What Is Phobia? Reasons, Common Types, Risk, Treatment, And More

What Is Phobia?

Contents

Phobia originated from the Greek word Phobos means – Fear.

Phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, which involves fear or excessive fear of an:

Object (a spider, cat, lizard)
place (height, elevator, etc)
situation (marriage, meeting with people, etc.)

NOTE: If someone has a phobia of something, then he created fear, and anxiety in his mind about it, from which he wants to get out in any condition.

Phobia influence can range from mildly fearful to severe.

In this, the mental state of the person becomes such that he considered his fear to be irrational. about it, he is unable to do anything.

Which gets serious day by day, if not treated quickly, and it can interfere person’s personal life too.

In Asia, 2 to 4% person suffers from a phobia of anything.

And In America 8 to 18% person is a phobia. also occur in childhood but a person is often first noticed b/w the ages of 15 to 20.

2. Common Types of phobia

However, the phobia has many types, like:

Marriage phobia
injection
cloud lighting
blood
water
running phobia, etc., and it develops from some past experience or circumstances.

But here are tell you about the main types of phobia. there are 3 main types of phobia which include:

Specific Phobia

According to the diagnosis manual, between 7 to 9% of any community may suffer from a specific phobia.

Specific phobias, such as a phobia of particular things like:

Aerophobia – You must hear that the person does not travel by flight. because they have fear of flying, this condition is called aerophobia.

Cynophobia – In this, a person’s fear of dogs, basically, they feel uncomfortable with barking or being around dogs.

Arachnophobia – This means fear of spiders.

Hemophobia – In this, a person has a phobia of blood, they feel dizzy or faint when they see blood. whether it’s own or someone else’s.

Gamophobia – Many people are afraid of marriage or relationships, they are afraid of getting married.

Nyctophobia: Fear of the darkness or nighttime. it is mostly seen in childhood during light off. If it is not removed from the mind of children, then it takes the form of phobia.

Acrophobia – In this person’s fear of heights, signs are sweating, dizziness, and loss of consciousness, so they can deny mountain climbing, bridges, and higher floors of buildings.

Hydrophobia – In this, the person is fear of water, even in Rabies, a person is afraid of water.

Glossophobia – A person’s fear of speaking or performing in front of an audience.

Ophidiophobia – This is a kind of phobia, where a person fears snakes, normal people are also afraid but they have a simple fear, which is different from a phobia.

Claustrophobia – In this, a person fears enclosed or tight spaces.

For example – if there is a lot of crowd in a small space, then the person starts suffocating, this condition is called claustrophobia.

If it goes to an extreme level, then the person may also get a panic attack. a situation like Traveling on a bus, metro, or driving a car.

There are many other types of phobia including:

Octophobia is the fear of 8
Triskaidekaphobia is fear of 13 numbers
Trypophobia is fear of closely-packed holes
Acousticophobia is the fear of sound
Kathisophobia is the fear of sitting down
Venustraphobia is a fear of beautiful women.

Social Phobia

In this, a person fears social interaction, so they prefer to avoid it.

People who have social phobia start experiencing social anxiety and are unable to interact with anyone.

Because they feel that if they talk to someone, people will judge or humiliate them this is social phobia.

They normally fear the simplest interactions such as ordering in restaurants, talking on the telephone, and public speaking, which can cause panic attacks.

Agoraphobia

A person fears a very crowded place.

such places where it seems that there are a lot of crowds and feels that I can’t get out of there, so fear of that place is called Agoraphobia.

They often avoid crowded places, get-togethers, etc. many people get a panic attack in such situations if they can’t get out of that place.

3. Causes of phobia

Brain Chemistry

If something happens to us like seeing blood, at that time, there is a chemical or enzyme reaction in our brain, and if this accident happens again.

Then the same chemical can trigger again, that’s which reminds us same things, this is called brain chemistry.

Arise from a combination of the external and internal events

If a person had fallen from a height in childhood, due to which he was hurt or fractured.

Then even after growing up if they will go height, then they started to relate to the same things to themselves, due to which phobia starts.

Traumatic Experiences

If a person has been harmed by something in the past or if fear has developed in a crucial movement, then its phobia remains somewhere inside.

Genes

It has been observed that it can also come from the parents.

If the parent has a phobia of something, then there is the possibility of it coming into the child too.

In childhood, there can be little fear or phobia of anything in children, but it goes away on its own within 6 months, if it does not go, then it can remain lifelong.

4. Signs and Symptoms

The most commonly seen symptom of phobia is a panic attack other are include:

Immediate anxiety (when contact with a fearful object, whatever is it like cockroaches, spiders, blood, etc)
Excessive sweating
Increase heart rate
Shortness of breath
High blood pressure
Confusion
Avoidance of activities
nausea
Vomitting
Dry mouth
Feel like Uriane ejaculation
Rapid speaking
Shaking

In children, parents may observe a baby crying, becoming very clingy, and trying to hide behind a parent or objects.

5. What Happen To the Brain During Phobia?

There are certain areas in our brain that store or remember dangerous events.

If a person re-faces some event in life, the brain retrieves the same stressful situation that happened before.

This causes the body to experience the same reaction.

And In phobia, the areas of the brain that deal with fear and stress keep retrieving the event.

6. How doctor Diagnose it?

It is recommended that the terms distress and impairment take into account the context of the person’s environment during diagnosis (2).

A mental doctor can diagnose these things include:

Taking family history (In this, the doctor can know about your family history, whether anyone in your family ever had a phobia or not.

Physical examination, (that person does not have any other problem)

Mental state examination (MSC)

Biochemical test – In this, the Professional checks neurotransmitter levels, and are if all neurotransmitters working properly or not. all properly released or not.

7. Risk Factors

People with a genetic phobia of anxiety may be at high risk of developing a phobia.

Women are more likely to have animal phobias.

Children or people with low social status are more likely to have social phobias.

8. Treatment of phobia

Phobias are highly treatable. talking to a psychologist or psychiatrist is useful, that treating phobia.

There are various methods used to treat phobias include – systematic desensitization, relaxation, virtual reality, medicine, therapy, and modeling.

Pharmacological Treatment

In this, doctors provide medication only for social phobia and Agoraphobia.

NOTE: Specific phobia is not cured by medication. but if the person is getting a lot of stress and panic, then medicine is given to reduce it medicines like anti-depression, etc, but is not a long-term treatment.

Medicines like – Anti-anxiety, and antidepressants are given for social and agoraphobia.

Therapeutic Treatment

In the treatment, the psychologist can give some other therapies including:

Behavioral, Group, Cognitive, and individual therapy, these all therapies are commonly used.

Exposure therapy – In which the person is interacting with the same thing or in the same condition that he is afraid of.

So that they get exposed to it and can take out their fear.

Exposure therapy is mostly used in Army.

Virtual Reality therapy – In this, the person is made to imagine, and face his fear so that he can get out of his fear.

BOTTOM LINE