PHOBIA

A phobia is a persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of an object, person, animal, activity, or situation.
It is a type of anxiety disorder. A person with a phobia either tries to avoid the thing that triggers the
fear, or endures it with great anxiety and distress. 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. 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.

Causes of the phobia

A phobia can develop during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood.

They can be linked to a frightening event or stressful situation.

 Phobias are when your brain takes fear and anxiety to extreme degrees. Under ordinary
circumstances, these emotions can be protective and helpful. They’re your brain’s way of
warning you that something is wrong and you might be (or currently are) in danger .
Traumatic experiences. These can be experiences that happen to you or that you see
happen to someone else.

 Genetics. Certain types of phobias are more likely to happen in people who have a relative
with that type of phobia. The types with higher rates in family members are animal,
blood/medical procedure/injury and situational phobias.

 Informational transmission. Some phobias may happen because of things you learn about or
things you see or hear repeatedly.

 Learned fears. People can learn about the phobias or fears of others and may develop a
phobia as a result. This may be a factor in why people with overprotective parents may be
more likely to have specific phobia.

 People with ongoing medical conditions or health concerns often have phobias. There’s a
high incidence of people developing phobias after traumatic brain injuries. Substance
abuse and depression are also connected to phobias

Symptoms of the phobias – the most prevailing sign of a person experiencing the phobia is the panic
attack . racing heart , shortness of the breath , inability to speak , dry mouth , nausea , high blood
pressure , chest pain , trembling , dizziness , profuse sweating are also other symptoms associated
with the phobia .

Avoidance of the object, activity, or situation that triggers the phobia. Because people who have
phobias recognize that their fears are exaggerated, they are often ashamed or embarrassed about
their symptoms. To prevent anxiety symptoms or embarrassment, they avoid the triggers for the
phobia Know that your fears are not reasonable or not as big as you think they are, but you cannot
control them.

Have anxiety that gets worse as the situation or object gets closer to you physically or in time
Types of the phobia –

The most common phobias are the specific phobia , social phobia , and the agoraphobia

Specific phobias – the most common type of the phobia . where the people will be developing
phobias based on the specific type of the animals , situations , and the environment . in this they
have many subtypes –

Entomophobia – it is the phobia due to the fear of the insects . also known as the insectophobia .
Entomophobia may develop after the person has had a traumatic experience with the
insect(s). It may develop early or later in life and is quite common among animal phobias. Typically,
one has a fear of one specific type of insect. However, in some cases, this fear may encompass all
organisms of the phylum Arthropoda. Entomophobia leads to behavioral changes: the person with
entomophobia will avoid situations where they may encounter a specific type of insect.

Ophidiophobia - Ophidiophobia is an extreme, overwhelming fear of snakes. It’s more intense than
the common, generalized fear of snakes. Ophidiophobia is an anxiety disorder that interferes with
your daily life or sense of safety. Have a panic attack when they see or hear something that might be
a snake (like a rope or a hiss).

Have intense anxiety at the mere mention of a [Link] extreme action to avoid snakes, such as
choosing where to live or refusing to go outdoors.

Fear of the environment or the situations such as the –

Acrophobia – it is the fear of the heights , Walking up a flight of stairs. Being on a ladder. Looking out
of the window is are some environment the people will experience the acrophobia . Most people
experience a degree of natural fear when exposed to heights, known as the fear of falling. On the
other hand, those who have little fear of such exposure are said to have a head for heights. A head
for heights is advantageous for hiking or climbing in mountainous terrain and also in certain jobs
such as steeplejacks or wind turbine mechanics.

People with acrophobia can experience a panic attack in high places and become too agitated to get
themselves down safely .

Agoraphobia - Agoraphobia is the anxiety that occurs when one is in a public or crowded place, from
which a potential escape is difficult, or help may not be readily available. It is characterized by the
fear that a panic attack or panic-like symptoms may occur in these situations. Individuals with
agoraphobia, therefore, strive to avoid such situations or locations . Agoraphobia often results in
having a hard time feeling safe in any public place, especially where crowds gather and in locations
that are not familiar. You may feel that you need a companion, such as a family member or friend, to
go with you to public places. The fear can be so overwhelming that you may feel you can't leave your
home.

Agoraphobia treatment can be challenging because it means confronting your fears

Astraphobia- is an abnormal fear of thunder and lightning or an unwarranted fear of scattered

and/or isolated thunderstorms, a type of specific phobia. A typical sign that someone has
astraphobia is a very heightened interest in weather forecasts. A person with astraphobia may be
alert for news of incoming storms A person with astraphobia will often feel anxious during a
thunderstorm even when they understand that the threat to them is minimal Many people who have
astraphobia will look for extra shelter from the storm.[1] They might hide underneath a bed, under
the covers, Efforts are usually made to smother the sound of the thunder; the person may cover
their ears or curtain the windows.

The types of the phobias based on the situations are –

Aerophobia - Aerophobia is an extreme fear of flying in an airplane. People with aerophobia may be
scared about different aspects of flying, such as take-off, landing or getting locked in the plane.
Aerophobia is most common in people between the ages of 17 and 34. This is a time in life when
significant changes occur, such as graduation, marriage or childbirth. People may be scared that
flying jeopardizes their life at such an important time. It’s possible for someone to fly without anxiety
for years, and then develop aerophobia.

Nyctophobia - Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among toddlers, children and, to a
varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a
fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Most toddlers and children outgrow it,
but this fear persists for some with scotophobia and anxiety. It is triggered by the brain's disfigured
perception of what would, or could, happen when in a night-time environment. It can also be
temporarily triggered if the mind is unsteady or scared about recent events or ideas, or a partaking in
content the brain considers a threat .

The advantages of the phobia – generally the phobia is a fear of the given situation , which vary for
many persons . phobias helps protect us. It makes us alert to danger and prepares us to deal with it.
Feeling afraid is very natural — and helpful — in some situations. Fear can be like a warning, a signal
that cautions us to be careful. Like all emotions, fear can be mild, medium, or intense, depending on
the situation and the person. A feeling of fear can be brief or it can last longer. This response is
known as "fight or flight" because that is exactly what the body is preparing itself to do: fight off the
danger or run fast to get away. The body stays in this state of fight–flight until the brain receives an
"all clear" message and turns off the response .

Disadvantages of the phobia - Phobias can limit your daily activities and may cause severe anxiety
and depression. Complex phobias, such as agoraphobia and social phobia, are more likely to cause
these symptoms.

You don't have to be in the situation you're fearful of to experience the symptoms of panic. The brain
is able to create a reaction to fearsome situations even when you aren't actually in the situation.

Phobia can interrupt processes in our brains that allow us to regulate emotions, read non-verbal
cues and other information presented to us, reflect before acting, and act ethically. This impacts our
thinking and decision-making in negative ways, leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and
impulsive reactions. All of these effects can leave us unable to act appropriately.

The diagnosis and the treatment for the phobias are –

The best treatment for specific phobias is a form of therapy called exposure therapy. Sometimes your
health care professional also may recommend other therapies or medicine. Knowing the cause of a
phobia is less important than focusing on how to treat the avoidance behavior that has developed
over time.

Exposure therapy. This therapy focuses on changing your response to the object or situation that you
fear. Gradual, repeated exposure to the source of your specific phobia, and the related thoughts,
feelings and sensations, may help you learn to manage your anxiety.
One of the main ways to treat a phobia is by helping you adjust your thinking and behaviors
surrounding your fear. Mental health therapy (psychotherapy) is one of the most useful ways to do
this. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common type of therapy that helps with this.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated
to be effective for phobias CBT is based on several core principles, including:

1. Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking of phobic
situations .

2. Psychological problems are based, in part, of unhelpful behavior.

3. People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them,
thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives

4. Systematic desensitization (graded exposure). This involves gradually

exposing you to parts of triggers slowly. Over time, your provider will help you
work through parts of your fears from least to most troubling. It also helps you
practice adjusting your thinking and behaviors to manage feelings of fear and
anxiety.
5. Flooding. This technique is similar to desensitization, but it involves exposing
you to the phobia triggers themselves, not in small bits over time.

Medicines may be used during treatment at first or for short-term use in specific, occasionally
encountered situations, such as flying on an airplane, public speaking or going through an MRI
procedure.

These medicines include:

 Beta blockers. These drugs block the stimulating effects of adrenaline, such as increased
heart rate, high blood pressure, pounding heart, and shaking voice and limbs that anxiety
causes.

 Sedatives. Medicines called benzodiazepines help you relax by lowering your anxiety.
Sedatives are used with caution because they can be addictive. They should not be used if
you have a history of alcohol or drug dependence.