Are There Medications To Treat The Fear Of ‘Being Alone’?
January 10, 2012
Is Your Fear Controlling Your Relationships?
February 9, 2012The irony that exists when we come across a person with a phobia or fear of being alone is that we try to isolate the person further. Each one of us, during the course of our lives comes in term with loneliness. When accompanied with dark moments or memories, negative outcomes etc this spate of loneliness can grow into a phobia. Thus, this phobia or fear, termed as Autophobia or Monophobia develops and the person may find it very difficult to be alone.
Various anti depressants and drugs are prescribed to treat such phobias, but their effectiveness is questionable and they come with a whole lot of side effects. The principle of ‘no medication’ is the best medication for the fear of being alone phobia. Once we attack the source of the problem, we need not be drug dependent.
Non medicinal options in the form of therapies to treat the fear of being alone are mostly more effective in the long run and makes the person more positive. The most commonly prescribed therapy to overcome the fear of being alone is Psychotherapy. Along with this, counseling also helps to uncover deep emotions. Since it deals with suppressed emotions, these therapies make it easier to deal with the symptoms of this fear. Also, alternative therapies like Cognitive re-mapping can prove to be beneficial to overcome Monophobia.
Another effective therapy used in the cure of being alone is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This is similar to sessions of counselling. It analyses connections between the persons’ thoughts, his feelings and behavioural pattern and then develops solutions or skills to manage them. This therapy involves slowly exposing the person with the fear in a safe atmosphere, to the situation the person fears. This therapy is backed with various evidence showing positive results.
Therapy for overcoming the fear of being alone also includes NLP techniques or Neuro-Linguistic Programming therapy. This therapy aims to eradicate the source of the phobia instead of just treating the symptoms. It does not hurt physically or mentally as this therapy uses the power of ones imagination to re-program the fear reactions. Relaxation and stress buster techniques like yoga, specific breathing methods are usually combined with various therapies to cure the phobias of being alone.
More recently, Pet therapy or animal-aided therapy is also proving to be quite effective in dealing with the phobia of being alone. Many studies indicate that animal companions can remove such fears of being alone. Surely these therapies will finally give you the freedom to do things you have not been able to do for years.
