Many people develop a fear of falling whether it be from a height or simply tripping up, which can be very incapacitating and restrictive, particularly as we get older.

It can make people reluctant to visit friends and family or to even go outside, because they dread the idea that they will fall and injure themselves. Perhaps you have actually had the experience of falling over and injuring yourself in the past few months or years, or perhaps it has given you a real scare that made you feel much more hesitant about walking around, or perhaps just feel unsteady on your feet.

Of course, being worried about falling isn’t totally irrational and you may indeed need to be more careful when walking around than you once had to be. However, for many people, particularly if you have previously fallen or are more senior in years, the fear of falling is often out of proportion to a person’s actual physical capacity.

Studies undertaken have shown that for many older people the psychological mind-set can make a significant difference as to how likely it is for someone to fall over. It was shown that people who were objectively at a higher risk of falling due to their physical conditions but who had a calm, confident attitude about their own mobility were actually less likely to have experienced a fall, however, people who were in better physical conditions but who were highly anxious about falling were more likely to have a fall or be unsteady.

In other words: by being calm, careful and confident about your own physical capacity, makes it more likely for a person to be able to move around safely.

There are also practical things that someone can do to help themselves from falling as they move around:

• Make changes within the home to ensure that the lights are bright enough to see clearly;
• Don’t leave bits and pieces laying around, particularly outside – even the hose;
• Ensure good maintenance inside and outside of the home;
• Introduce handrails in the bathroom, toilet or near steps;
• Undertake exercise to maintain muscle strength, stamina, flexibility to build confidence in moving around safely;
• Maintain a good healthy diet, to ensure that the mind functions well.

Therefore, allow hypnotherapy and counselling to assist you to:

• calm down your emotions around the thoughts and feelings of being fearful of falling;
• allow you to disassociate the fear and allow you to relax, providing you with opportunities to enjoy your life more and maintain that feeling of a deeper sense of balance and stability; and
• to allow you to manage your life experiences in the most satisfying way.

For further information contact us on (03) 5223 2370 or via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Image by Mabel Amber, still incognito... from Pixabay