Addictions – Part 4 – Phobias

Lately I've had several people ask me about phobias – not classically defined as an addiction, but it fits the dictionary's meaning as slanted by my previous blog postings.

Fundamentally, a phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. In my case, my aversion to "having" to exercise wouldn't qualify as a phobia; it's not extreme enough. The issue is that the pictures inside the mind are so horrific and so captivating (literally capturing), that reality no longer has play in the mind. The nightmarish pictures supplant Real Reality; incoming data received via the senses is ignored or disregarded as non-sense. The person with the phobia becomes ruled by the phobia, enslaved by fear of mental images that don't exist in the here and now. Basically the addiction is to the chemicals in the body that are produced by fear. Psychologically it can also be an addiction to controlling others' behavior as well. If I can't control my phobia, then you can't "make me" do things that I "can't" do (and if you let it, my phobia can also control you – what you can and can't do while you cater to my fear addiction).

The way out is to be in the Here and Now. How do I return to the Here and Now? As
always – breath is the key. Especially exhaling – long and easy (which eventually requires an inhale). Back to my blog about 3 Conscious Breaths (Sept 3 2008), when we are concentrating on our breath moving into and out of our bodies AND waking up to all the data our senses are absorbing, we don't have the bandwidth to be in the future (or the past). It's like coming out of a trance, a self-induced trance.

Also supportive of being in the Here and Now is the physicality of eating and drinking – almonds and water are good (as is anything that requires the body to function in the Here and Now – touching, urinating, playing games, etc.)

When I'm operating in the Here and Now, There and Then can't get me.