PHOBIA (Excessive Fears)
A phobia (Greek meaning "fear"), is an irrational, persistent fear of certain situations, objects,
activities, or persons. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable
desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is
interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.
People with phobias try to avoid what they are afraid of. If they cannot, they may experience:
Panic and fear
Rapid heartbeat
Shortness of breath
Trembling
A strong desire to get away
Treatment helps most people with phobias. Options include medicines, therapy or both.
Prevalence
Phobias (in the clinical meaning of the term) are the most common form of anxiety
disorders. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health found that between
8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias. Broken down by age and gender, the
study found that phobias were the most common mental illness among women in all age
groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.
Causes
It is generally accepted that phobias arise from a combination of external events and internal
predispositions. Some phobias such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and ophidiophobia
(fear of snakes) however, may arise more easily due to an evolutionary trait that conditioned
humans to fear certain creatures that could cause them harm. Many specific phobias can be
traced back to a specific triggering event, usually a traumatic experience at an early age.
Social phobias and agoraphobia have more complex causes that are not entirely known at
this time. It is believed that heredity, genetics, and brain chemistry combine with
life-experiences to play a major role in the development of anxiety disorders and phobias.
Other uses of term
Phobia is also used in a non-medical sense for aversions of all sorts. These terms are
usually constructed with the suffix -phobia. A number of these terms describe negative
attitudes or prejudices towards the named subjects. See Non-clinical uses of the term
below.
Clinical phobias
Most psychologists and psychiatrists classify most phobias into three categories:
1. Social phobias - fears involving other people or social situations such as performance
anxiety or fears of embarrassment by scrutiny of others, such as eating in public. Social
phobias may be further subdivided into the general social phobia, also known as social
anxiety disorder, and specific social phobias, which are cases of anxiety triggered only in
specific situations. The symptoms may extend to psychosomatic manifestation of physical
problems. For example, sufferers of paruresis find it difficult or impossible to urinate in
reduced levels of privacy. That goes beyond mere preference. If the condition triggers, the
person physically cannot empty their bladder.
Specific phobias - fear of a single specific panic trigger such as spiders, dogs, elevators,
water, flying, catching a specific illness, etc.
Agoraphobia - a generalized fear of leaving home or a small familiar 'safe' area, and of
possible panic attacks that might follow. Agoraphobia is the only phobia regularly treated as
a medical condition.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, social
phobia, specific phobia, and agoraphobia are sub-groups of anxiety disorder.
Many of the specific phobias, such as fear of dogs, heights, spider bites and so forth, are
extensions of fears that a lot of people have. People with these phobias specifically avoid the
entity they fear.
Phobias vary in severity among individuals. Some individuals can simply avoid the subject of
their fear and suffer only relatively mild anxiety over that fear. Others suffer fully-fledged panic
attacks with all the associated disabling symptoms. Most individuals understand that they
are suffering from an irrational fear, but are powerless to override their initial panic reaction.
Treatments
Some therapists use virtual reality or imagery exercise to desensitize patients to the feared
entity. These are parts of systematic desensitisation therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CPT) can be beneficial. Cognitive behavioral therapy lets the
patient understand the cycle of negative thought patterns, and ways to change these thought
patterns. CBT may be conducted in a group setting. Gradual desensitisation treatment and
CBT are often successful, provided the patient is willing to endure some discomfort and to
make a continuous effort over a long period of time.
Anti-anxiety or anti-depression medications can be of assistance in many cases.
Benzodiazepines could be prescribed for short-term use.
These treatment options are not mutually exclusive. Often a therapist will suggest multiple
treatments.
Non-psychological conditions
The word "phobia" may also signify conditions other than fear. For example, although the
term hydrophobia means a fear of water, it may also mean inability to drink water due to an
illness, or may be used to describe a chemical compound which repels water. Likewise, the
term photophobia may be used to define a physical complaint (i.e. aversion to light due to
inflamed eyes or excessively dilated pupils) and does not necessarily indicate a fear of light.
Non-clinical uses of the term
It is possible for an individual to develop a phobia over virtually anything. The name of a
phobia generally contains a Greek word for what the patient fears plus the suffix -phobia.
Creating these terms is somewhat of a word game. Few of these terms are found in medical
literature. However, this does not necessarily make it a non-psychological condition.
Related Information on Phobias can be located by investigating: Angst, Anxiety, Disability,
Panic, Panic attacks.
A phobia (Greek meaning "fear"), is an irrational, persistent fear of certain situations, objects,
activities, or persons. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable
desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is
interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.
People with phobias try to avoid what they are afraid of. If they cannot, they may experience:
Panic and fear
Rapid heartbeat
Shortness of breath
Trembling
A strong desire to get away
Treatment helps most people with phobias. Options include medicines, therapy or both.
Prevalence
Phobias (in the clinical meaning of the term) are the most common form of anxiety
disorders. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health found that between
8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias. Broken down by age and gender, the
study found that phobias were the most common mental illness among women in all age
groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.
Causes
It is generally accepted that phobias arise from a combination of external events and internal
predispositions. Some phobias such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and ophidiophobia
(fear of snakes) however, may arise more easily due to an evolutionary trait that conditioned
humans to fear certain creatures that could cause them harm. Many specific phobias can be
traced back to a specific triggering event, usually a traumatic experience at an early age.
Social phobias and agoraphobia have more complex causes that are not entirely known at
this time. It is believed that heredity, genetics, and brain chemistry combine with
life-experiences to play a major role in the development of anxiety disorders and phobias.
Other uses of term
Phobia is also used in a non-medical sense for aversions of all sorts. These terms are
usually constructed with the suffix -phobia. A number of these terms describe negative
attitudes or prejudices towards the named subjects. See Non-clinical uses of the term
below.
Clinical phobias
Most psychologists and psychiatrists classify most phobias into three categories:
1. Social phobias - fears involving other people or social situations such as performance
anxiety or fears of embarrassment by scrutiny of others, such as eating in public. Social
phobias may be further subdivided into the general social phobia, also known as social
anxiety disorder, and specific social phobias, which are cases of anxiety triggered only in
specific situations. The symptoms may extend to psychosomatic manifestation of physical
problems. For example, sufferers of paruresis find it difficult or impossible to urinate in
reduced levels of privacy. That goes beyond mere preference. If the condition triggers, the
person physically cannot empty their bladder.
Specific phobias - fear of a single specific panic trigger such as spiders, dogs, elevators,
water, flying, catching a specific illness, etc.
Agoraphobia - a generalized fear of leaving home or a small familiar 'safe' area, and of
possible panic attacks that might follow. Agoraphobia is the only phobia regularly treated as
a medical condition.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, social
phobia, specific phobia, and agoraphobia are sub-groups of anxiety disorder.
Many of the specific phobias, such as fear of dogs, heights, spider bites and so forth, are
extensions of fears that a lot of people have. People with these phobias specifically avoid the
entity they fear.
Phobias vary in severity among individuals. Some individuals can simply avoid the subject of
their fear and suffer only relatively mild anxiety over that fear. Others suffer fully-fledged panic
attacks with all the associated disabling symptoms. Most individuals understand that they
are suffering from an irrational fear, but are powerless to override their initial panic reaction.
Treatments
Some therapists use virtual reality or imagery exercise to desensitize patients to the feared
entity. These are parts of systematic desensitisation therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CPT) can be beneficial. Cognitive behavioral therapy lets the
patient understand the cycle of negative thought patterns, and ways to change these thought
patterns. CBT may be conducted in a group setting. Gradual desensitisation treatment and
CBT are often successful, provided the patient is willing to endure some discomfort and to
make a continuous effort over a long period of time.
Anti-anxiety or anti-depression medications can be of assistance in many cases.
Benzodiazepines could be prescribed for short-term use.
These treatment options are not mutually exclusive. Often a therapist will suggest multiple
treatments.
Non-psychological conditions
The word "phobia" may also signify conditions other than fear. For example, although the
term hydrophobia means a fear of water, it may also mean inability to drink water due to an
illness, or may be used to describe a chemical compound which repels water. Likewise, the
term photophobia may be used to define a physical complaint (i.e. aversion to light due to
inflamed eyes or excessively dilated pupils) and does not necessarily indicate a fear of light.
Non-clinical uses of the term
It is possible for an individual to develop a phobia over virtually anything. The name of a
phobia generally contains a Greek word for what the patient fears plus the suffix -phobia.
Creating these terms is somewhat of a word game. Few of these terms are found in medical
literature. However, this does not necessarily make it a non-psychological condition.
Related Information on Phobias can be located by investigating: Angst, Anxiety, Disability,
Panic, Panic attacks.
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| PHOBIA - FEARS |
| VISIT OUR RELAXATION THERAPY ROOM |
PTIMA
| Specialty Hospital |
| THE MOST COMMON MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DISORDERS |
| intended as a educational public service. New studies often change our understanding of how to diagnose and treat these illnesses and direct contact with the appropriate, licensed mental health professional prior to treatment is always recommended. |