I’m scared….get me out of here! The psychology of fears and phobias

For many of the celebs in the jungle, they will have their own various motivations for heading on the show, whether it's driven by their paycheck, by the desire for publicity, or they genuinely want to 'face their fears' and take on a new challenge. I've worked as a clinical psychologist for over 40 years, helping people manage their fears and I've found people will have different motivations for wanting to overcome their fears.

The starting point for me is to work with people to understand what they are scared of. For example, people will often say they are scared of flying and scared of aeroplanes, but I challenge people to delve a little deeper than that. It isn't that people are scared of the actual aeroplane, but it might be the fact that people are locked in that space and can't get out. It might be the fact they are not in control and are relying on someone else to safely fly and navigate the plane. 

The fear often comes from two places – there being a loss of external control and something happens to the plane and there's nothing you can do about it, and then there's a loss of internal control. What if you can't control yourself, what if you have a panic attack, faint or make a 'fool' of yourself'?

Understanding the underlying fears enables us as psychologists to tailor the type of therapy and support that we can give to people to help them manage their fears. For example, I have worked with many people on dealing with their fears of spiders. One big fear that people often have is the speed with which spiders move and the feeling that they are going to 'come for them'. I would challenge people to think about whether spiders have a sort of 'magnetic attraction' to people, and of course they don't. So it's about dealing logically with the feared consequence in your head, and then working through practical ways to challenge and overcome the fear. For example, how can you safely remove a spider from your home, which can give you a feeling of control?

I would also encourage people to work through reasons as to why things will probably be ok. So, taking the spider example, I worked with a client who was terrified of spiders and we managed to go together to London Zoo to meet the tarantulas there and have one walk across our hands. I encouraged her to think about why this would actually be okay – so in this case, that the spider keeper was there and in control, they wouldn't put a poisonous spider near us and the spider has no reason to attack. 

This technique is often used in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, (CBT) when working with fears and phobias. I help people to think of what they actually are scared of, and then give themselves three logical reasons why it's actually unlikely to end badly, and then move on to an alternative activity. This cognitive restructuring can help people when the next scary thought comes to mind. 

Often, fears and phobias are trivialised and seen as people being 'silly' or irrational. However it's important to remember that you aren't being silly and that though phobias can really badly impact and limit people's lives, there is help out there. There are some great 'self-help' books and free advice out there as a first step, and also the option of professional help. These really can transform people's lives. So as the celebrities face their fears in the jungle, if you're struggling with a fear or a phobia then please know that you aren't alone, and there is something you can do about it.

Elaine Iljon Foreman is a chartered member of the BPS and founder of 'Freedom to Fly', which runs a highly specialised programme to help people tackle their fear of flying.