2019-06-01+Woman+and+Home

64% of British

adults admit

they’re scaredof the

dark, accordingto

Bensons for Beds

Fearof...heights

“Acrophobiais rootedina fear

thatwe’lllosecontrol,”says

DrWinwood.“It’snaturaltofeel

nervousfromanunnaturalheight

• geneticallyspeaking,keeping
  awayfromdangerousdrops
  was an evolutionary necessity.”

Cureit“Slowlyexposingyourself

tonewheights,suchaslooking

overa stairwell,is a strongstarting

point,”saysDrWinwood.“When

you’refeelingbraver,youcould

tryanexperiencedayinvolving

a ziplineorindoorskydiving.

Cognitivebehaviouraltherapy

(CBt)couldhelptrainyourbraininto

thinkingofheightsasa perceived

threat that you’re in control of.”

Fearof...spiders

“Arachnophobiamaylinktoourearliestexperienceofspottingsignsof

danger,ofsurpriseattack,ofinfectionanddisease,”saysToby.“It’spartlyto

do with the sense that there is suddenly something there that wasn’t invited.”

Cu r eit:“Forsomepeopleit’sveryhardtorelaxwhenyouknowa

spideris intheroom,particularlyif it suddenlydisappears,”says

toby.“Butgraduallyexposingyourselftospiderscantaketheshock

valueaway.takedeepbreaths,concentrateoncalmingyourself

andrememberthespideris verysmallcomparedtoyou.thereare

apps,forexample,ArachnophobiaFree(£6.99,iOS),whichcreate

a virtual way of learning to relax when it comes to spiders.” w&h

1 Spiders19%

2 Heights18%

3 Snakes9% and

smallspaces 9%( joint)

5 Thedentist8%

6 Crowds7%

7 Flying5%and

vomit 5%( joint)

9 Mice 4%

10 Lifts/elevators 3%

“My confidence

was knocked”

DoullaManolas,

46,is fromLondon.

I’dalwaystaken

greatjoyindriving

sincepassingmytest

at18.However,two

yearsagoI wasinvolvedina car

accidentthatchangedthat.I was

ona mainroadwhenanother

driverwentintothebackofme

andsadlywroteoffmybeloved

MiniCooper.Coincidentally,

aroundthesametime,I hadbeen

diagnosedwithMS,somymental

focusandphysicalwellbeingwas

beingtestedwhenI drove,but

I hadn’twantedit toholdmeback.

Initially,I didn’tthinktheaccident

wouldaffectmetoomuchbut,for

somereason,maybebecauseof

everythinggoingonatthetime,

myconfidencewasknocked.

Luckily,I couldcommuteto

workandmeetfriendsusing

publictransport,soavoiding

drivingwasrelativelyeasy.

However,whenI gota newjob,

whichrequiredmetodrivea

companycar,I wasworried,so

I bookeda refreshercourse with

ReDDrivingSchool.

Myfriendscouldn’tunderstand

whyI neededtoasI hada licence

already,butinsideI feltit was

thebestoptionforme.I wasso

nervouswhenI firstgotbehind

thewheel.It feltlikegoing

backtoschool,butmydriving

instructorwassosupportive.

I rememberhimsaying,

“Doullayoucandrive”in

sucha matter-of-factway

thatrestoredmyself-belief.

It tookmetwotwo-hour

sessionstogetbackto

whereI wasbefore.I now

driveeverydayforwork

andfeelextremelysafe

behind the wheel.

A refreshercourse

costsfrom£210*,

reddrivingschool.com

Fearof...Flying

Knownasaerophobia,it affects28%

ofpeoplein theUK**.“Thisstemsfrom

thinkingaboutexternalfactorsthatare

beyondyourcontrol,suchasturbulence,

badweatheroranengineeringfault,”says

DrWinwood.“Peoplewithaerophobia

areacutelyawarethatif theplane

encounters trouble they are helpless.”

Cureit“Acknowledgeit – seeking

outalternativemethodsoftravel

onlyreinforcesthephobia,”saysDr

Winwood.“Anxietythrivesoff‘whatif?’

catastrophicthoughts,sowecanhelp

overcomethisbybrushinguponthe

facts.researchhowa planefliesand

thecausesofturbulence,soyouknow

whattoexpect.thatcanhelpgiveyou

a feelingofgreatercontrolovertherisk.

Onlineflightsimulatorscanalsobe

helpfulandmanyairlinesofferspecial

courses.Alternatively,therapistscanalso

suggestbreathingtechniquestohelp

youstaycalm.”trytheHeadspaceapp

(free,iOS,Android)– theeasy-to-follow

breathingexercisescanbedownloaded

and used when you’re offline.

tHe uK’S

tOp pHOBiAS†

health is the new wealth

pHOtOgrApHS

GeTTy

IMAGeS/ISToCKPHoTo

*FoR

SIx

HoURS,

PRICe

DePenDS

on

LoCATIon

AnD

MAnUAL/AUToMATIC TRAnSMISSIon **SURvey by eDReAMS †STATS FRoM CHRySALIS CoURSeS

130 woman&home IT’S ALL AboUT yoU!