This is the first book by Geoff Thompson that I read and it certainly wasn't the last! I was reminded of this book recently when I watched the film anti-christ. The therapist in the film who is trying to help his wife overcome her fears, uses a lot of methods contained in this book including drawing a pyramid of fears with the smaller fears at the bottom, working your way up to the bigger fears at the top. It made me wonder whether the director had read the book and inspired me to write this review.
I originally read the book when I was 16 years old but it wasn't until a few years later that I returned to it, out of neccessity rather than interest. Having been attacked twice, I was living my life in fear on a daily basis and I realised I couldn't carry on like that. I read Geoff's book and it made me realise that far from being a bad thing, fear can be a good thing, it's what keeps us alive! studying and understanding fear made me recognise the symptoms I was having and taught me that it is a natural feeling and I wasn't a coward for feeling fear.
Once I understood fear, I learnt that the only way to overcome it was to confront it, in what psychiatrists term 'exposure therapy.' You can read whole books on the subject and I have read a few books on fear but they all boil down to the simple truth: the only way to overcome fear is to confront it. It's as simple (and as difficult!) as that.
Being a victim of crime, I couldn't exactly confront my fear by going out trying to cause fights with people so that I would feel the same influx of adrenaline in a confrontation. What I could do however, was tackle one of my biggest fears, a fear of heights, in a controlled environment and trigger similar amounts of adrenaline and stress on my body and learn to develop the courage to handle those feelings, so that if I am ever attacked again, the feelings won't be so alien or dramatic. And that's what I did.
I climbed the top mast on a moving ship, did a 14,000ft tandem skydive, abseiled 150ft down a building and climbed the 3 biggest mountains in the UK, 2 within the same 24 hour period. I did all of those things and I use to be scared of fairground rides as a kid! Although conceptually it is as simple as confronting your fears to overcome them, it is still beneficial to read books on fear because being able to understand fear and it's purpose and effects on the body, takes a lot of the edge off it and that's what Geoff does, providing many examples from his own life.
This book really is life changing because confronting your fears, especially your biggest ones, will transform your life on every single level. If you can imagine confronting and successfully overcoming your worst fear, that gives you an infinite amount of confidence and self-esteem. It automatically wipes out a lot of 'smaller' fears overnight and things which once use to trouble you, just become laughable in comparison.
It doesn't matter if you don't have any specific phobias or fears such as a fear of violence or heights or spiders because fear can effect everyone in less obvious ways i.e. the fear of making a phone call or asking someone out on a date. No matter who you are, you will feel fear at some points in your life, it's as natural as sleeping or eating, and this book teaches you how to deal with it.
