Butterflies

[Mcbear]

Sad but true, I am terrified of butterflies and am saving up to see the shrink about it . In the mean time, I do not want to stay inside until October. To make matters worse, I am a lover of the outdoors and like to grow flowers in my garden. Is there any such plant or thing that would keep them away? Urgent help needed - practical and mental!

[Sensei]

The Discovery Channel had a show about phobias. One lady was absolutely terrified of feathers! They were discussing a form of treatment that goes against most treatments where you ease yourself into facing the fear. This one is more intense, making you face the fear head on. I believe they had a rather high success rate. Basically, what they do is make you face the feeling of anxiety (often to the point where you feel like you will literally die). You sit there and you experience the anxiety and the key is, that your body only has so much energy and that anxiety will pass....you won't die, you won't (do whatever). You will run out of energy and experience less fear. Your facing both the fear and the fear of the fear. Butterflies are quite harmless to you and really are beautiful creatures. Oh, the center that did this form of treatment was somewhere in the UK. I have no idea where, as I am from the US. As I said, the key is that the anxiety that you are feeling will NOT continue to increase, it HAS to and WILL stop at some point and you WILL run out of energy. Hope that helps you in some way.

[Nelli]

I too am scared of Butterfiles. As a child I would have nightmares about them. If you actually think about the subject phobias, you realise how irrational they are, then you can begin to seek treatment. I went to see a Psychologist who used NLP methods, (NLP ((Neuro Linguistic Programming)) can involve no actual exposure to the fear...I belive) the shrink treated me for a fear of Swimming Pools from which I would wake up at least 2-3 times a week screaming from. I now go swimming 2-3 times a week, and what is strange is that the first time I actually went after the treatment I made no effort, no sweaty palms, no tight, panicky breathing, I just walked in and got in... Very effective!!! Hope this helps!