Bizarre phobia, soon to confront.... Tips? Please?

Hey folks.... strange issue here....

I am currently faced with a great opportunity to spend some time with a good friend on the big island of Hawai'i, scuba diving, snorkeling, and just having a great time. Well, great aside from one little issue....

I have a very intense phobia of volcanoes.

Ever since I was quite young, I have been absolutely terrified of volcanoes and (to a lesser extent) tectonic activity like earthquakes. I now live in California, and have experienced one (small) quake, which I didn't even recognize as such until someone explained to me what had happened. But volcanoes, for me, are another matter entirely. I used to have horrible recurring dreams as a child of volcanoes.... touring about in dormant volcanoes that "started up" again, new volcanoes pushing up near my home, and so forth.

In high school, I went on Spring Break with my older sister and some of her friends on a road trip. On the way home, we stopped (much to my horror) at Mt. Capulin. While there, I had a pretty severe panic attack.... sobbing, shaking, crying and yelling.... I just wanted AWAY, and wasn't "okay" again until we were several miles past, and even still, there was evidence of Capulin and other volcanic mounds for many miles more. It took a while to recover.

Now, I am absolutely mortified about this trip to Hawai'i. I will be with a close friend whom I trust quite deeply. Unfortunately, though I did try to explain to him about this fear, I don't think he understands how deeply rooted it is, and that YES, I am even sick at the thought of even being anywhere near the "dead" volcanoes.... sadly, his house is on the flank of one. He seems to think that the fear is only of Kiluea, the active/erupting one; he doesn't quite "get" it that the dormant mountains scare me just as much.

I have thought about this visit for a couple years, and finally bit the bullet and took time off work, bought plane tickets, gathered together my warm water scuba gear, and now I'm all set for this two-week "escape". Now I'm regretting it.... I've got less than a month, and I'm really starting to get nervous. I've read a couple guidebooks that describe hikes and drives as "turn onto the lava road" or "you'll be hiking for 1/4 mile on a lava path; be sure to wear thick-soled shoes; no sandals or the cinders may hurt your feet".... I don't think I can take this. When discussing dive sites and gear, my friend even mentioned to be sure to have good knee padding as I'd otherwise risk getting cuts from the lava rock. ACK! Can't even get away UNDERWATER!

I'm so terrified, I'm about to call off the trip - but I feel very much obligated to go. And the reason/desire for the trip is a GREAT opportunity for me which I do NOT want to pass up.

Any tips? Suggestions? Should I look into nerve-calming drugs? Hypnotherapy? Or just face this fear, with my stalwart friend by my side?

Thanks....

Three things:

get yourself pumped and prepared- think of an escape route in case of a volcano erruption (keep a boat handy). Stay at a place far from any active volcanos- this will stop you from thinking about it.

two, try not to think about it (as difficult as it may be).

three, just in case get some medicine perscribed to you by a doctor before the trip to keep you calm in case you do get a panic attack.

you can also think this as a good oppertunity to face your fears.

I would suggest seeing a psychologist that specializes in behavioral therapy. Your therapist would probably try something called systematic desensitization in which you would gradually be conditioned to fear volcanoes less and less so your phobia is not so debilitating. Understanding your phobia and wanting to get help is a great step though. Best of luck to whatever you decide to do to help it!

Hypnotherapy is quick and NLP (neuro linguistic programming) has a fast phobia cure, find a registered practitioner and get this out of your life! Enjoy Hawaii

oops original post was 2005. Still, hope he went!!

yeah, weird that people started responding so long after the initial post, but to anyone else with this fear. I think a good way at conquering your fear may be to try building one of those model volcanoes everyone has build or played with at some point in their adolescent lives. Make it what you want it and you choose how big or small it erupts or if at all. Though I would think that making it erupt eventually would be good for you.