Mental Health and 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.

Causes of Phobias

Genetics and environment are factors that fuel phobia and brings out the possibility of individuals being predisposed to anxiety experience. Events in an individual's personal environment can also trigger anxiety such as being on a plane that is experiencing turbulence. Additionally, there are those people who trigger their fears by watching news reports. The common misconceptions held by individuals is that the fears arise from having a bad experience or encounter with the event or situations like being bitten by a snake.

The signs or symptoms that have been raised are vital for people to observe and look into because if they are present, then the individual will need to seek assistance from a mental health professional. The need for a mental health professional relates to eh classification of phobias mental illnesses. The visit to the specialist will aid in finding the severity of the symptoms and whether any impairments exist, how do they function. Through the assessment, the professional will then work with the individual in helping to overcome one's fears. In essence, whether one has a phobia or not, several strategies of managing them exist. Occasionally, people feel stressed, but some things can be done that will lessen the amount of tension felt (Chong & Hovanec, 2011).