Let’s talk about phobias

In the past few days we have discussed about Agoraphobia and the clown case. Today with this post I want to make a more general approach on the subject of phobias.

Phobias are intense, unjustified and extremely hard to control fears that some people experience before a certain situation or circumstance. In general, the person suffering from this pathology realizes their situation and, despite that, can not get away from the supposed threat. Phobias are a very real problem for people who suffer from it, so many times they do not dare to express it for fear of being rejected or ridiculed in some way. Approximately 5% of the world population suffers from phobia and women tend to suffer more than men.

It is necessary to know that having a phobia and having fear aren’t the same things, although they can be easily confused.

What is fear:

a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain. | Source

What is a phobia:

a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it. | Source

When suffering from irrational fears, a proper self inspection is a good first step to realize what is happening

Some people think phobias are nothing more than fear of a situation, idea, or perhaps even an animal, leading them to diagnose themselves in a wrong way. When having fear we can identify the origin or reason causing it, while, usually, the phobia does not have a reference or objective reason for its existence. For example, someone may be afraid of a dark street, because sometime ago this person was assaulted; it is a reason that has a true and real origin. But if you were afraid of a tunnels for example, without ever being assaulted, robbed nor suffering any accident inside a tunnel, it would be a phobia, since there is no objective reason to be scared of it. However, there certainly are fears that might turn into phobias because of their magnitude over the person.

Our mind has generated different intrinsic fears that accompany us during our life and that were extremely important for our survival in more primitive times, for example when seeing an animal bigger than us we choose not to fight against it, since we would probably lose.

Some are more rational and have a proper justification (fears) and others are irrational and with no justification for its origin (phobias). The situations in which they are triggered are obviously for the most part those moments where the person, for different reasons, is subjected to stress. The phobia is always accompanied by a surprising and irrevocable anxiety. The response is absolutely illogical and impulsive, generating states of genuine panic and intense and disproportionate fear, the person almost literally lose control over his/her actions and the corresponding movements.

What is the cause of this condition?

One of the possible reasons that cause a specific phobia to arise consist in traumatic experiences suffered in childhood, to which years later it is associated with another element that causes intense fear. Some phobias are caused from unknown issues, although usually the source can be identified in one way or another. It is also noteworthy that many phobias can manifest themselves completely out of nowhere; that is, they do not respond exactly to the origin. For example, a person can have coulrophobia, but after a study, it is discovered that the origin has nothing to do with clowns, but with a totally different traumatic event. Because of this, identifying the cause, and treating a phobia is no easy job

The extreme fear of heights is called acrophobia

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. | Source

We must not forget the fact that phobias can also be caused due to genetic transmission and also due to hereditary traits. In the genetic case there would be a predisposition to succumb to this intense fears. In the hereditary case the conditioning of the family previous learning would have huge influence. For example, a father with coulrophobia would transmit his fear of clowns to his children, so it would not be a genetic inheritance but a learned behavior.

Types of phobias

They can be classified into three types:

Social phobia (social anxiety)

Is an anxiety disorder characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. People with social anxiety disorder have a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and of being embarrassed or humiliated by their own actions. | Source

The trigger consist on situations of certain social activity in which the individual experiences extreme discomfort with physical symptoms such as sweating, dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath, among others. The most common situations are the fear of talking to strangers and speaking in public. As a result, the person can be faced with serious social relationship problems, isolation and loneliness.

Specific phobia

Is an unrealistic or extreme fear of a specific situation, object, or setting that might make the average person only slightly uncomfortable or that most people would consider to carry only a slight risk of danger. | Source

The extreme fear of spiders is called arachnophobia

There are several types of phobias, among which are those that consist on a certain situation (fear of traveling by plane, climbing escalators, talking in public) phobias to certain objects (sharp elements, ropes, dolls,). or environmental fears (rain, thunder, lightning). There are also phobias to animals, such as zoophobia (fear of animals in general) or a particular animal (dogs, rats, spiders). Other specific phobias are those that have to do with the fear of contracting some type of disease.

Generalized anxiety.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is much more than the normal anxiety people experience day to day. It is chronic and sufferers experience severe worry and tension, often without provocation. | Source

In other words, this consist in the anguish and worry that the affected person experience before a great variety of events. This state is difficult to control and usually lasts for a few months at least. The symptoms associated with this disorder are

Feeling tired for no reason

Headaches

Muscle tension and aches

Having a hard time swallowing

Trembling or twitching

Sweating

Nausea | Source

Conclusion

Teamwork makes is easier for the person to overcome the condition

It is important to remember that phobias do not disappear by themselves. Its recurrence on the affected person is permanent and lasting and they do not usually disappear overnight, so the journey to overcoming them is a long and slow one, and it depends greatly in the affected person decision to really take upon this challenge. No treatment will be useful if there is no conscious decision to seek professional help and propose to comply with the recommended guidelines.

The treatment for a phobia inevitably involves the help of a professional, who is the person who can properly diagnose the extent of the disorder or, if appropriate, determine whether it is really a phobia, an anxiety disorder or something circumstantial.

And as it usually the case with this cases, a constant support from the family is necessary so the affected person doesn’t feel alone. Having support from our loved ones always makes everything easier, the same applies when it comes to issues like these.

References