Please read this ⚠ CAUTION ⚠ regarding all health-related advice
The internet is a great source of information. However I suggest that you treat all of this information, and especially information that you seek regarding your own health and well-being with caution.
This is not to say that information that you discover on the internet is inaccurate or misleading. While some of it is pretty suspect, much of it is valuable.
Well-intentioned rather than well-informed
As a general rule it is wise to consider all health-related information from whatever source (including this site) to be well-intentioned rather than well-informed.
Since I am not a doctor of any type, it is impossible for me to provide even reasonably accurate personal suggestions.
So act cautiously and responsibly with regard to all health-related suggestions. Evaluate them and decide for yourself how much, if any, applies to your personal circumstances and please proceed with caution when applying such suggestions in your life.
You must be the judge
Who can you rely on? Which sources of information are absolutely reliable? What information can you accept and apply immediately without having to think about it? None.
You cannot even blindly rely on information from your own family doctor, who may have known you for years. Nor from a qualified specialist, therapist, scientist, nor anyone else. Why?
Be cautious and skeptical
Because none of these experts knows you well enough to be able to prescribe what is right for you in a manner that you can accept without…
• questioning it
• verifying it
• seeking a second, third or , in serious situations, even a fourth or fifth opinion
• cross-checking the information with that from other sources, and so on…
Do this until you are sure that it is not only the best quality information but it is also the most pertinent to your particular circumstances.
Then, when you do come to apply the information, remember that it is your body, your mind, and your life. You are the one who loses if things go wrong.
So apply the information with caution - and carefully monitor the effects, being prepared to change things if you are unhappy with the results.
Treat this information similarly
I believe that the information on this site is reliable - up to a point. That point is that any information regarding your health and well-being must be tailored to your personal circumstances.
I am not a physician or a psychiatrist. I have done research, but I am not in any way an expert in phobias. So the information on this site is of a general nature. You have to decide which, if any, of it is appropriate for you.
If you do apply the information or use some of the ideas and techniques offered here - please proceed with caution.
And please decide that it is your responsibility to subject all advice from whatever source, no matter how well qualified they appear, to the same critical thinking.
Be an active participant rather than a 'patient patient'…