Symptoms of a phobia
Has the phobia been learned or picked up from another person? it is important to consider whether a family member is helping maintain a phobia by their own fear, or by their fear of the child's anxiety or discomfort. Has the child/adolescent had a direct experience that has scared them? this type of phobia can also develop because they have witnessed or heard something. Is the child/adolescent stressed and experiencing anxiety symptoms? (e. G. From exams, parental separation).
They may incorrectly connect feelings of anxiety with an object or situation that they are in. Is embarrassment or fear of getting into a panic increasing their avoidance behaviour?.
Some people just can’t catch a break. The ‘fear of fear’, as it’s sometimes known, is when you’re petrified of developing a phobia, or the feeling of a phobia (for example the symptoms of a panic attack) fill you with dread. You can have this whether you already have a phobia or not. In some cases, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, in that you can be so terrified of developing a fear of things you love doing that you’ll just stop doing them altogether, until you become afraid of it or develop an even more serious phobia such as agoraphobia or social phobia.
Why do I have a phobia?
Arachnophobia – the fear of spiders affects women four times more (48% women and 12% men). Ophidiophobia – the fear of snakes. Phobics avoid certain cities because they have more snakes. Acrophobia – the fear of heights. Five percent of the general population suffer from this phobia.
Agoraphobia – the fear of open or crowded spaces. People with this fear often wont leave home. Cynophobia – the fear of dogs. This includes everything from small poodles to large great danes. Astraphobia – the fear of thunder/lightning aka brontophobia, tonitrophobia, ceraunophobia. Claustrophobia – the fear of small spaces like elevators, small rooms and other enclosed spaces. Mysophobia – the fear of germs.
Take their phobia seriously you may not understand it and you may not even understand how someone could have that phobia, but remember that it is very real to them. Let them know that their feelings are valid. Ask them what they find triggering for some people with a phobia, even talking about the thing they are afraid of can cause them to feel anxious, fearful or overwhelmed. If you ask them what they find triggering, you can be careful when talking about it. Encourage them but don’t pressure them it can be helpful to have someone to encourage you to face your fear, but it can also be harmful if to pressure someone to do something they aren’t comfortable with.
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People with agoraphobia feel an intense fear of situations or public places from which it might be difficult or embarrassing to escape, or where help might not be available. Most people with agoraphobia also have panic attacks − sudden severe attacks of anxiety, during which they fear that something dreadful is going to affect their physical or mental health. People fear having these attacks and avoid places where they might have them, such as shops and other public places, cars or other forms of transport. They also fear being away from safety or help in case something goes wrong.
What is a phobia?
Specific phobias are an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of objects or situations that pose little real danger but provoke anxiety and avoidance. Unlike the brief anxiety you may feel when giving a speech or taking a test, specific phobias are long lasting, cause intense physical and psychological reactions, and can affect your ability to function normally at work, at school or in social settings. Specific phobias are among the most common anxiety disorders, and not all phobias need treatment.
But if a specific phobia affects your daily life, several therapies are available that can help you work through and overcome your fears — often permanently.
"-phobia" redirects here. For the class of psychological disorders, see phobia. The english suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe (from greek φόβος phobos, "fear") occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, abnormal , unwarranted, persistent, or disabling fear as a mental disorder (e. G. Agoraphobia ), in chemistry to describe chemical aversions (e. G. Hydrophobic ), in biology to describe organisms that dislike certain conditions (e. G. Acidophobia ), and in medicine to describe hypersensitivity to a stimulus, usually sensory (e. G. Photophobia ). In common usage, they also form words that describe dislike or hatred of a particular thing or subject (e.
Other types of phobias
Phobias are constant, excessive fears of an object or situation that interfere with one's life and/or cause personal distress. Phobias are among the most common types of psychiatric disorders, with 11% of the population subject to a phobia at some point in their lives, and 5. 5% of the population subject to a phobia within a given 30-day period. Many people learn to manage their phobia with minimal difficulties. For example, a person with a spider phobia might avoid activities such as camping, but otherwise does not notice a disruption in his or her life.
However, for phobias that cause noticeable life interference, there are effective treatments that are successful in up to 90% of cases.
Unlike specific phobias, complex phobias are more likely to develop during adulthood. They are often linked to a deep-rooted fear or anxiety about a particular circumstance or situation and mental health issues such as depression, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder are often linked. The two most common types of complex phobias are social anxiety and agoraphobia.
types of phobias • signs & symptoms • treatments fear is a natural reaction to danger. But when your fears are so great that they disrupt your daily life, you probably suffer from a phobia. Phobias can cause overwhelming fear of animals, objects or social situations, or the complete inability to deal with a given situation, for no apparent reason. Sometimes phobias can cause fear so intense it totally disables its victims. Phobias are among the most common of all mental illnesses, and they are usually the most successfully treated.
Both simple and complex phobias can be treated successfully. Treatment options include talking therapies and self-help techniques. In some cases medicine may be prescribed to treat the anxiety associated with a phobia. It can often take some time to overcome a complex phobia. Treatment of phobias.
A–Z List of Some of the More Common Phobias
Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two—of spiders, for example, or your annual dental checkup. For most people, these fears are minor. But when fears become so severe that they cause tremendous anxiety and interfere with your normal life, they’re called phobias.
A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger. Common phobias and fears include closed-in places, heights, highway driving, flying insects, snakes, and needles. However, you can develop phobias of virtually anything. While most phobias develop in childhood, they can also develop in later life. If you have a phobia, you probably realize that your fear is irrational, yet you still can't control your feelings.
6/19 the most common type of specific phobia is zoophobia or fear of animals. Zoophobia is actually a generic term that encompasses a group of phobias involving specific animals. Examples include arachnophobia -- fear of spiders; ophidiophobia -- fear of snakes; ornithophobia -- fear of birds, and apiphobia -- fear of bees. Such phobias often develop in childhood and sometimes go away as the child ages. But they can persist into adulthood.
A phobia is an excessive fear of an object or situation. It’s a fear that lasts for at least 6 months. It is a type of anxiety disorder. These are some different types of phobias: specific phobia. A child has anxiety when exposed to a certain object or situation. He or she stays away from the object or situation, dreads it, or endures it with so much fear that it interferes with normal activities. Some common phobias are a fear of animals, insects, blood, heights, or flying. Panic disorder. A child feels an unpredictable, unexpected period of great fear or discomfort.
Common vs. Rare Phobias
Some phobias are more common, while others are often quite rare.
A few of the most common phobias include arachnophobia (the fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (the fear of snakes), and glossophobia (the fear of public speaking).
Phobic disorders consist of persistent or recurrent irrational fear of an object, activity, or situation that results in the compelling desire to avoid the phobic stimulus. 137 in old age they are associated with higher rates of medical and of other psychiatric morbidity but are frequently found in the absence of other psychiatric disorder. 133 agoraphobia is often triggered by the traumatic experience or acute physical ill health. 137 the longitudinal course of phobic disorders in old age is unclear. Individuals with one phobia may develop another. Fear of crime is particularly common in old age, leading to fear of going out and to nighttime fearfulness.
What Is a Phobia?
What are phobias? a phobia is an excessive and irrational fear reaction. If you have a phobia, you may experience a deep sense of dread or panic when you encounter the source of your fear. The fear can be of a certain place, situation, or object. Unlike general anxiety disorders, a phobia is usually connected to something specific. The impact of a phobia can range from annoying to severely disabling. People with phobias often realize their fear is irrational, but they’re unable to do anything about it. Such fears can interfere with work, school, and personal relationships. An estimated 19 million americans have a phobia that causes difficulty in some area of their lives.
A phobia is an uncontrollable, irrational, and lasting fear of a certain object, situation, or activity. This fear can be so overwhelming that a person may go to great lengths to avoid the source of this fear. One response can be a panic attack. This is a sudden, intense fear that lasts for several minutes. It happens when there is no real danger.
Dentists
there are several categories of phobias that people may be affected by, including phobias related to the natural environment, animals, situations and medical treatment. Each category has a unique set of specific phobias that are related. People with these types of phobias may experience more than one of the phobias within a group. The phobias that fall into these categories are among the most common types of phobias. There are other phobias that do not fall into these categories, and these are listed in alphabetical order on this page.
How common are phobias?
Specific or simple phobias centre around a particular object, animal, situation or activity. They often develop during childhood or adolescence and may become less severe as you get older. Common examples of simple phobias include:
animal phobias – such as dogs, spiders, snakes or rodents
environmental phobias – such as heights, deep water and germs
situational phobias – such as visiting the dentist or flying
bodily phobias – such as blood, vomit or having injections
sexual phobias – such as performance anxiety or the fear of getting a sexually transmitted infection (sti).
A phobia is an irrational fear of something that’s unlikely to cause harm. The word itself comes from the greek word“phobos,” which means “fear” or “horror. ”hydrophobia, for example, literally translates to fear of water. When someone has a phobia, they experience intense fear of a certain object or situation. Phobias are different from regular fears because they cause significant distress, possibly interfering with life at home, work, or school. People with phobias actively avoid the phobic object or situation, or they endure it with intense fear or anxiety. In the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edition (dsm-5), the american psychiatric association outlines several of the most common phobias.
Specific or simple phobias
There are three main groups of phobias which include:
specific (simple) phobias, which are the most common and focus on specific objects
social phobia, which causes extreme anxiety in social or public situations, and
agoraphobia, which is the fear of being alone in public places from which there is no easy escape. Specific or simple phobias produce intense fear of a particular object or situation that is, in fact, relatively safe.
People who suffer from specific phobias are aware that their fear is irrational, but the thought of facing the object or situation often brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety.
Specific or simple phobias, such as a fear of heights (acrophobia), usually develop during childhood. Simple phobias can often be linked to an early negative childhood experience. For example, if you're trapped in a confined space when you're young, you may develop a fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) when you're older. It's also thought that phobias can sometimes be "learnt" from an early age. For example, if someone in your family has a fear of spiders (arachnophobia), you may also develop the same fear yourself. Other factors in the family environment, such as having parents who are particularly anxious, may also affect the way you deal with anxiety later in life.
Social phobia is an anxiety disorder triggered by social events or interaction. Phobia is a type of anxiety disorder in human beings which is characterized by the persistent fear of objects and situations. Approximately 9% to 18% of people in the us are thought to struggle with one or more phobias. For a fear of an object or situation to be considered a phobia, it has to be long-lasting, for six months or more. Victims of phobia usually take caution and sometimes even dangerous measures to avoid contact and experience with their cause of fear. The fear is developed after a horrible experience, either to the victim or somebody else, the fear might be genetic and inborn, or it might develop after a negative experience.
The following medications are effective for the treatment of phobias. Beta blockers side effects may include an upset stomach , fatigue , insomnia , and cold fingers. Antidepressants serotonin reuptake inhibitors (ssris) are commonly prescribed for people with phobias. They affect serotonin levels in the brain, and this can result in better moods. Ssris may initially cause nausea, sleeping problems, and headaches. If the ssri does not work, the doctor may prescribe a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (maoi) for social phobia. Individuals on an maoi may have to avoid certain types of food. Side effects may initially include dizziness, an upset stomach, restlessness, headaches, and insomnia.
Emotional and Psychological Trauma
Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents , rape , or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical.
Longer-term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks , difficulties with interpersonal relationships and sometimes physical symptoms including headaches or nausea. Trauma is not the same as mental distress or suffering , both of which are universal human experiences. Given that subjective experiences differ between individuals, people will react to similar events differently. In other words, not all people who experience a potentially traumatic event will actually become psychologically traumatized (although they may be distressed and experience suffering).
Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event.
What is emotional and psychological trauma?
Trauma refers to your response following an event that psychologically overwhelms you, often resulting in shock, denial, and changes in the body, mind, and behavior. According to the substance abuse and mental health services administration (samhsa) , trauma is an event you experience as harmful or life threatening. It has lasting adverse effects on your mental, physical, emotional, social, or spiritual well-being. Trauma is typically associated with significant events such as physical or sexual assault, violence, or accidents. But it can also involve responses to repeated events, like ongoing emotional abuse or childhood neglect. Not everyone who has experienced a traumatic event will have long lasting effects.
According to the american psychological association (apa) , trauma is “an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster. ”
there are many myths about trauma that impede understanding and care. For example, there is a popular assumption that all childhoods are traumatic , which causes people to mistake ordinary hardship or distress for genuine trauma. While this view of trauma may seem initially validating of a difficult experience, it can quickly lead individuals to question their own experiences growing up and the adequacy of their caretakers. Another common misconception about trauma is that it will destroy your life forever. Some people who experience trauma assume the identity of a victim, expecting the world to harm them and seeing slights where they don't exist; this tendency has helped to create a culture of victimhood that does more harm than good by ignoring people's capacity for growth through challenge.
People of all ages can have post-traumatic stress disorder. However, some factors may make you more likely to develop ptsd after a traumatic event, such as: experiencing intense or long-lasting trauma having experienced other trauma earlier in life, such as childhood abuse having a job that increases your risk of being exposed to traumatic events, such as military personnel and first responders having other mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression having problems with substance misuse, such as excess drinking or drug use lacking a good support system of family and friends having blood relatives with mental health problems, including anxiety or depression kinds of traumatic events.