Phobias
Everyone feels anxious or uneasy from
time to time. Your first day on a new job, planning for a long trip,
going to the dentist....your palms sweat, you feel shaky, your heart
pounds. Some anxiety helps to keep you focused on the job at hand.
However, when your anxiety is so serious that it interferes with your
work, leads you to avoid certain situations or keeps you from enjoying
life, you may be suffering from a form of the most common type of
mental disorder, an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are not just a case
of "nerves." You can't overcome an anxiety disorder just through
willpower, nor can the symptoms be ignored or wished away. These
disorders cause you to feel anxious most of the time, making some
everyday situations so uncomfortable that you may avoid them entirely.
Or, you may experience occasional instances of anxiety that are so
terrifying and intense that you may be immobilized with fear.
Although these conditions can be very
frightening and disabling, they are also very treatable. It is
important to recognize the symptoms and seek help.
Specifically, Phobias afflict as many
as 12 percent of all Americans. They are the most common psychiatric
illness in women and the second most common in men over age 25.
Phobias are not all the same. There are three main groups 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.
Agoraphobia causes people to
suffer anxiety about being in places or situations from which it might
be difficult or embarrassing to escape--such as being in a room full
of people or in an elevator. In some cases, panic attacks can become
so debilitating that the person may develop agoraphobia because they
fear another panic attack. In extreme cases, a person with agoraphobia
may be afraid to leave their house.
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 phobias strike more than 1 in
10 people. No one knows what causes them, though they seem to run in
families and are slightly more prevalent in women. Specific phobias
usually begin in adolescence or adulthood. They start suddenly and
tend to be more persistent than childhood phobias; only about 20
percent of adult phobias vanish on their own. When children have
specific phobias--for example, a fear of animals--those fears usually
disappear over time, though they may continue into adulthood. No one
knows why they persist in some people and disappear in others.
Examples of specific phobias include
persistent fear of dogs, insects, or snakes; driving a car; heights;
tunnels or bridges; thunderstorms; and/or flying.
Social Phobia can produce fear
of being humiliated or embarrassed in front of other people. This
problem may also be related to feelings of inferiority and low
self-esteem, and can drive a person to drop out of school, avoid
making friends, and remain unemployed.
Although this disorder is sometimes
thought to be shyness, it is not the same thing. Shy people do not
experience extreme anxiety in social situations, nor do they
necessarily avoid them. In contrast, people with social phobia can be
at ease with people most of the time, except in particular situations.
Often social phobia is accompanied by depression or substance abuse.
People suffering from social phobia may:
- view small mistakes as more
exaggerated than they really are
- find blushing as painfully
embarrassing
- feel that all eyes are on them
- fear speaking in public, dating, or
talking with persons in authority
- fear using public restrooms or
eating out
- fear talking on the phone or writing
in front of others
There Is Hope
- No one should have to endure the
terror of phobias or the unrelenting anticipatory anxiety that often
accompanies them. Phobias can be overcome with proper treatment.
- A person suffering from a phobia is
suffering from a diagnosable illness, and mental health
professionals take this illness very seriously.
- A complete medical and psychiatric
evaluation should be conducted by a licensed physician or
psychologist to obtain an accurate diagnosis and ensure that the
symptoms are not being caused by another condition.
- Lastly, it is crucial to comply with
treatment, and to work closely with the therapist in order to
achieve success.
Behavioral therapy and
cognitive-behavioral therapy are very effective in treating these
disorders.
Behavioral therapy
focuses on changing specific actions and uses different techniques to
stop this behavior. One technique involves diaphragmatic breathing
which is a form of deep-breathing. Another technique called exposure
therapy gradually exposes the patient to the object or situation which
frightens him/her and helps the patient to develop coping skills.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
teaches the persons new skills in order to react differently to the
situations which trigger the anxiety or panic attacks. Patients also
learn to understand how their thinking patterns contribute to the
symptoms and how to change their thinking to reduce or stop these
symptoms.
Source: National Mental Health
Association
