their disguises, and get them into our conscious minds
where we can easily dispose of them.
Often you can find these hidden fears, yourself,
now that you are aware. that they are likely to be hidden
or disguised in your subconscious mind. It is not the func-
tion of this book to get into the details, but merely to point
out the necessity of a fear-hunt for hidden and disguised
fears and to start you on your way.
Some of the symptoms of hidden and disguised
fears are: (1) withdrawal from normal activities; (2) un-
explained feelings of anxiety; (3) unexplained tension; (4)
psychosomatic illness, an illness (real enough!) which has
no physical cause, but usually is a form of withdrawal,
and accounts for over haU of the patients of all doctors
and in all hospitals! The list could go on and on, but any
of the foregoing or similar symptoms probably indicates
you have a hidden or disguised fear lurking in the depths
of your subconscious.
On your fear-hunt, ignore the symptoms which
disguise your fear and try to trace the cause to the real
fear, itseU. Not being any longer deceived by disguise,
you often can find it, drag it out into the open, rip off its
disguise and treat it like any other fear-eliminating it
forever by the methods we shall describe.
If you personally can't find your hidden or
disguised fear, by all means get profeSSional help from
a psychologist or psychiatrist.
In any event, the important thing is to know
what fear you are dealing with. Then eliminate it by one,
several or all of the following methods: