Everything you need to know about phobias

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder that causes an individual to experience extreme, irrational fear about a situation, living creature, place, or object.

When a person has a phobia, they will often shape their lives to avoid what they consider to be dangerous. The imagined threat is greater than any actual threat posed by the cause of terror.

Phobias are diagnosable mental disorders.

The person will experience intense distress when faced with the source of their phobia. This can prevent them from functioning normally and sometimes leads to panic attacks.

In the United States, approximately 19 million people have phobias.

Fast facts on phobias

• Phobias are more serious than simple fear sensations and are not limited to fears of specific triggers.
• Despite individuals being aware that their phobia is irrational, they cannot control the fear reaction.
• Symptoms may include sweating, chest pains, and pins and needles.
• Treatment can include medication and behavioral therapy.
• 19 million people in the United States have a phobia.

What is a phobia?

A phobia is an exaggerated and irrational fear.

The term 'phobia' is often used to refer to a fear of one particular trigger. However, there are three types of phobia recognized by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). These include:

Specific phobia: This is an intense, irrational fear of a specific trigger.

Social phobia, or social anxiety: This is a profound fear of public humiliation and being singled out or judged by others in a social situation. The idea of large social gatherings is terrifying for someone with social anxiety. It is not the same as shyness.

Agoraphobia: This is a fear of situations from which it would be difficult to escape if a person were to experience extreme panic, such being in a lift or being outside of the home. It is commonly misunderstood as a fear of open spaces but could also apply to being confined in a small space, such as an elevator, or being on public transport. People with agoraphobia have an increased riskof panic disorder.

Specific phobias are known as simple phobias as they can be linked to an identifiable cause that may not frequently occur in the everyday life of an individual, such as snakes. These are therefore not likely to affect day-to-day living in a significant way.

Social anxiety and agoraphobia are known as complex phobias, as their triggers are less easily recognized. People with complex phobias can also find it harder to avoid triggers, such as leaving the house or being in a large crowd.

A phobia becomes diagnosable when a person begins organizing their lives around avoiding the cause of their fear. It is more severe than a normal fear reaction. People with a phobia have an overpowering need to avoid anything that triggers their anxiety.

Symptoms

A person with a phobia will experience the following symptoms. They are common across the majority of phobias:

• a sensation of uncontrollable anxiety when exposed to the source of fear
• a feeling that the source of that fear must be avoided at all costs
• not being able to function properly when exposed to the trigger
• acknowledgment that the fear is irrational, unreasonable, and exaggerated, combined with an inability to control the feelings

A person is likely to experience feelings of panic and intense anxiety when exposed to the object of their phobia. The physical effects of these sensations can include:

• sweating
• abnormal breathing
• accelerated heartbeat
• trembling
• hot flushes or chills
• a choking sensation
• chest pains or tightness
• butterflies in the stomach
• pins and needles
• dry mouth
• confusion and disorientation
• nausea
• dizziness
• headache

A feeling of anxiety can be produced simply by thinking about the object of the phobia. In younger children, parents may observe that they cry, become very clingy, or attempt to hide behind the legs of a parent or an object. They may also throw tantrums to show their distress.

Complex phobias

A complex phobia is much more likely to affect a person's wellbeing than a specific phobia.

For example, those who experience agoraphobia may also have a number of other phobias that are connected. These can include monophobia, or a fear of being left alone, and claustrophobia, a fear of feeling trapped in closed spaces.

In severe cases, a person with agoraphobia will rarely leave their home.

Types

Types

The most common specific phobias in the U.S. include:

• Claustrophobia: Fear of being in constricted, confined spaces
• Aerophobia: Fear of flying
• Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders
• Driving phobia: Fear of driving a car
• Emetophobia: Fear of vomiting
• Erythrophobia: Fear of blushing
• Hypochondria: Fear of becoming ill
• Zoophobia: Fear of animals
• Aquaphobia: Fear of water
• Acrophobia: Fear of heights
• Blood, injury, and injection (BII) phobia: Fear of injuries involving blood
• Escalaphobia: Fear of escalators
• Tunnel phobia: Fear of tunnels

These are far from the only specific phobias. People can develop a phobia of almost anything. Also, as society changes, the list of potential phobias changes. For instance, nomophobia is the fear of being without a cell phone or computer.

As described in one paper, it is "the pathologic fear of remaining out of touch with technology."

Source: Medical News Today