Monday, February 25, 2008

How does someone with Anthrophobia get help?

Anyone being asked how someone with anthrophobia could get help would probably provide a deceptively easy answer, especially if they are not familiar with what this type of phobia is. They would probably suggest that a person suffering from anthrophobia go in to see a therapist or a counselor. While this may seem like the obvious answer, it is one that might not be a choice for someone suffering from severe anthrophobia. Why is this? A person who has anthrophobia has an intense fear of other people, so leaving their home to go and see their therapist means that they will have to be near other people as they pass by them to get to the therapist’s office, then they will probably have to wait in a waiting room with other people until the therapist is ready to see them, and then they will be in a room alone with anther person when they go to talk to the therapist. This can all seem too traumatizing for a person with anthrophobia to do, so they will instead try their best to stay home and this means that they don’t get the help that they need.

Many people may be unaware of this, but there is the option of online therapy or online counseling for a person who can’t seem to make it out of the house. In the case of a person with anthrophobia who lives in an apartment in the middle of New York city is not going to be able to leave their house because they would be surrounded by their fear. So, what does a person in this situation do? If they have the internet, there is hope and another option available. In fact, online counseling is becoming more popular all the time, especially with people who are unable to leave their house due to their phobia. Anthrophobia is just one of many types of phobia that can lead to a person barricading themselves inside their home.

How can online counseling help a person in this situation? Online counseling is not really any different than if they had gone to speak with the counselor in person. The only difference is that the person is contacting the counselor through e-mail. The person messages the counselor and explains the difficulty they have. The counselor will then message the person back with questions to learn more about the phobia the patient seems to be suffering. This communication will bounce back and forth as the counselor discusses the patient’s problem and the counselor will try their best to help the patient overcome their phobia. It can take time, but online counseling is easily accessible by anyone who has a computer hooked up to the internet and who is in the situation where they can’t go to visit the counselor in person.

A person who has severe anthrophobia can remain in their home and seek advice and help from their counselor online without having to go through the traumatic experience of facing their phobia before they are ready. This is where communicating with an online counselor is so very useful and the most beneficial. As mentioned before, online counseling is becoming more popular all the time and every day new ways of treating patients are being used in order to ensure that patients will be treated successfully. Many people have been treated successfully by using internet counseling and someone suffering from anthrophobia is no exception.

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