What originally caused the phobia?

There is always a reason for the phobia but the the sufferer may have repressed the original memory. The phobia can be cured without delving into the past but for some unlocking the original memory can be beneficial.

The origin of the phobia is something that a Hypnotherapist may or may not try to uncover. There are differing theories on whether re-visiting potentially difficult or upsetting memories has a therapeutic effect or not. Phobias very often start in childhood and may be the result of a quite innocuous event. Some phobias have developed as a result of a genuine traumatic event in the persons past, and sometimes the phobia may have developed as it is learned from a parent or relative where they have seen their response to a given stimuli and learned the same exaggerated fear, thus developing the same phobia. What may have begun in childhood as a simple fear can, over the years develop and become worse as the sufferer goes to lengths to avoid the stimulus. This avoidance tends to make the problem worse over time. Additionally the fear is developed further still and the phobic response deepened as the sufferer reminds themselves and other people of their fear or phobia, reinforcing it as part of their personality. Depending of the particular phobia it is easier to avoid some rather than others, agoraphobia and social phobia sufferers may find their lives severely affected when they try to avoid the negative stimuli for their panic symptoms.