The last post we made spoke about how and why addressing our phobias is important, even if it’s a phobia of something we do not often encounter. Today, let’s expand on the ways that phobias can affect our long and short term mental health.
Let’s talk for a moment about social anxiety. Social anxiety is, itself, often considered a phobia. It is often referred to as “social phobia,” though it is sometimes treated differently than others. Social anxiety can have many causes and, ultimately, many different solutions. But one thing that affects social anxiety is how we feel about ourselves – our confidence, our comfort, and more.
Which brings us back to other phobias. Your phobia may be affecting how you feel about yourself. It may be affecting the self-confidence and self-esteem you have navigating the world. Even though you may be struggling with social anxiety, it is possible that a specific phobia is what is causing you the most issues and distress.
An example of this is halitophobia. Halitophobia is a phobia of having bad breath. Often this occurs because someone had bad breath at one point in their life and felt embarrassed about it, or they have a medical issue that causes bad breath, or they have high anxiety or obsessive compulsive disorder and those are leading to fear of having bad breath.
Either way, halitophobia is a real phobia, and it affects the way that we feel about ourselves and how we navigate social situations.
But that’s one that is often easy for us to imagine. What about a phobia that has nothing to do with social situations. What about something like arachnophobia (fear of spiders)?
Yes, even something like arachnophobia can cause social issues. Imagine that we experience an “embarrassing” reaction to a fear of spiders in a social situation. Our confidence with others is going to be affected. Our self-confidence and self-esteem will be as well. If you’re finding yourself afraid of things more often, you may judge yourself, affecting how you navigate the world.
Self-Confidence and Phobias
Our confidence, particularly in social settings, is affected by many factors. Without realizing it, your phobias may be one of them. Addressing phobias, then, may be able to increase your confidence and your social anxiety by improving how you feel about yourself.
Are you ready to make a difference with your phobias and anxiety? Reach out to Long Island Counseling Services, today.