Tickling is the most unpleasant phenomenon that causes contagious laughter and irritability. It involves physical pressure using your fingertips or a gentle feather on sensitive areas of the body: heels, neck, wrists, stomach and armpits.
Only those people who have weak nerve endings can enjoy it. In other cases, they lose control of their emotions and wonder how to concentrate in such situations and how to stop being afraid of tickling? There are several effective exercises that will help you pull yourself together.
Dangerous moment
Tickle torture has existed since ancient times. Only the bravest person could withstand it. In total, several dangers can be identified that arise due to its effect on a certain area of the body:
- Slight dizziness appears.
- Uncontrolled urination may occur.
- The sensitivity of some points becomes aggravated, which is why pain then appears.
- Hiccups begin.
- Salivation increases.
- If you act on the same area for a long time, spasms and severe suffocation may occur, and you may even die from tickling.
What can you do to avoid these negative aspects? You need to figure out how to stop being afraid of tickling.
Explanations
Despite all the scientific advances, researchers have still not come to a consensus regarding the causes of the sensation of tickling.
There is a version that the distant ancestors of humans reflexively reacted to small parasites on the skin, like, for example, a cat supposedly “twitches” its skin when something crawls there. So the person still has echoes of this property in such a deformed form. But there is a catch here too. Northern peoples react to tickling no worse than others, although there were no small parasites there in the first place.
Tickling was often used as an instrument of torture.
“A good mood generator” is what some researchers call tickling. Since a person is a social being who, in principle, cannot exist without his own kind, his body has a function where another person can stimulate the internal resources of the body, thereby ensuring better enrichment of the blood with useful substances and increasing resistance to both various diseases and to stress.
Tickling, according to the popular version, helps to establish an emotional connection between mother and child, which is one of the first forms of interaction.
If we remember monkeys again, researchers believe that they can express sympathy through tickling.
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Method one – complete “switching”
The first thing a person who is being “tickled” needs is to relax as much as possible. It is recommended to do breathing exercises - take a smooth deep breath and exhale the same way. During it, you need to try to switch from this situation to any other: think about existing problems, reflect on philosophical topics, mentally imagine any phenomenon, for example, the sun rising, waves splashing or water flowing from a tap. This cunning method will allow a person to concentrate on his thoughts, this will reduce the sensitivity of nerve endings.
Method three - transformation
Most often, a person, in order to mock another person, begins to tickle his heels. They are considered the most sensitive area. During such a period, a person develops a feeling of mild and incomprehensible fear, which he cannot cope with on his own. At this moment, you should mentally make a transformation of emotions, for example, transform them into a feeling of aggression. Anger will allow you to overcome yourself and reduce the sensitivity of nerve endings.
Shiver
This mechanism is similar to the one that causes goosebumps. When a person is cold or scared, he begins to tremble. Why?
Warm-blooded animals, and we are one of them, have a very important physiological ability - to maintain body temperature at a constant level. Trembling your muscles is one way to avoid heat loss and a drop in temperature when it suddenly gets cold. Skeletal muscles begin to make small and frequent contractions, which release heat that spreads throughout the body.
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“When a person is scared, he also begins to tremble. This way we strengthen the functioning of the nervous system, including the autonomic one. All organs and internal systems are tuned to actions related to salvation - either an attack on the enemy, or a swift escape,” explains the scientific secretary of the Institute of Physiology. I. P. Pavlova RAS, candidate of biological sciences Alexander Chuikin .
It is noteworthy that muscle contractions are sometimes used by cold-blooded animals: insects, fish, and reptiles. For example, bees and bumblebees warm their hives and nests due to the intensive work of their wings. They do this to prevent the developing larvae from getting cold.
Method four – “cinema” exercise
The most effective method to overcome your fear of tickling is to mentally transport yourself to a movie theater. A person should imagine that he is sitting alone in a spacious and beautiful hall. There should be a feeling of calm, comfort and security. Some famous black and white film is shown on the big screen. It’s worth trying to imagine all the events that are happening in your head, see the faces of the main characters, and understand their feelings. After just five minutes of such a relaxation session, you will notice that the feeling of fear has completely left you.
Simple rules
In total, we can highlight a few basic rules on how to stop being afraid of tickling.
- You need to constantly train. For example, ask a friend or relative to periodically tickle themselves in a certain area. You can influence it yourself using a soft object. During this process, you need to practice distraction exercises. This method will help you get used to this state and understand which relaxation method will help more.
- You should always perceive tickling as something very pleasant, capable of bringing the most positive emotions. The brain will automatically remember this setting. During exposure to a certain point, it will give appropriate signals.
- Periodically you need to do breathing exercises, it will help you cope with a wide variety of emotions.
There are people who constantly have a panicky fear of tickling. Even in a calm state, they experience severe discomfort. In this case, you need to contact a psychotherapist, he will conduct a course of relaxation therapy that will help you cope with this condition.
How to stop being afraid of tickling? Several effective exercises
Tickling is the most unpleasant phenomenon that causes contagious laughter and irritability. It involves physical pressure using your fingertips or a gentle feather on sensitive areas of the body: heels, neck, wrists, stomach and armpits.
Only those people who have weak nerve endings can enjoy it. In other cases, they lose control of their emotions and wonder how to concentrate in such situations and how to stop being afraid of tickling? There are several effective exercises that will help you pull yourself together.
Dangerous moment
Tickle torture has existed since ancient times. Only the bravest person could withstand it. In total, several dangers can be identified that arise due to its effect on a certain area of the body:
Slight dizziness appears.
Uncontrolled urination may occur.
The sensitivity of some points becomes aggravated, which is why pain then appears.
Hiccups begin.
Salivation increases.
If you act on the same area for a long time, spasms and severe suffocation may occur, and you may even die from tickling.
What can you do to avoid these negative aspects? You need to figure out how to stop being afraid of tickling.
Method one – complete “switching”
The first thing a person who is being “tickled” needs is to relax as much as possible. It is recommended to do breathing exercises - take a smooth deep breath and exhale the same way. During it, you need to try to switch from this situation to any other: think about existing problems, reflect on philosophical topics, mentally imagine any phenomenon, for example, the sun rising, waves splashing or water flowing from a tap. This cunning method will allow a person to concentrate on his thoughts, this will reduce the sensitivity of nerve endings.
Method two - full concentration
Experienced psychologists know first-hand how to stop being afraid of tickling. They recommend that during physical impact on a certain part of the body, fully concentrate on the object: feel its warmth, roughness, gravity, friction, the moment of contact. Or in the gaze of the one who carries out the torture, in the picture that hangs on the wall and on any object. This way, the brain will be distracted from the tickling process, and it will be easier to bear.
Method three - transformation
Most often, a person, in order to mock another person, begins to tickle his heels. They are considered the most sensitive area. During such a period, a person develops a feeling of mild and incomprehensible fear, which he cannot cope with on his own. At this moment, you should mentally make a transformation of emotions, for example, transform them into a feeling of aggression. Anger will allow you to overcome yourself and reduce the sensitivity of nerve endings.
Method four – “cinema” exercise
The most effective method to overcome your fear of tickling is to mentally transport yourself to a movie theater. A person should imagine that he is sitting alone in a spacious and beautiful hall. There should be a feeling of calm, comfort and security. Some famous black and white film is shown on the big screen. It’s worth trying to imagine all the events that are happening in your head, see the faces of the main characters, and understand their feelings. After just five minutes of such a relaxation session, you will notice that the feeling of fear has completely left you.
Method five - positive phrases
While tickling, you need to talk to yourself. In a calm voice, say pleasant phrases about how good everything is. From the outside it may look a little stupid. This technique will create a special signal for the brain that will stop panic.
Simple rules
In total, we can highlight a few basic rules on how to stop being afraid of tickling.
You need to constantly train. For example, ask a friend or relative to periodically tickle themselves in a certain area. You can influence it yourself using a soft object. During this process, you need to practice distraction exercises. This method will help you get used to this state and understand which relaxation method will help more.
You should always perceive tickling as something very pleasant, capable of bringing the most positive emotions. The brain will automatically remember this setting. During exposure to a certain point, it will give appropriate signals.
Periodically you need to do breathing exercises, it will help you cope with a wide variety of emotions.
There are people who constantly have a panicky fear of tickling. Even in a calm state, they experience severe discomfort. In this case, you need to contact a psychotherapist, he will conduct a course of relaxation therapy that will help you cope with this condition.
