have time to analyse what’s happening. Your survival response kicks in, and your body floods with adrenaline.

The amygdala activates (responsible for your fight/flight/freeze response), releasing stress hormones. It also makes an association that 'this event is traumatic'.

In doing so, it creates a strong emotional imprint. The point? To help avoid any instances like this in the future. 

This event can then develop into a phobia.

For instance, you experience a car accident. It's expected that this may create apprehension and fear the next time you’re in a car. What's not so expected? Your brain continuing to scan (and avoid) any situation that feels even slightly similar.

A fear of driving could expand into a fear of transport (being on a train, an aeroplane, etc). This is because the motions and environment look a bit similar.

Some other examples of phobias that can develop after a traumatic event are: 

• Fear of hospitals, needles or a clinical environment (after a medical trauma)
• Fear of confined spaces (after time spent in a small space, like an elevator)
• Fear of flying (after turbulence or an emergency landing)

Most of us are aware that the response is irrational. But knowing this isn’t enough for us to heal the response. Once our brain’s survival mode is active, it will override the rational part of our brain. 

To tackle this, work needs to take place in the automated part of our brain – the subconscious.

Practical exercises to help soothe the fear response

The following can be useful techniques that can help assist you in healing from a phobia:

Practising compassionate self-talk

One way of looking at the fear response is by seeing the younger version of you. This version has developed an automatic fear response and requires self-soothing and reassurance. Encourage kindness toward oneself during difficult moments.

Limit exposure to triggers in social media/news 

Social media is commonplace, which means it’s very easy to turn to it to find others who share your same fears. Whilst this can offer some reassurance, it also carries the risk of making you feel worse. We never know what we're going to scroll on to next!

Protect your mental space at all costs. Note, the same applies to Googling symptoms!

Visualisations 

Imagine a protective shield/bubble around you to help with feelings of security.

A popular hypnotherapy technique is to ask clients to imagine a different version of themselves – one without the fear.

We then imagine stepping into this new version, day by day. 

Reframing triggers

Take a pen and draw a line down the middle of the page.

On one side, write down any specific triggers.

On the other side, offer a different, less threatening perspective called a ‘reframe’.

For example:

Trigger: ‘I feel trapped whilst I'm on an aeroplane’

Reframe: ‘The plane is a cocoon of safety, getting me easily and safely to my destination’. I can get up and move when and if I need to’.  

Use hypnotherapy for phobias

Hypnotherapy offers a gentle yet powerful method to help you overcome a phobia. It’s not even necessary to know the cause of it – all you need to know is how you wish to feel instead. 

Hypnotherapy can offer a range of methods to help you overcome a phobia. A few of these are; 

• Positive suggestion therapy: Involves realistic affirmations. Used to counteract any negative thought patterns and replace any fear-based beliefs.
• Future pacing: A technique that enables you to visualise your positive experience as if it has already happened. Fun fact: the brain doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality! This is what makes the technique so effective.
• Parts therapy: Involves engaging different “parts” of the mind. This helps resolve internal conflicts that contribute to a phobia.

Over time, using these processes helps remove the link of the fear from the trigger. 

Your brain is adaptable. It is possible for your brain to rewire and think in a different way. It's about finding the right technique that feels good to you. Instead of resenting a phobia, you can see it as a signpost, pointing to the parts of you that want to feel safe again. 

Even by reading this article, you are giving your brain a signal: a signal that you're ready to take a different perspective on your phobia. Taking steps to face your fears is a powerful act of healing. With the right approach, you can transform your trauma into strength and freedom.