Phobias, getting over them?

[Dunce]

I dont know if this is in the right place, move me if it isnt (:

Is there any way of getting over phobias other than just facing them? I have claustrophobia and it gets in the way of everything, I cant go on rides in theme parks because i panic when the bar is lowered. I cant even sit in small cars.

It's not exactly a fear that will just go away if I face it. I get really panicky, sometimes start crying, and sometimes have panc attacks.
It there therapy or anything?

[nick]

You should talk to your doctor about it, hypnotherapy might be a possibility, or some sort of analysis to see if there was some event in the past that has triggered it.

[starrburst]

Go on a magical quest to discover what caused it, and what triggers it. On the way you might find out alot more about your inner self. It's good for the soul. ;D

[overcome.]

You can explore the possibilities of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). This will look into the way you perceive a threat/fear and how your thinking patterns are unhelpful which prevent you from going through with something due to the fear in the first place. This is more common for anxiety disorders in particular. Exposure therapy is useful with phobias, which is self explanitory. You'll be put into situations where your phobia will arise (you'll do this with a psychologist - you won't be alone), from that, you'll assess how you reacted and come to terms with the fact that there's not too much to fear (after more work, it's pretty intense, mentally). The third that I know of would be hypnotherapy.

I've had hypnotherapy before, just over 30 CBT sessions (over years, in two blocks - 12 sessions/20 sessions, one a week) and I've done exposure therapy 2-3 times. I learnt a lot about myself, particularly from CBT. I know about as much as I could for somebody in my shoes, and I can cope a little better, but it isn't a miracle cure. I don't mean to end on a downer there, it's actually positive that I've learnt so much, but every case is different. Some issues are often overlooked and therefore end up going on over years, they can be pretty deep seeded. By the way, this was all for generalised anxiety disorder and a phobia that's now developed into panic disorder.

[Syvelocin]

I think the reason why people like me have phobias that worsen to the point where I just had a panic attack in a bowling alley because a girl in the lane next to me looked at me, is really that they don't face it. With me, I'm always alone in my room, especially in summer, so when it's time for school to start up, I'm not used to being in front of people and I end up having to eat lunch in the counselor's office...

Facing it seems to be the way to go, though I haven't taken my advice...