Carcinophobia, the fear of cancer, is among the most widespread phobias, and it is easy to imagine why. No one wants to develop cancer or see someone else suffering from it. Even though we all dread getting sick, people with carcinophobia experience an extreme amount of fear that often rules their lives. Beating carcinophobia used to take months or even years, but with more knowledge of the condition and improved treatments, this has changed. Proven hypnotherapy techniques can help people regain their health and well-being.

It’s not hard to imagine what can lead to a fear of cancer. This fear is associated with a fear of illness, death, and loss of control. In many cases, people feel upset by a family member’s experience with disease. People who have lost a family member to cancer, or face the threat of cancer, live in fear of the day when they develop cancer.

The uncontrollable anxiety brought on by the fear of cancer can lead people to make surprising life decisions. Many people constantly visit hospitals to confirm they are not sick, while others avoid hospitals altogether, afraid of being diagnosed with a disease. Phobia sufferers will feel awful if they develop the smallest symptoms of illness, such as a headache, and wonder if it is cancer. People might do whatever it takes to avoid becoming ill.

People suffering from a fear of cancer often feel like they have much to be afraid of. The fear of cancer a chronic fear that can strike both genders. A person might worry, “Who will provide for the family if I have cancer?” or agonize over other critical issues. The phobia may be unbearably sad for sufferers and their loved ones.

Many people can manage their fears by simply avoiding the cause of their worry. Arachnophobes can often cope by staying away from spiders, and people with claustrophobia are careful to avoid small, enclosed spaces such as crowded rooms. Cancer phobia, however, is not the same. Carcinophobia is primarily triggered by an individual’s innermost ideas and anxieties. It can be crippling for a person to suffer from a fear they just can’t escape. This leaves most people with carcinophobia in a constant state of panic.

There are many phobia treatments in use. Common ones involve therapy and medication. Talk therapy can generate lasting results, but it may take a long time, up to many months for some people. Prescription drugs work to relieve an individual’s nervousness, but it doesn’t treat the root causes of a deep-rooted fear. Hypnotherapy is another choice that produces lasting results in a shorter amount of time than other treatments. Hypnotherapy is now a popular choice because it is a safe, non-invasive, and effective type of treatment.

Hypnosis therapy combines anxiety-relief practices with fear relief to rapidly cure a phobia. A well-designed program will start with relaxation therapy to help alleviate the emotional anxiety caused by fear. When a person feels calm and at ease, hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques can direct the unconscious mind into adopting a phobia-free thought process.

Traditional hypnotherapy utilizes direct, post-hypnotic suggestions to cure a fear. It is highly successful when an individual is receptive to it. Unfortunately, these traditional techniques may not work because most people are inclined to question direct suggestions and unconsciously reject direct suggestions.

A serious phobia such as cancer phobia requires a more sophisticated type of treatment such as Ericksonian hypnosis. This type of hypnotherapy works well for people who tend to be analytical, and who are experiencing recurring anxiety and fear. It utilizes indirect suggestions in stories, conversations, and metaphors to help them fight their fears.

The innovative NLP technology doesn’t depend upon suggestion at all, so it can work for everyone. In simple terms, NLP offers techniques to train the unconscious mind to use the same thought patterns that are creating a symptom or problem, to eliminate it.

Since both hypnosis and NLP operate at the unconscious level of the mind, clients report feeling more in control and comfortable with these techniques.

With Traditional Hypnotherapy, programs generally need to be specific to each phobia. An advantage of a properly designed Ericksonian hypnotherapy and NLP program is that both are suitable for use on any phobia, or even several phobias. This can be a great asset to some carcinophobia sufferers who also struggle with other anxiety disorders, such as general germophobia or hypochondria.

The fear of cancer is a serious phobia, but one that can be tackled by appropriate hypnosis techniques. NLP techniques have become a leading fear therapy because of their effectiveness at addressing the root of all panic disorders and not just the signs and symptoms. Advanced Ericksonian hypnotherapy and NLP techniques can help even the most severe phobia patients beat their fears once and for all.

Alan B. Densky, CH is a certified hypnotist and NLP Practitioner in practice since 1978. You can find him at his social phobia treatment website where he offers panic attacks hypnosis CDs. Visit his hypnosis index, or download a free MP3.

– Alan Densky