Do you have a fear of snakes, mice, elevators, or heights? Learn when a fear becomes a phobia. Discover the symptoms and treatments available.
While walking along the sidewalk, you suddenly spot the creature. It is
looking at you with its large eyes. The animal begins to walk toward
you. You freeze. Your heart beats faster, your hands begin to shake, and
you experience difficulty in breathing. “Move!” you tell yourself,
but you are frozen to the spot.
What is this awful creature that is causing you so much distress? It’s
only a tiny Chihuahua.
If you are like many others who suffer from cynophobia, this critter
can be the cause a real panic attack.
A phobia, from the Greek word meaning fear, is defined as an irrational
fear, an intense unrealistic fear. It affects approximately 12% of the
American population. Everyone experiences anxiety at some time. Perhaps
you are expected to give a speech. It is normal to be a bit uneasy or anxious
about the speech, but it becomes a phobia if you worry abut it for weeks prior.
If you have a fear of heights, but still visit your mother who lives on the
49th floor of a high rise apartment building, then your fear is not interfering
with your life. Most fears do not cause a major disruption in day to day
living. Therefore, it is common for people to develop ways of coping with their
fears. Usually there is some form of avoidance, such as taking an
alternate route to work to evade a bridge. Sometimes, the person will just
endure the stress and anxiety caused by the fear.
The causes for developing phobias are not known. Sometimes
these fears begin during childhood. It is thought to be a learned
process, such as if a parent fears storms, the child may come to dread a storm
as well. Another example is if one was bitten by a dog as a
youngster, he may have a fear of dogs as an adult. This is
understandable. However, it really does not matter how the phobia developed.
The important element is whether it interferes with living your life and if so,
then one needs to seek treatment.
If a fear makes everyday living impossible, if it keeps you from working or
enjoying everyday life, then it has become a phobia. If your fear of dentists
means that you let your teeth rot, then it is interfering with a normal life.
If your fear of elevators prevents you from going to your place of employment,
then it is time to seek treatment which can be quite effective according
to the Mayo Clinic.
Phobias are classified into three groups:
Specific phobia:
Specific phobia, the most common type, is an irrational fear of an object or
a specific situation. The most frequent is fear of animals such as dogs (cynophobia),
spiders (arachnophobia), or snakes (ophidiophobia). Specific phobias such
as a fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) and fear of heights (acrophobia)
is in this category.
These phobias, occurring in one out of every ten Americans are relatively
safe and stem from an intense dread of an object. Usually the person who
suffers this phobia is aware that the object is comparatively safe and the fear
is irrational. One knows that airplanes are a reasonably safe means of
transportation, safer than traveling by auto. Yet, many people are
intensely afraid of flying.
Phobia List
Triskadekaphobia--fear of #13
Ornithophobia--fear of birds
Gephyrophobia--fear of bridges or crossing bridges
Odontiatophobia or Dentophobia--fear of the dentist
Acrophobia--fear of heights
Agoraphobia:
As defined by the American Psychiatric Association, “Agoraphobia is the fear
of being alone in any place or situation from which it would be difficult or
help unattainable should the need arise.” Most people will develop this
disorder after experiencing an intense panic attack in a situation such as
being in a room full of people or on a busy street. These attacks are random
and the person fears another. The person eventually becomes afraid to
leave their own home. This is the most debilitating of the phobias.
Social phobia:
Social phobia is an intense fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in
public. This may be connected to low self-esteem. A person with this
phobia can be unemployed, avoids making friends, and lives a rather lonely
existence. Those with social phobia may exhibit these behaviors: view small
mistakes as exaggerated, feel all eyes are upon them, afraid of talking to
persons in authority.
General symptoms of phobias:
Phobias are emotional but cause the body to exhibit physical symptoms.
Feelings of panic and dread or terror
Recognition that the fear is abnormal
Reactions that are involuntary and out of control
Rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, sweating, intense anxiety,
and an
overwhelming desire to leave the situation
Extreme measures taken to avoid the feared object or situation
Impaired ability to function at normal tasks due to fear
Taking usual measure to avoid the cause of your fear
Treatment:
According to the American Psychiatric Association, phobias are treatable.
Treatment can be through medication, behavior modification, or
cognitive-behavioral therapy. In behavior modification, which is effective with
those who experience object or situational phobias such as fear of flying
(pterygophobia), a trained therapist assists the person to confront his fears
and to control his physical reaction. This may done through a form of deep
breathing or exposure therapy in which the person is gradually exposed to his fear
and shown coping skills.
Medications can be added in the treatment of panic attacks associated with
agoraphobia or social phobia. Paxil, an antidepressant, has been approved
by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for social phobia.
Beta Blockers work by blocking the stimulating effect of epinephrine
(adrenaline) which increases heart rate and elevates blood pressure. A sedative
in a low dose can be prescribed for a short period.
Most people have some fear or aversion to some object or situation in
life. It is when this fear becomes so intense that it causes not only an
emotional reaction, but a physical one as well, that it becomes a phobia.
When life has become miserable due to fear, when leaving the house becomes
impossible, when employment becomes difficult, seek treatment. There is
hope. Remember an old German proverb: “Fear makes the wolf bigger than he
is.”