Andrey Vladimirovich Kurpatov

The previous title of this book - "The Cure for Fear" - slightly intimidated some readers. I don’t know why, but it’s true. What kind of remedy? What remedy? Why remedy? Will they not beat you? Here indicative list questions. Quite disturbing, as you might have noticed. Now the book has safely migrated to the Bestseller series and received a new title - "1 top secret pill for fear." Why?…

Most of the patients who come to me with fears, phobias, panic attacks and anxieties ask for a “fear pill” at first. They ask and do not even realize that they already have this pill and they carry it on their own shoulders. They are worn but not accepted. Yes, the truth is that in the pharmacy you will not find a pill for fear. There are prescription brain shutdown pills, but not for fear. Therefore, if anything can be called a pill for fear, it is the mind. But fear is an emotion, it is irrational, and the mind often capitulates to fear before their two-way negotiations take place at the highest level, that is, at the level of the brain.

This book is a mediator. She will teach you how to use your mind in moments when it usually refuses. You will learn to be stronger than your fear. And when your fear feels it, it goes away, you can believe me. Fear loves the weak, it bypasses the strong.

So get down to business! I wish you success!

Sincerely yours, Andrey Kurpatov

FOREWORD

After I wrote “Happy on their own", Somehow a whole series of books" Pocket psychotherapist "appeared by itself. In them I tried to tell about those things that, in my opinion, it would be nice to know to every educated person. Well, judge for yourself, in your Everyday life we use mathematical knowledge (if not professionally, then at least at the checkout of the grocery store), and therefore it is quite understandable why we should have studied mathematics at school. We use the Russian language - we speak, write, “read with a dictionary”, so it is no coincidence that Russian language lessons are included in the “compulsory educational standard”. Finally, it is even difficult to imagine what our life would be like if we did not study literature at school; at least, cultured people from us would definitely not work out. All this is natural.

But now we use (and every single day!) Our psychology, our psyche ... And who taught us to use it? Who explained to us what is what here, what from what and what for what? ... There were no such lessons in our life, “we all learned a little something and somehow”. As a result, at an appointment with a psychotherapist, it was overdone, and in the personal life of most of us, "the hall is empty, the candles are out." So, in fact, in order to somehow remove the acuteness of this problem, I wrote books in the series "Pocket psychotherapist". And they are addressed to each of those few who are not indifferent to his own life. Half of these books are devoted to how to live "by faith and righteousness" with oneself, the other half - to how to live "happily ever after" with others. However, as you might guess, one simply does not work here without the other.

Now, the readers of my "Pocket Psychotherapist", realizing that the quality of their life depends not so much on external factors, but on how they feel, how they feel themselves, have specific questions. Some were interested in the question of how to cope with sleep disorders (that is, with insomnia), others found themselves depressed and wanted to get rid of it, while others were bothered by some specific fears (for example, the fear of flying on airplanes, speaking in front of a large audience, etc.) .), the fourth want to improve their health, which has been shaken due to instability nervous system(to get rid of vegetative-vascular dystonia, hypertension acquired at a young age, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum), the fifth are worried about the problem of excess weight, the sixth do not know how to overcome fatigue and overwork, the seventh want to know how to find a common language with their child , the eighth decide for themselves the question of "betrayal" (their own or in relation to themselves), the ninth have questions from the field of sexology, the tenth ... In short, questions have poured in, and I have nothing to do but talk about the means of solving these problems.

So these books appeared, these "express consultations" on various problems that we all face, but from time to time and in varying degrees of severity. And this is what I called a series of these books - "Express Consultation". I hope they will be useful to my readers, at least to my patients the "means of help" outlined in them come in very, very useful. However, I do not think that these "express consultations" can completely replace the "Pocket psychotherapist". In order to solve a particular problem, you need to know where its roots are located, and for this it is necessary, at least in general terms, to imagine the entire “anatomy” of this tree, a tree whose name is no less than our life.

To complete this introduction, I want to thank all my patients who took part in the creation of this book, as well as the staff of the Clinic of Neuroses. Academician I.P. Pavlov, in which I have the pleasure of working.

Sincerely yours, Andrey Kurpatov

INTRODUCTION

According to statistics, neurotic fears are found in every third inhabitant of our long-suffering planet. It has even been calculated what fears how many - how many people are afraid to fly on airplanes, how many live in anticipation of imminent death from some contrived, but at the same time "incurable" disease, how many people are afraid of "open space", how many - "closed", etc. etc., etc. In short, all of us scientists have counted and each "put" in his own column.

But, you know, I don't really trust these numbers. We all understand very well that it is not important how many are counted, but how to count is important. For example, I have never seen data on how many people are guided in their daily life not by their “want”, but by their “I’m afraid” - “just so that it doesn’t work out”, “will they think of something such " and “how it will look” (I’ll tell you a secret that everyone who doesn't think are already sitting in the "yellow houses" scattered in abundance across the vastness of our vast homeland).

If we add up all the fears of a "normal person" (at least those that he experiences during one day), then we get the strength of anxiety, measured in thousands of amperes! However, the question immediately arises here: maybe this is how it should be, if the "fearless" are "lodging" in madhouses? But do we really have only two alternatives - either not to be afraid and live in hospitals, or to be afraid, but free? Anyway, is it really necessary to suffer from anxiety neurosis in order to be considered normal? Of course not! First, there are much more alternatives, they are not limited to the two listed; secondly, for real a good life is a life free from fear. Mental health and fear are incompatible things with each other.

The previous title of this book - "The Cure for Fear" - slightly intimidated some readers. I don’t know why, but it’s true. What kind of remedy? What remedy? Why remedy? Will they not beat you? Here is a rough list of questions. Quite disturbing, as you might have noticed. Now the book has safely migrated to the Bestseller series and received a new title - "1 top secret pill for fear." Why?..
Most of the patients who come to me with fears, phobias, panic attacks and anxieties ask for a “fear pill” at first. They ask and do not even realize that they already have this pill and they carry it on their own shoulders. Wear but do not accept.
Yes, the truth is that in the pharmacy you will not find a pill for fear. There are prescription brain shutdown pills, but not for fear. Therefore, if anything can be called a pill for fear, it is the mind. But fear is an emotion, it is irrational, and the mind often capitulates to fear before their two-way negotiations take place at the highest level, that is, at the level of the brain.
This book is a mediator. She will teach you how to use your mind in moments when it usually refuses. You will learn to be stronger than your fear. And when your fear feels it, it goes away, you can believe me. Fear loves the weak, it bypasses the strong.
So get down to business! I wish you success!
Yours sincerely,
Andrey Kurpatov

Foreword

After I wrote "Happy of my own free will," somehow, by itself, a whole series of books "The Pocket Therapist" appeared. In them I tried to tell about those things that, in my opinion, it would be nice to know every educated person. Well, judge for yourself, in our everyday life we ​​use mathematical knowledge (if not professionally, then at least at the checkout of a grocery store), and therefore it is quite understandable why we should have studied mathematics at school. We use the Russian language - we speak, write, “read with a dictionary”, so it is no coincidence that Russian language lessons are included in the “compulsory educational standard”. Finally, it is even difficult to imagine what our life would be like if we did not study literature at school; at least, cultured people from us would definitely not work out. All this is natural.
But now we use (and every single day!) Our psychology, our psyche ... And who taught us to use it? Who explained to us what is what here, what from what and what for what? .. There were no such lessons in our life, “we all learned a little something and somehow”. As a result, at an appointment with a psychotherapist, it was overdone, and in the personal life of most of us, "the hall is empty, the candles are out." So, in fact, in order to somehow remove the acuteness of this problem, I wrote books in the series "Pocket psychotherapist", addressed to each of those few who are not indifferent to his own life. Half of these books were devoted to how to live "by faith and righteousness" with oneself, the other half - to how to live "happily ever after" with others. However, as you might guess, one simply does not work here without the other.
Then the readers of my "Pocket Psychotherapist", realizing that the quality of their life depends not so much on external factors, but on how they feel, how they feel, specific questions arose. Some were interested in the question of how to cope with sleep disorders (that is, with insomnia), others found themselves depressed and wanted to get rid of it, while others were bothered by some specific fears (for example, the fear of flying on airplanes, speaking in front of a large audience, etc.) .), the fourth want to improve their health, which is shaken due to the instability of the nervous system (to get rid of vegetative-vascular dystonia, hypertension acquired at a young age, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer), fifth are concerned about the problem of excess weight, sixth do not know how to overcome fatigue and overwork, the seventh want to know how they can find a common language with their child, the eighth decide for themselves the question of "betrayal" (their own or in relation to themselves), the ninth have questions from the field of sexology, the tenth ... In short, questions were showered, and I had no choice but to start talking about the means of solving these problems.
There have appeared books in the Express Consultation series - on various problems that we all face, but from time to time and in varying degrees of severity. As I now know, the “means of assistance” set out in them came to my readers very, very useful. But it is clear that these "express consultations" could not completely replace the "Pocket psychotherapist": in order to solve a particular problem, you need to know where its roots are located, and for this it is necessary, at least in general terms, to imagine the whole The "anatomy" of this tree, a tree whose name is no less than our life. So the books of the series "Pocket psychotherapist" and "Express-consultation" gradually merged into one, which, thanks to the design, was named "Kurpatov. Classic".
To complete this introduction, I would like to thank my patients who took part in the creation of these books, as well as the staff of my clinic. Thanks!

Introduction

According to statistics, neurotic fears are found in every third inhabitant of our long-suffering planet. It has even been calculated what fears how many - how many people are afraid to fly on airplanes, how many live in anticipation of imminent death from some contrived, but at the same time "incurable" disease, how many people are afraid of "open space", how many - "closed", etc. etc., etc. In short, all of us scientists have counted and each "put" in his own column.
But, you know, I don't really trust these numbers. We all understand very well that it is not important how many are counted, but how to count is important. For example, I have never seen data on how many people are guided in their daily life not by their “want”, but by their “I’m afraid” - “just so that it doesn’t work out”, “will they think of something such"And" how it will look "(I'll tell you a secret that everyone who doesn't think, are already sitting in the "yellow houses" scattered in abundance across the vastness of our vast homeland).
If we add up all the fears of a "normal person" (at least those that he experiences during one day), then we get the strength of anxiety, measured in thousands of amperes! However, here the question immediately arises: maybe this is how it should be, if the "fearless" are "lodging" in madhouses? But do we really have only two alternatives - either not to be afraid and live in hospitals, or to be afraid, but free? Anyway, is it really necessary to suffer from anxiety neurosis in order to be considered normal? Of course not! First, there are much more alternatives, they are not limited to the two listed; second, a truly good life is a life free from fear. Mental health and fear are incompatible things with each other.
Freeing yourself from fear is, by and large, not difficult. You just need to know how it arises in us, how it works and where it hides. In fact, I suggest that you go out with me to “hunt” “gray predators - mature and puppies,” that is, your big and small fears (especially since the latter threaten to grow up and become mature at the first opportunity) ... We will find out the habits and habits of our fears; we will understand what feeds them - legs or maybe some other part of the body; we will finally find against them means.
The main thing is to know why you are doing it. If only to “calm the nerves”, then the success of our “hunt”, to put it mildly, is not guaranteed. If we make this "expedition", wanting to free ourselves for happy life, then we will not return without loot - we will defeat everyone. Yes, I need just such a mood - forward and with the song! And if you set yourself goals, then only grandiose ones: all fears are for soap, and you wanted to live!

Chapter one
FEAR IS WHAT IT IS

When in my classes and lectures I ask: “Who has fears?”, At first only a few people answer “yes”. Then, as soon as I talk about what fears there are in general, the number of those who answer “yes” among those present approaches one hundred percent. Why is that? There are two reasons.
First, we remember our fears when we find ourselves in circumstances that provoke those fears. Were it not for these circumstances, we simply would not have remembered these fears. For example, if I am terribly afraid of cockroaches, then I hardly remember this, sitting in the lecture hall.
Secondly, there are fears in our arsenal that we never remember at all, because we found a way to avoid the relevant situations. If, for example, I am afraid to swim in the open ocean, then I will not try to get to the appropriate resort; my vacation will traditionally take place on a personal plot or at a ski resort.
But even if I, as they say, do not think of my fear offhand, this does not mean that it does not exist. Tell me about him and I'll confess right away. But do I need to remind? And is it necessary to get rid of fear, which, in fact, is declared to us relatively rarely? I think yes. And there are also two reasons.
If we remember our fear only at the moment when we have it, then we will never get rid of it. And if we do not get rid of our fears, then we will be disabled - people "with disabilities", Because our fears do not allow us to do a lot, sometimes a lot ...
So let's take a look "without fear and reproach" at what fears are in general.

The simplest classification

In my book "With a neurosis in life" I talked about what the instinct of self-preservation is. It is he who is responsible for the production of our fears, because the evolutionary meaning of fear is to protect us from possible threats. Fear is an instinctive command to flee. An animal, some runaway hare, is not capable of thinking the way we think. It cannot assess the situation with the help of reason and make a meaningful decision, correlating it with its desires and needs. Nature must decide this for the little animal itself, not counting on the coefficient of its intelligence. So in the animal kingdom, fear, in fact, performs the function of common sense.
However, we are not much different from our smaller brothers - we also have fear and it continues to fulfill its evolutionary function of a signal to escape when danger appears in our field of vision. True, we also have reason, sanity (at least we want to believe in it). We are able to assess a particular situation with the help of our knowledge and logic, calculate the options and understand how we should act in order to achieve what we want. And here the first difficulty arises.: it turns out that two subjects are responsible for the same function in our psyche - fear and common sense.
And I must admit that it is worst model management. It is good if they agree on a particular situation (although it is not clear why we need two resolutions "Approved" on one document). What if they don't get together? If, for example, fear says: “Run! Run away! Save yourself! " - and at the same moment common sense reassures: “Yes, it's okay! It's OK. Do not worry! Nothing threatens you! " And what would you like to do in such a situation ?! Inevitably, you will remember Ivan Andreevich Krylov, because there is a real swan, cancer and pike, and in our own performance! The constant struggle of motives, internal tension, and as a result - neurosis in person.
Now - difficulty number two. What does the mentioned hare know, and what do you and I know? What does a one-year-old child know, and what is known to a person who has already lived most of his life? Do you think there is a difference? Undoubtedly. Now let's think about what this knowledge gives us. Is it good to know more, is there a lot of benefits for our mental apparatus?
Of course, we remember only what is important to us, and for us it is only important what our instinct for self-preservation considers important. In other words, everything that is capable of giving us pleasure and displeasure (and this is precisely what our instinct for self-preservation occupies) will be revealed by our attention and carefully preserved by our memory. What once gave us pleasure will now beckon us. On the contrary, what caused us displeasure will frighten us later.
And the more we know what can please us, and the more we know about what can cause our displeasure, the harder it is for us to live. After all, we want more and fear more. In addition, we are anxious - what if we will not be able to get what we want? And wouldn't it be worse if we get it, and isn't it dangerous to achieve it? After all, you never know how the matter will end and where the trouble is waiting for you. Yes, it was not for nothing that King Solomon said: "Knowledge multiplies sorrow!"
Any animal, in comparison with us, has no problems at all - a few questions, but he does not know about the rest and, most importantly, cannot know. We, being intelligent and remembered creatures, are not only in constant stress, but also tormented by a struggle of motives: “I want to, and it pricks, and my mother does not order ...” So I want, for example, to the Canary Islands, but I have to fly there, but scary. I'm suffering. The hare does not need the Canaries for nothing, so there are fewer problems! Or, for example, I want others to appreciate and support me (which, of course, is always not enough, always not enough), and therefore the fear arises that someday I will be completely alone - without help and approval. Will such stupidity come to a hare's head ?! Never! Yes, the life of a "reasonable man" is difficult.
Finally, the third difficulty. As I already told in the book "With a neurosis in life", our instinct for self-preservation is not homogeneous, but consists of three integral instincts: the instinct for self-preservation of life, the instinct for self-preservation of the group (hierarchical instinct) and the instinct for self-preservation of the species (sexual instinct). It is important for us not only to physically preserve our lives, but also to find a consensus with other people (our existence also directly depends on this), and, finally, to continue our kind, that is, to preserve our life in our own offspring.
Perhaps it will seem to someone that all this, as they say, is a profitable business, that physical survival can be limited, but you go to our subconscious mind to explain ... He has there these three "Arkharovtsy" operate and conflict with each other in the most merciless way!
Imagine some action that, on the one hand, contributes to my personal survival, but on the other hand threatens to turn into a conflict with fellow tribesmen. I fled from the front line - it's scary, but here my comrades with their court of officer honor grabbed me. Or another combination - the sexual instinct is happy, but some Montagues or Capulet are ready to make a steak out of me for this “contentment”. In short, it only seems that order reigns inside our head, in fact, the name of the little head is chaos!
But I promised the simplest classification of fears. So: our fears are divided into those that go to the "department" of the instinct of self-preservation of life; those that arise in the system of our social relations(here the hierarchical instinct prevails), and, finally, we have fears associated with the sphere of sexual relations, that is, with the sexual instinct. Since friction constantly arises between consciousness and subconsciousness, fears are guaranteed for each of these points - for life, for social life and for sexual life.

CLASSIFICATION OF OUR INSURANCES

Dead language lessons

The variety of our fears is outstanding! But one cannot leave them unnamed, and so the learned minds set about "taking inventory" of human fears. Since Latin was adopted as the international medical language, then, accordingly, our fears received proud Latin names, however, there are also ancient Greek ones. Now everyone can call their neurosis not just an anxiety neurosis, but pompously, in a dead language. Here are some of these "titles".
Agoraphobia(from others - Greek. agora- the area where public meetings are held) - fear of the so-called "open space". What exactly are people suffering from agoraphobia afraid of, they themselves do not really know. Often they cannot even explain what is called "open space". It is scary for them to go out into the street, and even more so on the square or embankment, sometimes - to cross the road, to be in an unknown place, etc. Trying to explain their fear, they say that "something can happen", "happen". What exactly? Or with health, or God knows what.
Claustrophobia(from lat. claudo- lock, close) - fear, the opposite of agoraphobia, fear of "closed space". However, despite the apparent differences, they usually go hand in hand. What is a person afraid of in this case and what does he consider a "closed space"? This is a mystery for a spy. Apparently, there is a certain fear that, "if something happens", behind closed doors you will not be able to get help. What's going to happen? Here the need for inventions is tricky - fear of suffocation, fear of a heart attack, fear of epilepsy, etc., etc. In short, you will need an explanation, we will find it!
Oxyphobia(aichmophobia) - fear of sharp objects. It seems to the owner of this fear that a sharp object has its own life and plans to injure it (this object) - either this person himself, or someone else, but with the help of this person. At the heart of this fear lies the fear of losing control over their actions, and the most remarkable thing about all this is that it is precisely those who suffer from this fear who control themselves and their actions in excess, more than anyone else.
Gypsophobia(acrophobia) - fear of heights. The latter can be of two types: one resembles the previous one - it is scary to lose control over oneself and jump in such a state from a height (“What if I go crazy and jump off the balcony ?!”); the second resembles agoraphobia ("What if I feel bad, I can't keep my balance and fall down the stairs, or, in extreme cases, I'll just slip"). People susceptible to this fear are often afraid of the escalator in the subway.
Dysmorphophobia- fear of physical deformity, unattractiveness. As a rule, they suffer from people who have no reason to do so, especially girls from the modeling business and youth bodybuilders. They talk about some of their "extreme flaws", even "deformities" that can be noticed by others. Moreover, if they do not tell the doctor what exactly they consider "ugliness", then he himself is unlikely to guess. However, in order to suffer from body dysmorphophobia, it is not at all necessary to be a "supermodel" or "Mr. Universe"; depression, which likes to induce such thoughts, or a deeper feeling of self-doubt, is quite enough.
Nosophobia- fear of contracting a serious illness. A lot of terms have been invented here for special use: syphilophobia(fear of contracting syphilis) speedophobia(fear of getting HIV), carcinophobia(fear of getting cancer) lysophobia(fear of getting sick with rabies), cardiophobia(fear of a heart attack), and further down the list - we open the medical reference book and "slap" the terms.
However, this, of course, does not exhaust our possible fears. Here are some more examples: thanatophobia- this is the fear of death; peniaphobia- fear of poverty; hematophobia- fear of blood; necrophobia- fear of a corpse; ergasiophobia- fear of surgical operations; pharmacophobia- fear of drugs; hypnophobia- fear of sleep; godophobia- fear of travel; siderodromophobia- fear of riding a train; tachophobia- fear of speed; aerophobia- fear of flying on airplanes; gephyrophobia- fear of walking across the bridge; hydrophobia- fear of water; achluophobia- fear of the dark; monophobia- fear of loneliness; erotophobia- fear of sexual relations; pettophobia- fear of society; anthropophobia(chlophobia) - fear of the crowd; social phobia- fear of new acquaintances, social contacts or speaking in front of an audience; catagelophobia- fear of ridicule; xenophobia- fear of strangers; homophobia- fear of homosexuals; lalophobia- fear of speaking (in people suffering from neurotic stuttering); kenophobia- fear of empty spaces; misophobia- fear of pollution; zoophobia- fear of animals (especially small ones); arachnophobia- fear of spiders; ophidiophobia- fear of snakes; kinophobia- fear of dogs; tafephobia- fear of being buried alive; sitophobia- fear of eating; triskaidekaphobia- fear of the 13th, etc., etc.
There are, however, completely unique fears - these are phobophobia and pantophobia... Phobophobia is the fear of fear, more precisely, the fear of repeating fear, and pantophobia is the fear of everything, when everything is scary.
In short, you have fear - don't be afraid, it has a name!

In fact, if we are really afraid of anything, it is for our own lives. We only need a convenient excuse to find, so that this fear of ours has a place to roam. You must admit that it is difficult to be afraid simply for life (although there are “masters” here as well), fear is simply before death - and that is a rarity, it is inconvenient to be afraid if the threat is not detected by the senses. Therefore, it is necessary to come up with an appropriate reason, not to yearn for our instinct of self-preservation in inaction!
The general formula: "Do not approach - he will kill!" In particular, we are afraid that either "something will happen to our health - and hello", or that "something will happen to us at all." Further, the whole matter is subdivided as follows: for health - or some kind of disease ("cancer crept up unnoticed"), or infection ("AIDS does not sleep"); for an external reason - either an accident ("a brick on my head"), or intent ("the enemies burned down their home"). In short, whatever we fear, everything will find itself in the general scheme.

FEARS FOR OWN LIFE: HEALTH AND SAFETY

Unhealthy fear for health

What else, pray tell, be afraid if not for your own health? Of course, the most "beautiful" fears are that "the heart broke" and "the cancer imperceptibly burned like a candle." Since these fears are only fears, and not the diseases themselves, then, of course, doctors do not find anything, and therefore it remains to think that you are sick with some incurable disease.
We manage to be afraid of the most interesting things. For example, many are afraid of heartbeats. This is funny, because "according to the mind" one should be afraid of their absence. But here we think that the heart will either burst (if not the heart, then some vessel), or will stop, "having exhausted its resource." Of course, it is very difficult for the heart to tear - after all, it is a muscle, and the muscles are elastic and strong (if a rupture occurs, then the ligaments, but this does not apply to the heart). And the heart does not have any "limited resource", even on the contrary, it has its own "reserve" power plant, capable of supporting its work, if anything. But what is this common sense to us! We think that it can, it means - it can!
The fear of a heart attack is joined by the fear of suffocation, that, they say, you will not have enough air somewhere, that they will probably take away your air and on the shortage of this oxygen you will give your soul to God. Correspondingly, closed spaces - metro, elevators and simply closed rooms - are “deadly places”. There is also the fear that you will not be able to call for help, that they will not have time to take you out of your confined space, that you will not reach the phone, that you will not be able to open the ambulance door ...
To be afraid of cancer has recently become somehow unfashionable, although there are those among us who adhere to the "classic style". Cancer, according to the general belief, is incurable and burns a person instantly, so that he does not even have time to notice it. The fact that this is not so and that doctors have been treating cancer for a long time does not count, of course. The fact that cancer in the overwhelming majority of cases is diagnosed on time (doctors know all the places where it can appear, and from the student's bench train in themselves the so-called "oncological alertness"), this also does not count. If you have "heredity" (and we all have such heredity), if your stomach aches, then it means that it is cancer, there can be no doubt. This is how the "classical" neurotic thinks and suffers from his own reasoning in the most malignant way!
However, when doctors, having examined us from head to toe, report that there is nothing to be afraid of, we, following some very strange logic, begin to think that we are suffering from some incurable disease. Now I remember a young patient who, in her reasoning of this kind, reached a remarkable discovery. At some point it began to seem to her that her life would end with the fact that some creature would crawl out of her, or rather, “a hand would come out of her leg”. At the first moment after she confessed this to me, I could not understand at all what in question... Have seen enough, unfortunate, "Aliens - I, II, III", and here's the effect!

Andrey Vladimirovich Kurpatov

The previous title of this book - "The Cure for Fear" - slightly intimidated some readers. I don’t know why, but it’s true. What kind of remedy? What remedy? Why remedy? Will they not beat you? Here is a rough list of questions. Quite disturbing, as you might have noticed. Now the book has safely migrated to the Bestseller series and received a new title - "1 top secret pill for fear." Why?…

Most of the patients who come to me with fears, phobias, panic attacks and anxieties ask for a “fear pill” at first. They ask and do not even realize that they already have this pill and they carry it on their own shoulders. They are worn but not accepted. Yes, the truth is that in the pharmacy you will not find a pill for fear. There are prescription brain shutdown pills, but not for fear. Therefore, if anything can be called a pill for fear, it is the mind. But fear is an emotion, it is irrational, and the mind often capitulates to fear before their two-way negotiations take place at the highest level, that is, at the level of the brain.

This book is a mediator. She will teach you how to use your mind in moments when it usually refuses. You will learn to be stronger than your fear. And when your fear feels it, it goes away, you can believe me. Fear loves the weak, it bypasses the strong.

So get down to business! I wish you success!

Sincerely yours, Andrey Kurpatov

FOREWORD

After I wrote "Happy of my own free will," somehow, by itself, a whole series of books "The Pocket Therapist" appeared. In them I tried to tell about those things that, in my opinion, it would be nice to know every educated person. Well, judge for yourself, in our everyday life we ​​use mathematical knowledge (if not professionally, then at least at the checkout of a grocery store), and therefore it is quite understandable why we should have studied mathematics at school. We use the Russian language - we speak, write, “read with a dictionary”, so it is no coincidence that Russian language lessons are included in the “compulsory educational standard”. Finally, it is even difficult to imagine what our life would be like if we did not study literature at school; at least, cultured people from us would definitely not work out. All this is natural.

But now we use (and every single day!) Our psychology, our psyche ... And who taught us to use it? Who explained to us what is what here, what from what and what for what? ... There were no such lessons in our life, “we all learned a little something and somehow”. As a result, at an appointment with a psychotherapist, it was overdone, and in the personal life of most of us, "the hall is empty, the candles are out." So, in fact, in order to somehow remove the acuteness of this problem, I wrote books in the series "Pocket psychotherapist". And they are addressed to each of those few who are not indifferent to his own life. Half of these books are devoted to how to live "by faith and righteousness" with oneself, the other half - to how to live "happily ever after" with others. However, as you might guess, one simply does not work here without the other.

Now, the readers of my "Pocket Psychotherapist", realizing that the quality of their life depends not so much on external factors, but on how they feel, how they feel themselves, have specific questions. Some were interested in the question of how to cope with sleep disorders (that is, with insomnia), others found themselves depressed and wanted to get rid of it, while others were bothered by some specific fears (for example, the fear of flying on airplanes, speaking in front of a large audience, etc.) .), the fourth want to improve their health, which is shaken due to the instability of the nervous system (to get rid of vegetative-vascular dystonia, hypertension acquired at a young age, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer), fifth are concerned about the problem of excess weight, sixth do not know how to overcome fatigue and overwork, the seventh want to know how they can find a common language with their child, the eighth decide for themselves the question of "betrayal" (their own or in relation to themselves), the ninth have questions from the field of sexology, the tenth ... In short, questions were showered, and I have no choice but to talk about the means of solving these problems.

The previous title of this book - "The Cure for Fear" - slightly intimidated some readers. I don’t know why, but it’s true. What kind of remedy? What remedy? Why remedy? Will they not beat you? Here is a rough list of questions. Quite disturbing, as you might have noticed. Now the book has safely migrated to the Bestseller series and received a new title - "1 top secret pill for fear." Why?..

Most of the patients who come to me with fears, phobias, panic attacks and anxieties ask for a “fear pill” at first. They ask and do not even realize that they already have this pill and they carry it on their own shoulders. Wear but do not accept.

Yes, the truth is that in the pharmacy you will not find a pill for fear. There are prescription brain shutdown pills, but not for fear. Therefore, if anything can be called a pill for fear, it is the mind. But fear is an emotion, it is irrational, and the mind often capitulates to fear before their two-way negotiations take place at the highest level, that is, at the level of the brain.

This book is a mediator. She will teach you how to use your mind in moments when it usually refuses. You will learn to be stronger than your fear. And when your fear feels it, it goes away, you can believe me. Fear loves the weak, it bypasses the strong.

So get down to business! I wish you success!

Yours sincerely,

Andrey Kurpatov

After I wrote "Happy of my own free will," somehow, by itself, a whole series of books "The Pocket Therapist" appeared. In them I tried to tell about those things that, in my opinion, it would be nice to know every educated person. Well, judge for yourself, in our everyday life we ​​use mathematical knowledge (if not professionally, then at least at the checkout of a grocery store), and therefore it is quite understandable why we should have studied mathematics at school. We use the Russian language - we speak, write, “read with a dictionary”, so it is no coincidence that Russian language lessons are included in the “compulsory educational standard”. Finally, it is even difficult to imagine what our life would be like if we did not study literature at school; at least, cultured people from us would definitely not work out. All this is natural.

But now we use (and every single day!) Our psychology, our psyche ... And who taught us to use it? Who explained to us what is what here, what from what and what for what? .. There were no such lessons in our life, “we all learned a little something and somehow”. As a result, at an appointment with a psychotherapist, it was overdone, and in the personal life of most of us, "the hall is empty, the candles are out." So, in fact, in order to somehow remove the acuteness of this problem, I wrote books in the series "Pocket psychotherapist", addressed to each of those few who are not indifferent to his own life. Half of these books were devoted to how to live "by faith and righteousness" with oneself, the other half - to how to live "happily ever after" with others. However, as you might guess, one simply does not work here without the other.

Then the readers of my "Pocket Psychotherapist", realizing that the quality of their life depends not so much on external factors, but on how they feel, how they feel, specific questions arose. Some were interested in the question of how to cope with sleep disorders (that is, with insomnia), others found themselves depressed and wanted to get rid of it, while others were bothered by some specific fears (for example, the fear of flying on airplanes, speaking in front of a large audience, etc.) .), the fourth want to improve their health, which is shaken due to the instability of the nervous system (to get rid of vegetative-vascular dystonia, hypertension acquired at a young age, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer), fifth are concerned about the problem of excess weight, sixth do not know how to overcome fatigue and overwork, the seventh want to know how they can find a common language with their child, the eighth decide for themselves the question of "betrayal" (their own or in relation to themselves), the ninth have questions from the field of sexology, the tenth ... In short, questions were showered, and I had no choice but to start talking about the means of solving these problems.

There have appeared books in the Express Consultation series - on various problems that we all face, but from time to time and in varying degrees of severity. As I now know, the “means of assistance” set out in them came to my readers very, very useful. But it is clear that these "express consultations" could not completely replace the "Pocket psychotherapist": in order to solve a particular problem, you need to know where its roots are located, and for this it is necessary, at least in general terms, to imagine the whole The "anatomy" of this tree, a tree whose name is no less than our life. So the books of the series "Pocket psychotherapist" and "Express-consultation" gradually merged into one, which, thanks to the design, was named "Kurpatov. Classic".

To complete this introduction, I would like to thank my patients who took part in the creation of these books, as well as the staff of my clinic. Thanks!

According to statistics, neurotic fears are found in every third inhabitant of our long-suffering planet. It has even been calculated what fears how many - how many people are afraid to fly on airplanes, how many live in anticipation of imminent death from some contrived, but at the same time "incurable" disease, how many people are afraid of "open space", how many - "closed", etc. etc., etc. In short, all of us scientists have counted and each "put" in his own column.

But, you know, I don't really trust these numbers. We all understand very well that it is not important how many are counted, but how to count is important. For example, I have never seen data on how many people are guided in their daily life not by their “want”, but by their “I’m afraid” - “just so that it doesn’t work out”, “will they think of something such"And" how it will look "(I'll tell you a secret that everyone who doesn't think, are already sitting in the "yellow houses" scattered in abundance across the vastness of our vast homeland).

If we add up all the fears of a "normal person" (at least those that he experiences during one day), then we get the strength of anxiety, measured in thousands of amperes! However, here the question immediately arises: maybe this is how it should be, if the "fearless" are "lodging" in madhouses? But do we really have only two alternatives - either not to be afraid and live in hospitals, or to be afraid, but free? Anyway, is it really necessary to suffer from anxiety neurosis in order to be considered normal? Of course not! First, there are much more alternatives, they are not limited to the two listed; second, a truly good life is a life free from fear. Mental health and fear are incompatible things with each other.

Freeing yourself from fear is, by and large, not difficult. You just need to know how it arises in us, how it works and where it hides. In fact, I suggest that you go out with me to “hunt” “gray predators - mature and puppies,” that is, your big and small fears (especially since the latter threaten to grow up and become mature at the first opportunity) ... We will find out the habits and habits of our fears; we will understand what feeds them - legs or maybe some other part of the body; we will finally find against them means.

The main thing is to know why you are doing it. If only to “calm the nerves”, then the success of our “hunt”, to put it mildly, is not guaranteed. If we make this "expedition", wanting to free ourselves for a happy life, then we will not return without prey - we will defeat everyone. Yes, I need just such a mood - forward and with the song! And if you set yourself goals, then only grandiose ones: all fears are for soap, and you wanted to live!

The previous title of this book - "The Cure for Fear" - slightly intimidated some readers. I don’t know why, but it’s true. What kind of remedy? What remedy? Why remedy? Will they not beat you? Here is a rough list of questions. Quite disturbing, as you might have noticed. Now the book has safely migrated to the Bestseller series and received a new title - "1 top secret pill for fear." Why?..

Most of the patients who come to me with fears, phobias, panic attacks and anxieties ask for a “fear pill” at first. They ask and do not even realize that they already have this pill and they carry it on their own shoulders. Wear but do not accept.

Yes, the truth is that in the pharmacy you will not find a pill for fear. There are prescription brain shutdown pills, but not for fear. Therefore, if anything can be called a pill for fear, it is the mind. But fear is an emotion, it is irrational, and the mind often capitulates to fear before their two-way negotiations take place at the highest level, that is, at the level of the brain.

This book is a mediator. She will teach you how to use your mind in moments when it usually refuses. You will learn to be stronger than your fear. And when your fear feels it, it goes away, you can believe me. Fear loves the weak, it bypasses the strong.

So get down to business! I wish you success!

Yours sincerely,

Andrey Kurpatov

Foreword

After I wrote "Happy of my own free will," somehow, by itself, a whole series of books "The Pocket Therapist" appeared. In them I tried to tell about those things that, in my opinion, it would be nice to know every educated person. Well, judge for yourself, in our everyday life we ​​use mathematical knowledge (if not professionally, then at least at the checkout of a grocery store), and therefore it is quite understandable why we should have studied mathematics at school. We use the Russian language - we speak, write, “read with a dictionary”, so it is no coincidence that Russian language lessons are included in the “compulsory educational standard”. Finally, it is even difficult to imagine what our life would be like if we did not study literature at school; at least, cultured people from us would definitely not work out. All this is natural.

But now we use (and every single day!) Our psychology, our psyche ... And who taught us to use it? Who explained to us what is what here, what from what and what for what? .. There were no such lessons in our life, “we all learned a little something and somehow”. As a result, at an appointment with a psychotherapist, it was overdone, and in the personal life of most of us, "the hall is empty, the candles are out." So, in fact, in order to somehow remove the acuteness of this problem, I wrote books in the series "Pocket psychotherapist", addressed to each of those few who are not indifferent to his own life. Half of these books were devoted to how to live "by faith and righteousness" with oneself, the other half - to how to live "happily ever after" with others. However, as you might guess, one simply does not work here without the other.

Then the readers of my "Pocket Psychotherapist", realizing that the quality of their life depends not so much on external factors, but on how they feel, how they feel, specific questions arose. Some were interested in the question of how to cope with sleep disorders (that is, with insomnia), others found themselves depressed and wanted to get rid of it, while others were bothered by some specific fears (for example, the fear of flying on airplanes, speaking in front of a large audience, etc.) .), the fourth want to improve their health, which is shaken due to the instability of the nervous system (to get rid of vegetative-vascular dystonia, hypertension acquired at a young age, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer), fifth are concerned about the problem of excess weight, sixth do not know how to overcome fatigue and overwork, the seventh want to know how they can find a common language with their child, the eighth decide for themselves the question of "betrayal" (their own or in relation to themselves), the ninth have questions from the field of sexology, the tenth ... In short, questions were showered, and I had no choice but to start talking about the means of solving these problems.

There have appeared books in the Express Consultation series - on various problems that we all face, but from time to time and in varying degrees of severity. As I now know, the “means of assistance” set out in them came to my readers very, very useful. But it is clear that these "express consultations" could not completely replace the "Pocket psychotherapist": in order to solve a particular problem, you need to know where its roots are located, and for this it is necessary, at least in general terms, to imagine the whole The "anatomy" of this tree, a tree whose name is no less than our life. So the books of the series "Pocket psychotherapist" and "Express-consultation" gradually merged into one, which, thanks to the design, was named "Kurpatov. Classic".

To complete this introduction, I would like to thank my patients who took part in the creation of these books, as well as the staff of my clinic. Thanks!

Introduction

According to statistics, neurotic fears are found in every third inhabitant of our long-suffering planet. It has even been calculated what fears how many - how many people are afraid to fly on airplanes, how many live in anticipation of imminent death from some contrived, but at the same time "incurable" disease, how many people are afraid of "open space", how many - "closed", etc. etc., etc. In short, all of us scientists have counted and each "put" in his own column.

But, you know, I don't really trust these numbers. We all understand very well that it is not important how many are counted, but how to count is important. For example, I have never seen data on how many people are guided in their daily life not by their “want”, but by their “I’m afraid” - “just so that it doesn’t work out”, “will they think of something such"And" how it will look "(I'll tell you a secret that everyone who doesn't think, are already sitting in the "yellow houses" scattered in abundance across the vastness of our vast homeland).

If we add up all the fears of a "normal person" (at least those that he experiences during one day), then we get the strength of anxiety, measured in thousands of amperes! However, here the question immediately arises: maybe this is how it should be, if the "fearless" are "lodging" in madhouses? But do we really have only two alternatives - either not to be afraid and live in hospitals, or to be afraid, but free? Anyway, is it really necessary to suffer from anxiety neurosis in order to be considered normal? Of course not! First, there are much more alternatives, they are not limited to the two listed; second, a truly good life is a life free from fear. Mental health and fear are incompatible things with each other.

Freeing yourself from fear is, by and large, not difficult. You just need to know how it arises in us, how it works and where it hides. In fact, I suggest that you go out with me to “hunt” “gray predators - mature and puppies,” that is, your big and small fears (especially since the latter threaten to grow up and become mature at the first opportunity) ... We will find out the habits and habits of our fears; we will understand what feeds them - legs or maybe some other part of the body; we will finally find against them means.

The main thing is to know why you are doing it. If only to “calm the nerves”, then the success of our “hunt”, to put it mildly, is not guaranteed. If we make this "expedition", wanting to free ourselves for a happy life, then we will not return without prey - we will defeat everyone. Yes, I need just such a mood - forward and with the song! And if you set yourself goals, then only grandiose ones: all fears are for soap, and you wanted to live!

Chapter one
FEAR IS WHAT IT IS

When in my classes and lectures I ask: “Who has fears?”, At first only a few people answer “yes”. Then, as soon as I talk about what fears there are in general, the number of those who answer “yes” among those present approaches one hundred percent. Why is that? There are two reasons.

First, we remember our fears when we find ourselves in circumstances that provoke those fears. Were it not for these circumstances, we simply would not have remembered these fears. For example, if I am terribly afraid of cockroaches, then I hardly remember this, sitting in the lecture hall.

Secondly, there are fears in our arsenal that we never remember at all, because we found a way to avoid the relevant situations. If, for example, I am afraid to swim in the open ocean, then I will not try to get to the appropriate resort; my vacation will traditionally take place on a personal plot or at a ski resort.

But even if I, as they say, do not think of my fear offhand, this does not mean that it does not exist. Tell me about him and I'll confess right away. But do I need to remind? And is it necessary to get rid of fear, which, in fact, is declared to us relatively rarely? I think yes. And there are also two reasons.

If we remember our fear only at the moment when we have it, then we will never get rid of it. And if we do not get rid of our fears, then we will be disabled - people "with disabilities", because our fears do not allow us to do a lot, sometimes a lot ...

So let's take a look "without fear and reproach" at what fears are in general.

The simplest classification

In my book "With a neurosis in life" I talked about what the instinct of self-preservation is. It is he who is responsible for the production of our fears, because the evolutionary meaning of fear is to protect us from possible threats. Fear is an instinctive command to flee. An animal, some runaway hare, is not capable of thinking the way we think. It cannot assess the situation with the help of reason and make a meaningful decision, correlating it with its desires and needs. Nature must decide this for the little animal itself, not counting on the coefficient of its intelligence. So in the animal kingdom, fear, in fact, performs the function of common sense.

However, we are not much different from our smaller brothers - we also have fear and it continues to fulfill its evolutionary function of a signal to escape when danger appears in our field of vision. True, we also have reason, sanity (at least we want to believe in it). We are able to assess a particular situation with the help of our knowledge and logic, calculate the options and understand how we should act in order to achieve what we want. And here the first difficulty arises.: it turns out that two subjects are responsible for the same function in our psyche - fear and common sense.

And I must admit that this is the worst management model. It is good if they agree on a particular situation (although it is not clear why we need two resolutions "Approved" on one document). What if they don't get together? If, for example, fear says: “Run! Run away! Save yourself! " - and at the same moment common sense reassures: “Yes, it's okay! It's OK. Do not worry! Nothing threatens you! " And what would you like to do in such a situation ?! Inevitably, you will remember Ivan Andreevich Krylov, because there is a real swan, cancer and pike, and in our own performance! The constant struggle of motives, internal tension, and as a result - neurosis in person.

Now - difficulty number two. What does the mentioned hare know, and what do you and I know? What does a one-year-old child know, and what is known to a person who has already lived most of his life? Do you think there is a difference? Undoubtedly. Now let's think about what this knowledge gives us. Is it good to know more, is there a lot of benefits for our mental apparatus?

Of course, we remember only what is important to us, and for us it is only important what our instinct for self-preservation considers important. In other words, everything that is capable of giving us pleasure and displeasure (and this is precisely what our instinct for self-preservation occupies) will be revealed by our attention and carefully preserved by our memory. What once gave us pleasure will now beckon us. On the contrary, what caused us displeasure will frighten us later.

And the more we know what can please us, and the more we know about what can cause our displeasure, the harder it is for us to live. After all, we want more and fear more. In addition, we are anxious - what if we will not be able to get what we want? And wouldn't it be worse if we get it, and isn't it dangerous to achieve it? After all, you never know how the matter will end and where the trouble is waiting for you. Yes, it was not for nothing that King Solomon said: "Knowledge multiplies sorrow!"

Any animal, in comparison with us, has no problems at all - a few questions, but he does not know about the rest and, most importantly, cannot know. We, being intelligent and remembered creatures, are not only in constant stress, but also tormented by a struggle of motives: “I want to, and it pricks, and my mother does not order ...” So I want, for example, to the Canary Islands, but I have to fly there, but scary. I'm suffering. The hare does not need the Canaries for nothing, so there are fewer problems! Or, for example, I want others to appreciate and support me (which, of course, is always not enough, always not enough), and therefore the fear arises that someday I will be completely alone - without help and approval. Will such stupidity come to a hare's head ?! Never! Yes, the life of a "reasonable man" is difficult.

Finally, the third difficulty. As I already told in the book "With a neurosis in life", our instinct for self-preservation is not homogeneous, but consists of three integral instincts: the instinct for self-preservation of life, the instinct for self-preservation of the group (hierarchical instinct) and the instinct for self-preservation of the species (sexual instinct). It is important for us not only to physically preserve our lives, but also to find a consensus with other people (our existence also directly depends on this), and, finally, to continue our kind, that is, to preserve our life in our own offspring.

Perhaps it will seem to someone that all this, as they say, is a profitable business, that physical survival can be limited, but you go to our subconscious mind to explain ... He has there these three "Arkharovtsy" operate and conflict with each other in the most merciless way!

Imagine some action that, on the one hand, contributes to my personal survival, but on the other hand threatens to turn into a conflict with fellow tribesmen. I fled from the front line - it's scary, but here my comrades with their court of officer honor grabbed me. Or another combination - the sexual instinct is happy, but some Montagues or Capulet are ready to make a steak out of me for this “contentment”. In short, it only seems that order reigns inside our head, in fact, the name of the little head is chaos!

But I promised the simplest classification of fears. So: our fears are divided into those that go to the "department" of the instinct of self-preservation of life; those that arise in the system of our social relations (here the hierarchical instinct prevails), and, finally, we have fears associated with the sphere of sexual relations, that is, with the sexual instinct. Since friction constantly arises between consciousness and subconsciousness, fears are guaranteed for each of these points - for life, for social life and for sexual life.

CLASSIFICATION OF OUR INSURANCES

Dead language lessons

The variety of our fears is outstanding! But one cannot leave them unnamed, and so the learned minds set about "taking inventory" of human fears. Since Latin was adopted as the international medical language, then, accordingly, our fears received proud Latin names, however, there are also ancient Greek ones. Now everyone can call their neurosis not just an anxiety neurosis, but pompously, in a dead language. Here are some of these "titles".

Agoraphobia(from others - Greek. agora- the area where public meetings are held) - fear of the so-called "open space". What exactly are people suffering from agoraphobia afraid of, they themselves do not really know. Often they cannot even explain what is called "open space". It is scary for them to go out into the street, and even more so on the square or embankment, sometimes - to cross the road, to be in an unknown place, etc. Trying to explain their fear, they say that "something can happen", "happen". What exactly? Or with health, or God knows what.

Claustrophobia(from lat. claudo- lock, close) - fear, the opposite of agoraphobia, fear of "closed space". However, despite the apparent differences, they usually go hand in hand. What is a person afraid of in this case and what does he consider a "closed space"? This is a mystery for a spy. Apparently, there is a certain fear that, "if something happens", behind closed doors you will not be able to get help. What's going to happen? Here the need for inventions is tricky - fear of suffocation, fear of a heart attack, fear of epilepsy, etc., etc. In short, you will need an explanation, we will find it!

Oxyphobia(aichmophobia) - fear of sharp objects. It seems to the owner of this fear that a sharp object has its own life and plans to injure it (this object) - either this person himself, or someone else, but with the help of this person. At the heart of this fear lies the fear of losing control over their actions, and the most remarkable thing about all this is that it is precisely those who suffer from this fear who control themselves and their actions in excess, more than anyone else.

Gypsophobia(acrophobia) - fear of heights. The latter can be of two types: one resembles the previous one - it is scary to lose control over oneself and jump in such a state from a height (“What if I go crazy and jump off the balcony ?!”); the second resembles agoraphobia ("What if I feel bad, I can't keep my balance and fall down the stairs, or, in extreme cases, I'll just slip"). People susceptible to this fear are often afraid of the escalator in the subway.

Dysmorphophobia- fear of physical deformity, unattractiveness. As a rule, they suffer from people who have no reason to do so, especially girls from the modeling business and youth bodybuilders. They talk about some of their "extreme flaws", even "deformities" that can be noticed by others. Moreover, if they do not tell the doctor what exactly they consider "ugliness", then he himself is unlikely to guess. However, in order to suffer from body dysmorphophobia, it is not at all necessary to be a "supermodel" or "Mr. Universe"; depression, which likes to induce such thoughts, or a deeper feeling of self-doubt, is quite enough.

Nosophobia- fear of contracting a serious illness. A lot of terms have been invented here for special use: syphilophobia(fear of contracting syphilis) speedophobia(fear of getting HIV), carcinophobia(fear of getting cancer) lysophobia(fear of getting sick with rabies), cardiophobia(fear of a heart attack), and further down the list - we open the medical reference book and "slap" the terms.

However, this, of course, does not exhaust our possible fears. Here are some more examples: thanatophobia- this is the fear of death; peniaphobia- fear of poverty; hematophobia- fear of blood; necrophobia- fear of a corpse; ergasiophobia- fear of surgical operations; pharmacophobia- fear of drugs; hypnophobia- fear of sleep; godophobia- fear of travel; siderodromophobia- fear of riding a train; tachophobia- fear of speed; aerophobia- fear of flying on airplanes; gephyrophobia- fear of walking across the bridge; hydrophobia- fear of water; achluophobia- fear of the dark; monophobia- fear of loneliness; erotophobia- fear of sexual relations; pettophobia- fear of society; anthropophobia(chlophobia) - fear of the crowd; social phobia- fear of new acquaintances, social contacts or speaking in front of an audience; catagelophobia- fear of ridicule; xenophobia- fear of strangers; homophobia- fear of homosexuals; lalophobia- fear of speaking (in people suffering from neurotic stuttering); kenophobia- fear of empty spaces; misophobia- fear of pollution; zoophobia- fear of animals (especially small ones); arachnophobia- fear of spiders; ophidiophobia- fear of snakes; kinophobia- fear of dogs; tafephobia- fear of being buried alive; sitophobia- fear of eating; triskaidekaphobia- fear of the 13th, etc., etc.

There are, however, completely unique fears - these are phobophobia and pantophobia... Phobophobia is the fear of fear, more precisely, the fear of repeating fear, and pantophobia is the fear of everything, when everything is scary.

In short, you have fear - don't be afraid, it has a name!

ITEM ONE: "Attention, life is in danger!"

In fact, if we are really afraid of anything, it is for our own lives. We only need a convenient excuse to find, so that this fear of ours has a place to roam. You must admit that it is difficult to be afraid simply for life (although there are “masters” here as well), fear is simply before death - and that is a rarity, it is inconvenient to be afraid if the threat is not detected by the senses. Therefore, it is necessary to come up with an appropriate reason, not to yearn for our instinct of self-preservation in inaction!

The general formula: "Do not approach - he will kill!" In particular, we are afraid that either "something will happen to our health - and hello", or that "something will happen to us at all." Further, the whole matter is subdivided as follows: for health - or some kind of disease ("cancer crept up unnoticed"), or infection ("AIDS does not sleep"); for an external reason - either an accident ("a brick on my head"), or intent ("the enemies burned down their home"). In short, whatever we fear, everything will find itself in the general scheme.