Causes, types, and treatments of specific phobias

¶ … Managing Phobias

Phobias are seen to be unreasonable, and overwhelming fear of objects or situations posing little or no danger and evoke anxiety and avoidance. Specific phobias are known to last longer than the usual fears, and they cause psychological and intense physical reactions. The phobias are known to affect one's ability to function normally in the workplace, social setting and even at school. Causes, types, and symptoms of specific phobias have been presented to show readers the relevance of understanding how to go about dealing with this anxiety disorder. Specific phobias are known to be common anxiety disorders, and there are treatments and therapies for these disorders. Mental health professionals are specialists who work with patients facing phobias, and through them, they overcome their fears. It is imperative to understand that phobias are commonly treated without medications, but if a doctor prescribed the medicine, then they are to be taken in adherence to specifications.

Phobias

For some individuals, they are not comfortable about getting flu shots because they are a little scared of the needle that is in the doctor's hand. Sometimes, others are scared of crawling spiders, and this is often an uncommon feeling. However, when the fear becomes so high to the extent of not functioning or working with difficulties, it becomes something else. In such instances, these are referred to as phobias. According to Mcgill (2015), a phobia is an anxiety type of disorder where an individual has an excess fear of certain situations or objects. As such, phobias are seen as anxiety disorder types and we have major disorders that include the obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder (Chong & Hovanec, 2011).

According to reports from the National Institute of Mental Health, Americans with a specific phobia are estimated to total 19.2 million adults. The specific phobias in women are twice as common in women as compared to the male gender. Many scientists assert that these phobias develop when one is in his or her childhood stage if not in early adulthood, and the common ones include driving in highways, heights, tunnels, injuries with blood or flying among others (Mcgill, 2015).

Types of Phobias

Phobias are categorized as specific, social, and agoraphobia. Looking at specific phobias, they are disorders where people fear situations, objects or activities such as airplane flights, germs or insects (Chong & Hovanec, 2011). Social phobias are those fears where individuals are embarrassed mostly in public places while engaging in activities like writing, speaking or eating. Lastly, agoraphobics are those where an individual panics for being in an open or public space such as playing fields. There is also claustrophobia, which is the fear associated with confined spaces.

Symptoms of Phobias

The symptoms can be things such as the feeling of light-headedness, increased heart rate (palpitations), shaking, sweating, nausea, breath shortness, and stomach anxiety. The other signs would be behavioral such in the avoidance of certain places or even situations by an individual. As such, the person will tend to avoid things like flying or places with heights and even places like deserts where they can encounter scorpions or other insects such as spiders or snakes (Mcgill, 2015).

Another symptom associated to phobias is evident when an individual becomes overly worried about an upcoming event and its consequences. For instance, someone might worry a much on what might happen if you attend a doctor's appointment that requires your blood to be drawn. For such instances, a person cannot tell whether they have phobias because not anxiety signs are evident since their lives do not involve them facing the situations (Mcgill, 2015). However, when individuals face the situations eventually, their fear becomes excess and such distresses are significant.

Treatment of Phobias

The treatment of simple phobias is done through continuous exposure to the animal, object, situation or place causing the anxiety and fear. The common term for this is self-exposure or desensitization. Counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychotherapy are methods used in treating complex phobias. The medications that treat phobias include tranquilizers, antidepressants, and beta-blockers ("Phobias," 2016).

Conclusion

Phobias have been identified as a class of psychological problems that occur in public. They are marked be characterized by marked fear of specific situations or stimulus linked to selected domains like blood-injection-injury and even the natural environment. The response systems to fear manifest as physiological or subjective sometimes becoming excessive to the extent of hindering the daily functioning of a person. Exposure is the common form of treatment of phobias, which results in network correction and fear reduction.

References:

"Phobias." NHS Choices. Retrieved from http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Phobias/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Chong, E. S. & Hovanec, E. M. (2011). Phobias. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group.

McGill, N. (2015). Phobias: Learning how to face your fears. The Nation's Health, 45(4), 24-24.