In his book “Think and Grow Rich”, the famed self-development author Napoleon Hill,
mentioned 6 basic fears many humans suffer with at some point in their life.
The interesting point to note is that when we are first born, we don’t have any of
these fears. It is only as we grow up and become more susceptible to our surroundings
and the limiting beliefs others infest us with, that these fears slowly grow in our minds.
The fear of POVERTY The fear of CRITICISM
The fear of SICKNESS The fear of LOSS or SOMEONE
The fear of OLD AGE The fear of DEATH
Some carry these fears with them all through their lives; others encounter
some of these fears from time to time. Today I will talk about these fears with
exception of two: the fear of losing someone and the fear of old age.
In my opinion, they both, although in different contexts, fall into the category of fear of death.
Fear of Poverty The fear of poverty has an official name:
Peniaphobia. It is defined as the abnormal fear of poverty or being broke.
Many confuse this with aporophobia – this is when one is filled with hostility towards the poor
or those who are without resources. This fear stems, for many, from childhood.
In most cases, the fear of poverty tends to worry those who have built themselves up from a poor
and poverty-stricken upbringing. Although currently enjoying the abundant lifestyle,
people with Peniaphobia live in fear that this could go away at any given moment.
The symptoms of Peniaphobia starts from thinking and indulging in the nightmare
that all will be lost. Individuals may start to obsess over their belongings and possessions.
They might not allow themselves to enjoy their money and instead focus on saving, saving, saving.
This can lead to anxiety, panic attacks, nausea,
and insomnia. The symptoms get worse the more the person thinks about the worst-case scenario.
HYPNOTHERAPY: This treatment works by reprogramming your subconscious mind and
how it responds to money, wealth, and poverty. It rewires our brains back to the way it was when we
first arrived into the world. With this treatment, you no longer have irrational fears towards losing
your money. You have worked so hard to earn this money, you deserve to enjoy it without fearing
that you will lose it all one day. CONGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY
(CBT): Talking to someone is one of the best ways you can overcome irrational fears.
Going to therapy and talking to someone who is experienced at dealing with this can help you
realise just how ludicrous this fear is. Once you’ve discussed what’s on your mind, you’ll
be pushed to alter your perception of poverty so you can feel completely different about it,
to a state of almost being neutral about it. Fear of Diseases
Nosophobia is an all-consuming fear of contracting life-threatening and fatal
diseases such as HIV or cancer. As with most fears, this fear completely ruins one’s mental
health and pushes them towards irrationality. A primary symptom of this fear is constantly
booking doctor’s appointments. Even with multiple check-ups and “all-ok’s” from more than one
doctor, a person crippled with this fear still worries that there is something wrong with them.
In extreme cases, this fear manifests as anxiety, panic attacks and even depression.
Hypnotherapy and CBT are also beneficial ways to treat this fear.
Along with this, you can also look into Neuro-Linguistic Programming
(NLP). This is a type of programming which combines neurology and linguistics.
With this, individuals can change their thinking habits, deal with anxiety, stress and depression
that are birthed from specific fears such as nosophobia. In a nutshell, this treatment
works by dissociating and reframing the phobia so that the irrational reactions no long arise.
Fear of Criticism
This fear seems to be the most common. How many times have you worried about how someone may react
to you or your work? This fear can cause someone to become defensive and close themselves off
to others. Even when criticism is constructive, one may feel as though they are being attacked.
Anxiety and panic attacks are a common symptom of this fear. This stems from the nervousness that
people are judging and critiquing at all times. Insecurity is also a big symptom which is covered
up by defensiveness and a lot of indecisiveness. Some may be quiet and hide in the background
as they do not wish to be criticised nor do they want to advocate for themselves. On the flip side,
others may be loud and boastful in a way to overshadow anyone who may try and critique them.
Like with the fear of poverty, the fear of criticism can also stem from childhood.
You may have some unhealed wounds from your childhood that could be showing up as this fear.
A fantastic way to treat this is therapy. Meeting with a therapist can allow you to
delve deeper into your wounds and your childhood thereby removing whatever blocks are within you
causing this fear. With this treatment, you can identify what the cause of your fear is
and subsequently, how you can overcome it. Some therapists may advice you to take some
medications to treat your phobia. If your anxiety is so deep with this fear,
you may be prescribed anti-depressants, tranquillisers, or beta-blockers.
Fear of Death
Thanatophobia refers to the fear of death.
It is derived from the Greek words “Thanatos” and “Phobia” which mean death and fear respectively.
Many experts believe that this phobia is on the increase currently
because in modern times, more people are dying in hospitals rather than in homes.
The fear of death is not a straight-forward fear to understand and even treat.
This fear has three factors to it: • The fear of one’s own
death. • A fear of a
third-party death (often a loved one). • Fear of the process of dying.
Although we know from day one that we are destined to die,
people with thanatophobia have an exaggerated fear of death. Those affected are affected at
varying degrees – some may just not want to think about death or go to funerals, for others however,
just the thought of not existing everyday sends them into a full-blown panic attack.
One with this fear may avoid doing things that could endanger their life or the lives
of their loved ones. Simple things like driving or crossing the road can paralyse someone with
the fear of death causing them to withdraw from day-to-day activities and succumb to their fears.
Like all phobias, this fear can be triggered by a traumatic event. This can include losing a loved
one, especially in childhood, or even seeing a corpse. Parents can also pass this phobia onto
their children. Thanatophobics cannot look ahead past this fear. The fact that they cannot control
every part of their life so they can be safe from death, causes panic attacks and mental breakdowns.
The symptoms can start with the individual trying to control everything.
If they know that something could potentially kill them or a loved one, they will not engage
in that act. They won’t, for example, partake in sports that consist of rough physical contact.
Going to hospitals or funerals cause a lot of anxiety within the person.
Sometimes even the thought of these things can induce panic attacks.
They might even withdraw from social events and this could lead to depression.
This is due to thinking everything can easily take their life. They may even try and exert control
over the lives of their loved ones from far away. No matter how much you may try and reason with
them, someone suffering with thanatophobia will not be able to rationalise their fears.
Hypnotherapy, Neuro-linguistic programming and cognitive behavioural therapy are also the top
treatment options for this phobia. Along with this, finding meaning in
spirituality and /or religion can help someone with thanatophobia overcome their fear.
Asking questions about the afterlife,
and facing the fear head-on is a daunting but very helpful way of overcoming the fear.
As a matter of fact, facing any kind of fear head-on is the best way to overcome it.
Thank you all so much for watching today, give the video a thumbs up and subscribe if
you enjoyed and It, and with that said, have a great day, and I’ll see you all in the next one.