What is a Phobia?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, a Phobia is an irrational and excessive fear of an object or situation. In most cases, the Phobia involves a sense of danger or a fear of harm. For example, those suffering from Agraphobia fear being trapped in an inescapable place or situation, for example an elevator or lift.  A phobia may have it's roots in something that actually happened in the past, however the ongoing fear can seem quite irrational, though very real to the sufferer.

What are the symptoms? 

Phobic symptoms can occur through exposure to the fear or a situation, or sometimes simply thinking about the feared object can lead to an Anxious response. Common symptoms associated with phobias include:

• Dizziness
• Breathlessness
• Nausea
• A sense of unreality
• Fear of dying
• Anxiety
• Shock

In some cases, these symptoms can escalate into full-scale Anxiety or a Panic Attack. As a consequence of these symptoms, some individuals may isolate themselves, leading to severe difficulties in daily life. In other cases, the individual may seek out medical care due to a constant concern with imagined or perceived illnesses or imminent death.  If a Phobia has reached this point, Immediate Help should be sought.  Click Here to get Help Now.

There are 3 types of Phobia:

Social phobias - Fear of social situations, for example Crowds.

Trapping Phobias - Fear of being trapped in an inescapable place or situation, maybe an escalator or Lift.

Specific phobias - Fear of a specific objects, such as a snake.

There are four major categories of specific phobias:

The Natural World - Fear of lightening, water, storms, or Fire.

Animals -  Fear of snakes, rodents, spiders, or Sharks.

Medical -  Fear of seeing Blood, receiving Injections, visiting a Doctor, or Dentist.

Situational  - Fear of Bridges, leaving the Home, Driving, Crowds or Elevators.

How common are Phobias?

Phobias are very common, Phobias affect more than 10% of the U.S. population. Phobias are the most common mental  health disorder in the United States, far more women than men are affected by phobias. In many cases, people are able to recognize that their fear is irrational and therefore take steps to overcome their phobia. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, only about 10 percent of reported cases become life-long phobias, though whilst they are current, they can severely disrupt the lives of the sufferer and their families.

Treatments for Phobias.

There are a number of treatment approaches for phobias. The effectiveness of a treatment depends on the individual and the type of phobia. These are just Two of the potential phobia treatments:

Exposure Treatment. The client is exposed to the fear "object" in order to help them overcome their fear. One type of exposure treatment is "flooding", in which the patient is confronted by the fear object for an extended length of time without the opportunity to escape. The goal of this method is to help the individual face their fear and realize that the fear object will not harm them.  This method can be very scary for people, though the success rate is high.

Counter Conditioning. This is my preferred method of Therapeutic Intervention.  In this method, the client is taught a new response to the fear object. Rather that panic in the face of the feared object or situation, the client learns relaxation techniques to replace anxiety and fear. This new behavior is then incompatible with the previous panicked response, so the phobic response gradually fades away. Counter Conditioning is often used with patients who are unable to handle exposure treatments. 

This method also benefits from the use of CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) I have helped many clients using this approach.

If you have a Phobic condition and would like to be set free from the fear, click here NOW to book a session.

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