Description

Specific phobias are an extreme fear of objects or situations that pose little or no danger, but they do very anxious. So try to stay away from these things. Unlike the brief anxiety you may feel when giving a speech or taking a test, specific phobias are long-lasting. Without treatment, the specific phobias tend to last a lifetime.

Phobias can cause severe physical, mental, and emotional responses. It can also affect the way you act at work, at school, or in social situations.

Specific phobias are common anxiety disorders. In general, occur more frequently in women. Not all phobias need to be treated. But if a specific phobia affects your daily life, various types of therapies available to help you work through and conquer your fears — often forever.

Symptoms

A specific phobia involves a strong, long-lasting fear of a specific object or situation that is much greater than the actual risk. There are many types of phobias. It is common to have a specific phobia about more than one object or situation. Specific phobias may also occur along with other types of anxiety disorders.

The common types of specific phobias are fears of:

  • Situations, such as aircraft, driving, enclosed places, or go to school.
  • Nature, such as storms, heights or the dark.
  • Animals or insects, such as dogs, snakes, or spiders.
  • Blood, injection, or injury, such as needles, accidents or medical procedures.
  • Others, such as choking, vomiting, loud noises, or clowns.

Each specific phobia has a name. Phobia comes from the Greek word "phobos" meaning fear. Examples of more common names include acrophobia the fear of heights and claustrophobia, the fear of confined spaces.

Not matter what specific phobia you have, you can:

  • Feel intense fear, anxiety and panic immediately when exposed or even think about what causes the fear.
  • Know that your fears are not reasonable, or is not as great as you think you are, but you cannot control them.
  • Having anxiety that gets worse as the situation or the object is closer to you physically or in time.
  • Do everything possible to stay away from an object or situation, or the face of extreme anxiety or fear.
  • You have problems with daily activities because of your fear.
  • Have physical reactions, and feelings, including sweating, tachycardia, chest tightness, or difficulty breathing.
  • You feel like vomiting, or dizziness or fainting, especially around the blood or injury.

Children can have tantrums, or you can hold on, cry or refuse to leave of a parent, or focus of their fear.

When to see a doctor

An extreme fear can make life difficult — for example, taking long flights of stairs instead of the elevator. But it is not a specific phobia, unless that seriously disrupts your life. If the anxiety negatively affects the way you act at work, at school, or in social situations, talk with your doctor or other health care professional or a mental health professional.

Childhood fears, such as fear of the dark, monsters or of being alone, are common. The majority of children outgrow them. But if your child has a course, the deep fear that interferes with their way of acting in the school or in the daily work, talk with your child's doctor.

The right therapy can help the most people. And before you ask for help, it is more likely that the therapy is effective.

Causes

It is not yet known about the causes of specific phobias. The causes may include:

  • The bad experiences. Many phobias start because of a bad experience or panic attack related to a specific object or situation. Sometimes, even, to see or hear about a bad experience can be sufficient to trigger a phobia.
  • The genetic or learned behavior. There may be a link between specific phobia and phobia or anxiety of their parents. This could be due to a mixture of genetics and learned behaviors.
  • Brain function and structure. Those with specific phobias cause certain parts of the brain, whereas a person without these phobias do not have the same response in the brain. Also, a person with a specific phobia can have a different structure of the brain of a person without a specific phobia.

Risk factors

These factors can increase the risk of specific phobias:

  • Age. Specific phobias may appear for the first time when you are a child, usually by the age of 10 years. But it can occur later in life as well.
  • Their relatives. If a family member has a specific function, phobia or anxiety, you are more likely to develop it too. This could be something inherited from a blood relative. Or the child can learn specific phobias seeing how a member of the family reacts to an object or a situation.
  • Your temperament. The risk may be increased if you are more sensitive to the anxiety or you're more reserved or negative of what is typical.
  • A bad experience. A specific phobia can start when something frightening happens to you, such as being trapped in an elevator or attacked by an animal.
  • Learning about the bad experiences. Hearing about the bad experiences, such as an airplane crash, can cause a specific phobia to start.
  • Change your behavior. Avoidance is the most common way that people deal with phobias. In doing so, his anxiety typically gets worse.

Complications

Although the specific phobias may seem silly to others, which can be very annoying and harmful to the people who have them. These phobias can cause problems that affect many areas of life.

They can result in:

  • The Social isolation. Stay away from places and things that you're afraid that can cause problems at work or school, or in connections with others. Children with these disorders are at risk of problems in the school and the loneliness. They may also have problems in social situations if their behaviors are very different from those of their peers.
  • Mood disorders. Many people with specific phobias have depression and other anxiety disorders.
  • The misuse of substances. The stress of living with a severe specific phobia can lead to misuse of drugs or alcohol.
  • Suicide. Some people with specific phobias may be at risk of suicide.
  • The strain on loved ones. To try to avoid the feeling of anxiety, people often rely too much on to be reassured by others. This sometimes leads others to be too protective over the person with anxiety. For example, a father may turn out to be too protective of a child, resulting in more stress for the parents.

Diagnosis

You can start by seeing your primary care provider. You may also need to see a mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist. They can diagnose and treat specific phobias.

To diagnose a specific phobia, your health care professional or mental health professional may:

  • Talk with you to see what risk factors you may have.
  • Questions about your symptoms and taking a medical, mental health and social history.
  • Talk about what you're avoiding because of your fear.

Treatment

The best treatment for specific phobias is a form of therapy called exposure therapy. Sometimes, your healthcare provider may also recommend other therapies or medications. Knowing the cause of a phobia is less important than focusing on how to deal with the avoidance behavior that has developed over time.

The goal of treatment is to improve your quality of life, so that you are not limited by their phobias. As you learn how to better manage their responses, thoughts and feelings, the fear and the anxiety they get smaller and does not control your life. Normally, a specific phobia is treated at a time.

Talk therapy

To speak with a mental health professional can help you manage your specific phobia. The most effective treatments are:

  • The exposure therapy. This therapy focuses on changing your response to the object or situation that you fear. Gradual, repeated exposure to the source of their phobia-specific, and associated with thoughts, feelings and sensations can help you learn to manage their anxiety. For example, if you have a fear of elevators, their treatment can progress from simply thinking of entering an elevator, to look at the pictures of the elevators, to go close to an elevator, to get into an elevator. Next, you can take a single plant trip, after several floors, and then riding in an elevator full of people.
  • The cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Cognitive behavioral therapy involves gradual exposure combined with other forms to learn how to view and deal with the feared object or situation in a different way. Learn to challenge their concerns and to put up with uncomfortable feelings. CBT helps you learn how to create a sense of mastery and confidence with their thoughts and feelings instead of being overcome by them.

Medications

In general, the exposure therapy is a success specific phobias. But sometimes, medications can reduce anxiety and panic symptoms that feel, think or be exposed to the object or situation of fear.

The drug can be used during the treatment in the first or for short-term use in specific, occasionally situations occur, such as flying in a plane, speak in public or to go through an MRI procedure.

These medications include:

  • Beta-blockers. These drugs block the stimulation of the effects of adrenaline, such as increased heart rate, high blood pressure, pounding heart, and the trembling of the voice and of the members that anxiety causes.
  • The sedatives. Medications called benzodiazepines help you relax by reducing their anxiety. Sedatives are used with caution because they can be addictive. It should not be used if you have a history of alcohol or drug dependence.

Lifestyle and home remedies

Ask your doctor or other health professional suggest that the life-style and other strategies to help deal with the anxiety caused by the specific phobias. For example:

  • Mindfulness strategies can help you to learn how to manage anxiety and reduce avoidance behaviors.
  • Relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or yoga, may help deal with the physical symptoms of anxiety and stress.
  • Physical activity and exercise can help manage anxiety related to specific phobias.

Coping and support

Professional treatment can help you overcome your phobia specific or manage effectively so that you do not become a prisoner of his fears. You can also take some measures for your account:

  • Try not to stay away from the feared situations. The practice of staying close to feared objects or situations as much as you can instead of away from them completely. Family, friends and your therapist can help you work on this. Practice what you've learned in therapy and work with your therapist to create a plan if the symptoms get worse.
  • Reach out. Think about joining a self-help or support group where you can connect with other people who know what is going on.
  • Take care of yourself. Get enough rest, eat healthy and be physically active every day. Reduce or avoid the consumption of caffeine, which can worsen anxiety. And don't forget to celebrate the successes as things get better.

Helping your child cope with fears

As a parent, there's not much you can do to help your child cope with fears. For example:

  • Talk openly about the fears. Let your child know that everyone is afraid of the thoughts and feelings at times, but some more than others. Do not reduce the importance of the problem or criticize your child to be afraid. Instead, talk with your child about their thoughts and feelings and explain that you are there to listen and help.
  • Do not reinforce specific phobias. Take advantage of times that you can help your child overcome fears. If your child has a fear of the neighbors dog friendly, for example, do not go out of their way to stay away from the animals. Instead, help your child cope when faced with the dog, and show you ways to be brave. For example, you can offer your child the base of the house, waiting and offering support while your child the steps a little closer to the dog, and then returned to you for your safety. Over time, encourage your child to keep closing the distance.
  • Model positive behavior. Because children learn what they see, can show you how to respond when you are faced with something that your child is afraid or that you are afraid. In the first place can show fear, and then show how to work through fear.

If your child's fears continue, seem to be the extremes and in the way of daily life, talk with your child's doctor or other health care professional for advice.

Prevention

If you have a specific phobia, consider getting help, especially if you have children. Although the genetics probably plays an important role in how specific phobias start, seeing someone with a phobia, the answer time and time again can trigger a specific phobia in children.

By dealing with your own fears, you can teach your child how to face fears and inspire them to take bold actions, just like you did.

Preparing for your appointment

If you have taken the decision to seek help for specific phobia, which has taken a great first step. You can start by talking with your doctor or other primary care provider. Depending on your situation, you may be referred to a mental health professional to identify the problem and receive the appropriate treatment.

What you can do

Before your appointment, make a list of:

  • Their symptoms, even if they do not appear to be related to anxiety. Specific phobias can cause physical, emotional and mental distress.
  • Triggers, such as places or things that you're going to stay away from the cause of your anxiety and fears. Include how you've tried to deal with these triggers and what makes the situation better or worse.
  • Key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
  • All the drugs, vitamins, herbal products or other supplements you take, and the dose. Include alcohol or other drugs can be used to relieve your anxiety.
  • Questions to ask your doctor to make the most of your time together.

Questions could include:

  • Why did I develop this fear?
  • Will this fear go away on its own?
  • What can I do for my symptoms better?
  • What treatments are recommended?
  • It would be the exposure therapy or CBT helps me?
  • What are the side effects of the medications commonly used to treat this condition?
  • If I decide to take medications, how long will it take for my symptoms to improve?
  • What improvements can I expect if I follow the plan of treatment?
  • I have other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
  • Are there brochures or other printed material I can have?
  • What sites do you recommend?

Do not hesitate to ask questions during your appointment.

What to expect from your doctor

Your doctor may ask:

  • Avoid situations or places, because it is afraid that they are going to trigger your symptoms?
  • When did you first notice these symptoms?
  • When symptoms are more likely to occur?
  • Nothing seems to make your symptoms better or worse?
  • You have recently had an attack when he was scared or anxious of a sudden?
  • During these attacks of fear or anxiety, have you ever felt like I couldn't breathe, or as if he was having a heart attack?
  • It has recently been feeling nervous, anxious or on edge?
  • What other symptoms do you have?
  • How do your symptoms affect your life and the people closest to you?
  • Do you have any medical conditions?
  • Have been treated for other mental health problems in the past? If yes, what kind of therapy helped the most?
  • How often drink caffeinated beverages? How many caffeinated beverages do you drink?
  • How often do you drink alcohol or use drugs?
  • Have you ever thought of harming yourself?

Be prepared to answer questions to make sure that you have the time to go over points you want to spend more time.

Symptoms and treatment of Specific phobias