Mother with extreme fear of statues reveals how her debilitating phobia has affected her life

Mother with extreme fear of statues reveals how her debilitating phobia means she’s NEVER been to a museum with her children

  • Anna Minty, 30, from Cardiff, appeared on ITV’s This Morning on Wednesday 
  • Spoke about her unusual statue phobia which meant she never visited museum 
  • Therapists Nik and Eva Speakman analysed where her fear came from and cured

A mother with an extreme phobia of statues has revealed how it has affected her life.

Anna Minty, 30, from Cardiff,  appeared on This Morning on Wednesday to conquer her unusual fear, which she said started when she was just eight-years-old.

The Welsh mum met with therapists Nik and Eva Speakman, who attempted to take her into a museum in the city – which resulted in Anna suffering an anxiety attack.

Admitting that her phobia has even stopped her visiting museums with her children during recent holidays, the ITV doctors set about curing her.

Anna Minty, 30, from Cardiff, appeared on This Morning on Wednesday to conquer her unusual fear of statues, which she said started when she was just eight-years-old

Recalling when it first started, Anna said: ‘When I was 8 I fell off a wall and when I looked up and there was a statue looking down at me – it made me jump.

‘I had a nightmare that night that they came alive and they were coming off the museum wall and chasing me. Some of them were turning into snakes’.

She continued: ‘My phobia is pretty bad, it’s affected my day-to-day life.

‘I’m constantly looking out for where they are. My children know there is nothing to fear, but I’m afraid I’ll pass it on to them.’

The Welsh mum met with therapists Nik and Eva Speakman, who attempted to take her into a museum in the city - which resulted in Anna suffering an anxiety attack

The Welsh mum met with therapists Nik and Eva Speakman, who attempted to take her into a museum in the city – which resulted in Anna suffering an anxiety attack

Nik and Eva were seen taking Anna and her daughter Roxy to a museum, but they were forced to turn away when she started suffering from heart pain.

Taking a detour, the group visited a local cafe where they examined the root cause of her phobia.

Nik revealed her dreams were fears of her being told off for falling and fear is actually of snakes not statues.

He told her: ‘Your unconscious mind never switches off. Whilst you’re asleep your brain is still going and it’s thinking about that moment which created this phobia and it’s trying to figure it out.

Admitting that her phobia has even stopped her visiting museums with her children during recent holidays, the ITV doctors set about curing her

Admitting that her phobia has even stopped her visiting museums with her children during recent holidays, the ITV doctors set about curing her

Taking a detour, the group visited a local cafe where they examined the root cause of her phobia where Nik revealed her dreams were fears of her being told off for falling and fear is actually of snakes not statues

Taking a detour, the group visited a local cafe where they examined the root cause of her phobia where Nik revealed her dreams were fears of her being told off for falling and fear is actually of snakes not statues

‘It changes the statues into snakes because actually, snakes are more scary.’

Daughter Roxy added: ‘When we go to places when we’re on holiday normally there are statues there and she never comes in so I just have to go with my grandmother or my dad but this time she can come.’ 

Feeling invigorated the group were seen visiting a museum, where Anna touched statues for first time.

‘I don’t feel scared or anxious’, she said, noting she was no longer suffering with heart pain.

Daughter Roxy said: ‘Now when we’re on holiday we can finally go into places with statues where she usually wont go in’.

‘What may seem a silly and irrational phobia to some can totally debilitate someone,’ Nik said.

‘With Ana we saw physical pain too, so we’re absolutely thrilled to have got to the bottom of it,’ Eva added.

Feeling invigorated the group were seen visiting a museum, where Anna touched statues for first time

Feeling invigorated the group were seen visiting a museum, where Anna touched statues for first time

'What may seem a silly and irrational phobia to some can totally debilitate someone,' Nik said

‘What may seem a silly and irrational phobia to some can totally debilitate someone,’ Nik said

 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk