Each person has different phobias, but the most common is an unreasonable fear. And this applies to successful, prosperous and adequate individuals. People are afraid of something or someone for no apparent reason. Animals have no such problem - they experience fear only when there is a direct reason for this. They see the danger, adrenaline begins to stand out, the body mobilizes. In this regard, many are interested in the question of how to independently learn to manage fears so that they do not have power over us?
Mechanisms in the human body that trigger these processes
We have a very highly developed imagination, which directly affects the ability to experience fear when an aggressor or a dangerous situation is not around. And it doesn’t matter what we are afraid of - heights, spiders, creditors, seem ridiculous, embarrass ourselves in front of friends, and so on.
The main mistake that the vast majority make is to try to run away and hide from fears. This is how the self-preservation system is built and nothing can be done about it. From ancient times, when danger appeared, a person chose to flee or to resist the situation. "Fight or flight" was the way to act in an emergency.
In a cultural society, everything is twisted, so a person tries to distance himself from fear through alcohol, drugs, sedative pills, sex, and so on. But in fact, it does not disappear, but only intensifies. At the same time, the physical protection of the body is also activated. The pressure rises, the pulse accelerates, muscle clamps and other problems appear - all this negatively affects health, the person becomes nervous, is in constant stress.
A person constantly has a program “Fight or flight” in his head. That is, he lives with his fear, constantly drawing terrible pictures in his mind. He runs away from his "demons" and hides in a cocoon, making them more meaningful. The mental struggle with fears strengthens them, and in especially severe cases can lead to severe phobias, when a person shudders and is in constant stress with small problems.
If you are afraid of water and don’t know how to swim, then imagine how you will drown, what will happen to you, and so on. In real life, such a person bypasses water bodies and draws in his imagination a terrible picture from the future, instead of solving the problem - trying to swim in the pool with an instructor, go into the water knee-deep, and so on.
In order to learn how to manage your fears, you need not be afraid of them. It sounds strange, but that's how it actually works.
Let's take another example. Many teenagers are afraid to communicate and get acquainted with girls, because they think that they will look ridiculous and so on. In their thoughts, they paint a picture of failure, fixate on it, and this is what happens in reality. And they need to start acting - to try to communicate and through trial and error to change the situation to the opposite. And this is true for every industry or issue. The classification of fears is shown in the following picture.
How to destroy the reflex and manage fears on your own?
The more often and with greater frequency we encounter a negative factor without reinforcement of the emotional component, the sooner the fear will disappear. It works like this:
- You cannot force things, everything must be done gradually.
- If you have an accident, then well, you need to drive the next day.
- It should take time for you to calm down, after which you should gradually move on - sit down to sit behind the wheel, start the engine in a day, drive around the yard in a week, and so on.
- That is, you need to move from the negative component to the positive.
These points hold true for major life upheavals and fear management. But there are situations in which you just need to “scare” your phobias. What does this mean? You need to imagine how long your life will last, and compare the significance of the object of fear with its end.
Are you afraid to change your job to a higher paying one? Scared to meet a girl? I don’t want to go anywhere and talk, what will they think of me? It doesn't matter, because life is not eternal! Therefore, you should always think that we are only temporary guests on Earth, and then the desire to do or try something new will be much stronger than your phobias. So you will learn to manage your fears, become a successful, positive and purposeful person.
Fear is a constant companion of most people, especially in modern urban environments where violence and confrontation with each other have become the norm. Of all the emotions that a person can only experience, we are best acquainted with fear, since it is fear that has the greatest influence on us.
Living without fear is almost impossible for many people; Because fear is an integral part of our lives. It is as much an integral part of our daily life as other emotions, and therefore it is useless to try to rid ourselves of fear.
We have to admit - fear will not go anywhere!
But instead of just accepting it, you can change how you deal with fear. After all, fear is an emotion that you can learn to control, to use to your advantage, instead of allowing this strong emotion to have a negative effect on you.
In fact fear is a powerful weapon, which will help you survive in an extreme situation if you make some efforts to master it and learn how to direct its energy in a positive direction.
How to do this is the subject of this article. In it, you'll learn how to turn an emotion that most people consider negative into a powerful, invisible weapon that can multiply your chances in a dangerous situation.
To begin with, let's try to figure out what fear is and why it has such an effect on us.
What is fear?
Let's take the following definition as a starting point: Fear is a negative emotional experience, a feeling of anxiety that a person experiences in the face of impending danger.
When the brain senses danger, it releases adrenaline, which in turn triggers the so-called "fight or flight" response.
This is a huge adrenaline rush that can be felt in the epigastric region. It forces us to respond in one way or another to perceived danger: either stay and resist (fight) or flee (flight).
The problem is that often this reaction leads a person to a stupor.
You literally stand rooted to the spot and unable to move or make clear decisions about what to do next. That's why so many people see fear in a negative way - it negatively affects their condition.
Here are some of the body's responses to the fight-or-flight response.
EYES
Pupils dilate, more light enters. This allows you to be more alert and aware of the situation. Some people experience a strange feeling of unreality of what is happening, as if they do not really exist.
MOUTH AND THROAT
The oral cavity dries up so that the digestive juices do not reach the stomach. The energy of the body is conserved. The muscles in your throat become tense, making it difficult for you to swallow. This results in a sensation of a lump in the throat.
HEART
The heart beats faster: it needs to pump blood and oxygen throughout the body. The result is palpitations or cardiac excitement. Blood pressure also increases.
LAP
Due to too much adrenaline, the knees become immobilized, blood rushes to the limbs; You feel weak in your knees.
BLADDER AND INTESTINE
The muscles of the bladder and intestines relax enough to make us want to go to the toilet to make our bodies easier to move faster.
FINGERS AND TOES
There is a tingling sensation in the fingers and toes as they are not getting enough blood.
LIVER
Carbohydrate stores of glycogen are converted into glucose to increase energy.
STOMACH
A sharp contraction of the digestive juices of saliva leads to the formation of acid, which causes discomfort to the stomach.
ADRENAL
They produce the hormone adrenaline.
Sweat glands
The body overheats by increasing the metabolic rate, so the sweat glands produce large amounts of sweat to help cool the body.
LUNGS
Breathing speeds up so that more oxygen can enter the body.
LEATHER
The skin turns pale due to the outflow of blood. This is the body's most basic instinct for protection against infliction of pain.
BRAIN
The brain determines the "fight or flight" response, preparing the body to fight or flee.
However, fear has a negative effect on you only when when you let him. By releasing so much adrenaline from the adrenal gland into the bloodstream, your body really wants to help you. In a short amount of time, your entire body becomes like a turbojet ready for action.
You will feel stronger, faster, your sensitivity to pain will decrease, which will allow you to better resist violent actions.
So, if the reaction is of the type "fight or flight" useful to us in extreme situations, why do so many view it from a negative point of view? Because people don't prepare themselves to react properly in the event of such situations and end up panicking.
Famous Russian psychologist L.S. Vygotsky believed that an extreme situation predisposes to the occurrence of affect (stupor), in which a person, in order to save his life must act, but at the same time he does not know how to act.
L.S. Vygotsky gives an example of two travelers, one of whom, knowing about the danger on the road, prepares in advance, arming himself. He may worry on the way, but when he meets a dangerous situation, he does not have a state of affect, as he is ready for an adequate response.
The second traveler, unaware of the danger, behaves quite differently. When attacked, he may experience a state of passion, since he is not ready to adequately act in this situation.
As we can see, one of the reasons for the development of affect is unpreparedness for actions in unforeseen situations. This is because we are just take adrenaline for fear. As a result, all good energy leaves, and the person freezes in a daze in the face of impending danger.
Our body can produce adrenaline in different ways depending on the circumstances. The two most important ways are slow and fast release of adrenaline.
Slow ejection occurs when you are in anticipation of confronting something.
The body can produce adrenaline very slowly, sometimes for several months, leaving you with a constant feeling of anxiety or fear. This can happen, for example, before some important event for you - an upcoming exam, divorce from a spouse, certification at work, etc.
Instant or fast ejection occurs when you do not expect anything or when the situation develops unexpectedly quickly. Often this feeling is so strong that the person freezes in place, because he takes the sensation experienced for real fear.
At the same time, there is secondary release of adrenaline, which occurs when something does not go according to plan, and you begin to imagine the consequences of the situation. And here your body is trying to help you not to succumb to fear.
The sooner you learn to recognize and accept a reaction "fight or flight" as your remedy, the sooner you can start working on your fear.
How to face your fears?
The first step in confronting fear is being honest with yourself. You need to really look inside yourself and decide what your fears are and where you think they came from.
Many people never get past this very initial stage because they are often embarrassed or afraid to admit their perceived shortcomings. Perhaps they consider it a weakness to acknowledge those things that seem to them not serious enough.
One way or another, we are all afraid of this introspection. By acknowledging your fears, you are taking a major step in the right direction to deal with them.
Many people say to themselves, "It's not something I'm afraid of, it's just something I don't want to or don't like to do."
How many times have you said this phrase to yourself and others?
But if you are honest with yourself, you will quickly realize that this is just an excuse to avoid any action to manage the energy of fear and gain control over it.
So, we must be honest with ourselves if we are to overcome our fears and give ourselves a chance to reach our full potential. A good way to start this work is to make a list of fears.
List of fears
To get started, take a piece of paper and write down all the fears you may have. Remember, be honest with yourself! No one but you will see this list, so there is no point in lying to yourself.
If, for example, you are afraid of getting hit or punched in the face, write it down.
If you are afraid of meeting an enemy armed with a knife, this should also be written down. And so on.
Just be extremely honest to understand that this is the only chance to help yourself. After compiling such a list, you need to decide where to start.
First, it is advisable to choose your least fear, which will be the easiest to deal with.
By arranging your fears in this way, you will easily overcome them one by one. And by the time you get to your biggest fear, you will have enough confidence and willpower to deal with it.
One way to work with a list of fears is the Hierarchy exercise. You place your least fear at the bottom of the imaginary fear tree and your greatest fear at the top, and thus build a hierarchy from smallest to largest.
Then you start with the smallest fear "work your way up". This method promotes steady progress and increased confidence over time. Your next step is to deal with that very first fear.
Impact of fear
To overcome any fear, you must be prepared face him. Unfortunately, there is no other way to do this. You can't avoid it if you really want to fight it. So start with the least fear, whatever it may be.
Dealing with your fear is not just an opportunity to be honest with yourself, but also a way to keep adrenaline from slowly poisoning your life for a long time.
If you really want to be successful in personal safety, you must make every effort to overcome the barriers that prevent you from doing so. As the saying goes, "be afraid, but do it."
Over the years, we have trained ourselves to the fact that fear is something that we slows down and does not allow us to do what we want. However, on the contrary, fear exists in order to help us achieve what we want, because it prepares our body and brain for decisive action.
This is especially evident in self-defense situations, when we think we are afraid, when in fact it is just a process of preparing our body to help us deal with the situation more effectively.
For people who have undergone special training, the release of adrenaline is not something supernatural. They know it's just the energy needed to deal with a dangerous situation.
You must look at fear in the same way. Learn to recognize your fears, and when you meet them - use them to your advantage. Don't think of fear as fear, think of it as a super fuel that drives you to action.
Why should you be afraid when you have such powerful resources at your disposal? Learn to control your fear and use its energy for your own purposes.
If you want to get acquainted with the special techniques and psychophysical exercises that are used in the Kadochnikov System to manage fear in self-defense situations, we recommend you a video version of the exclusive training
Bernard Shaw said, "Being a slave to fear is the worst form of slavery." But what to do with your own trembling and panic attacks at the sight of, say, a spider? In fact, it's not all that difficult. Everyone can conquer their fears.
Change "minus" to "plus"
American doctors Zane, Barlow and McCullough advise their patients to replace the negative perception of the source of fear with a positive one. For example, when you see an aggressive dog raging on a chain five meters away, you should not think that the dog is about to break loose and tear your tender body to shreds, but repeat like a mantra: “She is tightly tied! I'm safe! She can't hurt me!"
Research
Know your enemy in the face - psychologists advise doing this. Since the time of Freud, fear has been divided into real and neurotic. The first is useful, it helps a person to act expediently: hot - do not touch, high - do not jump. But various phobias are forms of neurotic fear, and it is extremely important to find their root cause.
The well-known psychologist Vladimir Levy, in his book The Taming of Fear, in particular, advises drawing a “body map of fear.” It should be understood in what situations an attack begins, what are the signs of fear: shortness of breath, excessive sweating, redness, trembling?
The “house” of any fear is the human brain, the body is the performer, but the blood charged with adrenaline is the mediator, Levy believes. Learning your own fears allows you to eventually learn how to control them.
By the way, the already mentioned American psychologists recommend “burning adrenaline”. During an attack of fear, they advise not to calm down, but, on the contrary, to move, to give the body physical activity. If there is no possibility for a full charge, at least individual muscles of the body should be strained.
Don't be silent
Psychologists from the University of California have proven that the Talk About Fear method works. The experiment involved 88 people suffering from arachnophobia - the fear of spiders. They were all invited to touch a live tarantula, or at least get as close to it as possible.
Then the psychologists listened with interest to the stories of each participant in the experiment. After the revelations, it was found that those whose story was more emotional, later on were able to get rid of fear more quickly. Psychologists are convinced that "pronouncing" negative emotions does not exacerbate fear, but helps to overcome it. The main thing is more emotions! So you should urgently find those who want to listen to your "horror stories".
Exposure Method
Psychotherapists widely use the method of "exposure treatment", during which patients are taught to control fears. For example, people with zemmiphobia (fear of rats) are encouraged to first look at an image of an animal, with the presence of other people highly desirable. When the rat in the picture ceases to cause disgust, it is proposed to move on to more decisive action: look at a dead rat. At the final stage, as psychologists assure, a person will be able to stroke the rat or even pick it up. At each stage, the patient must make sure that the terrible things drawn in his imagination do not actually happen. For example, a rat does not attack and gnaw your beautiful face, but turns out to be a very entertaining and intelligent creature.
Watch others
Swedish scientists from the Karolinska Institute, led by Dr. Armita Golka, have proposed their own version of the fight against phobias. Scientists are sure that fears and behavior patterns are often laid down through social forms of learning. Therefore, it is useful to make sure again and again that your own fear does not cause a panic state in other people.
Someone, for example, can easily approach the clown and hug him. It is the witness of such scenes that coulrophobes should become more often - over time, according to experts, the fear of clowns may recede.
Act
Dale Carnegie said that inaction breeds fear. If the naive dream of getting a little courage from the Tin Woodman has already transformed into the confidence to conquer your fears, you need to stop talking about phobias while sitting on the couch.
Carnegie's advice was to "get out of the house and take action." Own fears can and should be slightly provoked. If you are afraid of heights - go to the mountains, hate rats - get yourself a snow-white beauty with graceful "handles". True, you should remember about moderation. Thoughtlessly throwing yourself into the pool with your head is not a good option.
aromatherapy
American neurologists from the Feinberg Medical School are conducting research that, in their opinion, will help get rid of fears in a dream. And the main assistant in the treatment of phobias in this case will be ... aroma.
Scientists "tied" the fear of each volunteer of their experiment to one or another aroma. During the demonstration of an image with an object of fear, patients inhaled a certain aroma, and a weak electric discharge pierced their body. The participants were then put to bed.
During their sleep, exposure to the chosen fragrance continued. In the next series of experiments, scientists got amazing results: people were less afraid of images with their fears. Scientists cannot yet explain their successes, but this does not prevent them from hoping that exposure to a sleeping aroma that is “tied” to a negative memory will help treat a variety of phobias.
In the process of evolution of human society, it was fear that turned out to be the most effective instrument of control, the power of one person over another. All governing bodies create their own laws and regulations, and they also provide for penalties for their violation. The sacred books of antiquity, for example, the Torah, the Pentateuch of Moses, the Bible, are, in fact, codes of laws that regulate all aspects of human life.
Most people, unfortunately, are not developed enough to live according to their inner morality. Their behavior must be regulated by rules and laws so that society can exist. And many fulfill these laws not out of good will, but out of fear of punishment.
That's why society, and primarily the family, from early childhood artificially nurtures and warms up certain fears in a growing personality. Don't get into the puddle, you'll catch a cold - says the grandmother. Do not run, you will break, do not make noise, dad will get angry - this is the voice of mom. Ivanov, I'll call my parents! - is a teacher. Don't you dare touch it with your hands! Get sick! - etc. These fears allow you to control the child.
The child's consciousness is not able to resist fear, the child does not yet have the knowledge and experience to analyze the situation from the point of view of common sense. Therefore, children are very scared, they become obedient out of fear, but their fear can be the beginning of a phobia, which, in fact, is a mental illness.
My three-year-old granddaughter jumped in the elevator car. Mom, not knowing how to calm the naughty baby, said that the elevator might get stuck and the doors would not open. Explaining, the mother “played” the alarm, and this unexpectedly greatly frightened her daughter.
This information had an undue impact. A year after the incident, the girl still turned pale when she entered the elevator and clung to the hand of an adult. She preferred to walk up to the eighth floor. So a child's fear became the beginning of a phobia.
Rita and I worked on this fear, I explained to her in detail that the elevator will indeed stop if you jump hard, and if a big heavy person does it. We even jumped a little with her in the elevator car. Then Rita drew an elevator with little men, and after that her fear dissipated.
Of course, my mother acted with the best of intentions. She would not want to hurt her daughter, but she could not find the right words for Rita to obey out of love and trust. It is faster and easier to make a child obedient with the help of fear.
But every fear is, in fact, a mental trauma. Parents influence the child like a drover who beats a disobedient ox with a whip. The memory of old pain makes the animal obedient.
The strongest punishment that makes a child obey his parents is their dislike, indifference. Starting from the moment of conception, the child's soul is terribly afraid of being unloved, unwanted, rejected by mother and father.
Skillfully manipulating this fear, parents can raise a completely obedient creature, but it will be deprived of its will, will not be able to become an independent person.
V., outwardly powerful, strong man, the father of a family, loses the respect of his children and wife because of his indecision, fear associated with the future, with new deeds, undertakings, projects. The fear of making a mistake, the fear of being responsible for the consequences, goes back to his childhood fear of being guilty.
As a child, his mother blamed V. when he did not show respect, was impolite to her. For small oversights, she punished her son with arrogant coldness, turning away from him.
But inept upbringing did not instill in the child a sense of respect for adults, but made him guilty. The feeling of guilt was unbearable for the child, it deprived him of maternal love.
The fear of being guilty has not been overcome. In adulthood, V. still strives by all means to avoid feelings of guilt. In every failure, he tries to blame anyone, just not to be guilty. Childish fear of being guilty, inspired by parents, continues to control this adult, depriving him of self-confidence and respect for others.
V. does not take on new cases, his uncertainty hinders the simplest, everyday actions. Children who in childhood believed in the genius and extraordinary abilities of their dad are becoming more and more disappointed in him.
If B. were attentive to his feelings, he could understand that his fear of new actions is connected with the fear of losing his mother's love. If V. understood the situation, he would understand that now no one is going to blame him and punish him with his dislike. The only one who punishes him is the image of his mother, imprinted in his soul.
If V. had resolved his old conflict with his mother, his life would have changed. This means that in case of failure, it will simply be necessary to correct the consequences of erroneous actions and learn new experience. There is nothing unusual in this; all adults live and act this way.
It also means that in the life of V. new beginnings and deeds, advancement and growth are possible when he copes with his childhood fear.
Fear attracts negative events
From life experience, we often conclude that a person attracts what he is afraid of. How does it work?
On the physical plane, the reaction of fear is the tension of the muscles of the body. Instead of being easy and spontaneous, a person is very tense, has poor thinking and makes mistakes.
What was instructive for me was my own experience when I learned to drive a car. I had an old Zhiguli, I got my license and started driving around Moscow.
Of course, a novice driver in a city like Moscow has something to fear. For me, the biggest challenge was parking. When I “rubbed” my car between a brand new BMW and a Mercedes, I figured out how much it would cost if I hit my neighbor. The issue of payment was then problematic, and there was no civil liability insurance yet. Every time the side of someone else's car was too close, I felt a reaction of fear - there was muscle tension, sweat came out, and then there was a breakdown.
The result of my fear - three incidents with foreign cars. All three times they did without money on my part - after all, fate took care of me, and I was not too lazy to ask Reiki every time (healing practice, my book “Healing in Reiki” is about it) for help. All three times these were small episodes, you can’t even call them accidents, there were practically no traces left on the cars. Each time, my fault was also ambiguous.
But all three times came on days when I was very tense and upset. In such a state, consciousness poorly controlled the situation, and subconscious programs of fear began to be realized. I've seen how fear really attracts the situation you're afraid of.
I must say that instead of disappointment, I felt great relief when the third foreign car became a victim of my fear. This meant that the program of their “shooting” was completed.
By the way, the experience of driving a car, when the whole first year was really scary on every trip, made me have a strong desire to learn how to cope with my fears. I began to look for all possible ways to deal with this inner distress. A collection of techniques was collected, hundreds of sessions with people were worked out, and this book became the result of eight years of work.
from the book: Gumkiria Adelina - "Life without fear"
Bernard Shaw said, "Being a slave to fear is the worst form of slavery." But what to do with your own trembling and panic attacks at the sight of, say, a spider? In fact, it's not all that difficult. Everyone can conquer their fears.
Change "minus" to "plus"
American doctors Zane, Barlow and McCullough advise their patients to replace the negative perception of the source of fear with a positive one. For example, when you see an aggressive dog raging on a chain five meters away, you should not think that the dog is about to break loose and tear your tender body to shreds, but repeat like a mantra: “She is tightly tied! I'm safe! She can't hurt me!"
Research
Know your enemy in the face - psychologists advise doing this. Since the time of Freud, fear has been divided into real and neurotic. The first is useful, it helps a person to act expediently: hot - do not touch, high - do not jump. But various phobias are forms of neurotic fear, and it is extremely important to find their root cause.
The well-known psychologist Vladimir Levy, in his book The Taming of Fear, in particular, advises drawing a “body map of fear.” It should be understood in what situations an attack begins, what are the signs of fear: shortness of breath, excessive sweating, redness, trembling?
The “house” of any fear is the human brain, the body is the performer, but the blood charged with adrenaline is the mediator, Levy believes. Learning your own fears allows you to eventually learn how to control them.
By the way, the already mentioned American psychologists recommend “burning adrenaline”. During an attack of fear, they advise not to calm down, but, on the contrary, to move, to give the body physical activity. If there is no possibility for a full charge, at least individual muscles of the body should be strained.
Don't be silent
Psychologists from the University of California have proven that the Talk About Fear method works. The experiment involved 88 people suffering from arachnophobia - the fear of spiders. They were all invited to touch a live tarantula, or at least get as close to it as possible.
Then the psychologists listened with interest to the stories of each participant in the experiment. After the revelations, it was found that those whose story was more emotional, later on were able to get rid of fear more quickly. Psychologists are convinced that "pronouncing" negative emotions does not exacerbate fear, but helps to overcome it. The main thing is more emotions! So you should urgently find those who want to listen to your "horror stories".
Exposure Method
Psychotherapists widely use the method of "exposure treatment", during which patients are taught to control fears. For example, people with zemmiphobia (fear of rats) are encouraged to first look at an image of an animal, with the presence of other people highly desirable. When the rat in the picture ceases to cause disgust, it is proposed to move on to more decisive action: look at a dead rat. At the final stage, as psychologists assure, a person will be able to stroke the rat or even pick it up. At each stage, the patient must make sure that the terrible things drawn in his imagination do not actually happen. For example, a rat does not attack and gnaw your beautiful face, but turns out to be a very entertaining and intelligent creature.
Watch others
Swedish scientists from the Karolinska Institute, led by Dr. Armita Golka, have proposed their own version of the fight against phobias. Scientists are sure that fears and behavior patterns are often laid down through social forms of learning. Therefore, it is useful to make sure again and again that your own fear does not cause a panic state in other people.
Someone, for example, can easily approach the clown and hug him. It is the witness of such scenes that coulrophobes should become more often - over time, according to experts, the fear of clowns may recede.
Act
Dale Carnegie said that inaction breeds fear. If the naive dream of getting a little courage from the Tin Woodman has already transformed into the confidence to conquer your fears, you need to stop talking about phobias while sitting on the couch.
Carnegie's advice was to "get out of the house and take action." Own fears can and should be slightly provoked. If you are afraid of heights - go to the mountains, hate rats - get yourself a snow-white beauty with graceful "handles". True, you should remember about moderation. Thoughtlessly throwing yourself into the pool with your head is not a good option.
aromatherapy
American neurologists from the Feinberg Medical School are conducting research that, in their opinion, will help get rid of fears in a dream. And the main assistant in the treatment of phobias in this case will be ... aroma.
Scientists "tied" the fear of each volunteer of their experiment to one or another aroma. During the demonstration of an image with an object of fear, patients inhaled a certain aroma, and a weak electric discharge pierced their body. The participants were then put to bed.
During their sleep, exposure to the chosen fragrance continued. In the next series of experiments, scientists got amazing results: people were less afraid of images with their fears. Scientists cannot yet explain their successes, but this does not prevent them from hoping that exposure to a sleeping aroma that is “tied” to a negative memory will help treat a variety of phobias.