Not being able to sleep a wink all night thinking about the spider that may have entered the room; having to limit your travel or career because getting on an airplane is like stop breathing; be forced to give concerts, shopping and movie theaters because of the discomfort that it causes the crowd. These are just some examples of how phobias can paralyze life. Agoraphobia, social phobia, disease phobia, blood phobia, food phobia: the irrational fears that affect more than 10 million Italians are the most diverse . How come? In fact, they are excessive and disproportionate of simple fear reactions , the most important defensive emotion of human beings and, in general, of all living beings . Fear helps us to react to potential hazards, activating the body and mind to develop the resources necessary to deal with an obstacle or dodge it, instilling in us the typical reaction of " fight or flight" that is critical to our survival. Fear is like an alarm bell, which deserves our attention because it is the only way we can identify the danger that he did shoot, and then overcome it and regain his peace of mind. Fear also has a preventive function, because it activates in us a set of behaviors that alienate or mislead the potentially risky situations. But if it becomes excessive or misdirected phobia can turn into a powerful conditioning to our freedom to act, explore, learn about the world and ourselves. Science now provides us with valuable therapeutic techniques to recognize phobias, cure them and defeat them, so you can get back in control of ourselves and our lives .
The book was presented by invitation at the festival "IL LIBRO POSSIBILE " held in Polignano a Mare, 6 to 9 July 2011
