The fear of cancer, also known as carcinophobia, is among the top ten most widespread phobias, and it’s easy to see why. No one wants to have cancer or see someone else suffering from the disease. Even though it is normal to want to avoid getting ill, people with carcinophobia have an irrational amount of fear that frequently rules their lives. Beating the fear of cancer used to take months or even years, but with better understanding of the phobia and treatment techniques, this has changed. Proven hypnosis therapy techniques can help people reclaim their well-being and happiness.
It isn’t difficult to see what might cause a fear of cancer. This fear is linked to a fear of death, illness, and loss of control. Very often, people feel traumatized by a friend’s battle with cancer. People who have lost a family member to cancer, or face the threat of cancer, live in fear of the day when they develop cancer.
The anxiety brought on by carcinophobia can lead people to make extreme life decisions. Some sufferers frequently go to hospitals to confirm they are not ill, while others avoid hospitals completely, afraid of discovering that they have a disease. People with the phobia will feel depressed if they have the slightest signs of poor health, such as a muscle ache, and worry that it is a sign of cancer. They might go to great lengths to avoid getting sick.
People suffering from carcinophobia often feel like they have a lot to be afraid of. It is a persistent fear that can strike both men and women. A person might think, “Who will care for my family if I get sick?” or agonize over other critical concerns. The phobia of cancer can take a huge toll on sufferers and their loved ones.
Sometimes, people can cope with their fears by avoiding the source of their fear. People with arachnophobia can often get along by keeping away from spiders, and claustrophobia sufferers take care to avoid small, confined areas such as closets. Carcinophobia, however, is different. The fear is triggered by a person’s innermost thoughts and concerns. It can be crippling for an individual to experience a fear they simply can’t avoid. This keeps most people with carcinophobia in a chronic state of panic.
A number of phobia treatments are in existence today. Common ones include talk therapy and anxiety medication. Traditional counseling can generate good results, but it may take a long time, up to several months for some people. Prescription medication works to lessen a person’s nervousness, but it doesn’t eliminate the underlying causes of a deep-rooted fear. Hypnosis is an option that delivers lasting results in less time than other types of treatment. It has become a popular therapy because it’s a non-invasive, safe, and effective choice of treatment.
Hypnosis therapy combines stress-relief techniques with fear dissociation to quickly eliminate a phobia. A good program will start with stress-relief therapy to help relieve the emotional stress caused by fear. When a person feels relaxed and stress-free, hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques can guide the unconscious mind into adopting a phobia-free line of thought.
Traditional hypnotherapy utilizes direct, post-hypnotic suggestions to eliminate a fear. It can be very useful when an individual is responsive to it. The problem is, these traditional techniques may fail because many people are inclined to question direct suggestions and unconsciously reject direct suggestions.
A deeply rooted phobia such as the fear of cancer calls for a more sophisticated type of treatment such as Ericksonian hypnosis. This type of hypnotherapy works well for those who are independent thinkers, and who are experiencing recurring fear and anxiety. It utilizes indirect suggestions embedded in stories, metaphors, and conversations to help them fight their phobias.
The innovative NLP technology doesn’t depend upon suggestion at all, so it can be effective for anyone. A simplified explanation is that NLP provides strategies to train the unconscious mind to use the same thought patterns that are creating a symptom or fear, to extinguish it.
Because both hypnosis and NLP function at the unconscious level, users describe feeling much more in control and secure using these forms of therapy.
With Traditional Hypnosis, programs generally need to be specific to each phobia. One benefit of a well designed Ericksonian hypnotherapy and NLP program is that they are designed to be used on any phobia, or even a number of phobias. This is an ideal asset to some cancer phobia sufferers who also suffer from other anxiety disorders, such as general hypochondria or germophobia.
The fear of cancer is a significant phobia, but one that can be eliminated by suitable hypnosis techniques. NLP techniques have become a leading fear treatment because of their ability to address the underlying cause of all fears as well as the symptoms. Revolutionary Ericksonian hypnosis therapy and NLP techniques can help even the most serious phobia patients beat their phobias once and for all.
Alan B. Densky, CH is a certified hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner in practice since 1978. Review his programs at his social phobia treatment website where he offers treatment phobia CDs. Visit his hypnosis index, or download a free MP3.
