On the United We Care mental health platform, you can find therapists who are trained to help people with phobias understand and treat their phobias and emotional responses.
What is a Phobia?
Do you have a fear of insects, water or heights to an extent that you find it hard to stay emotionally stable when put in such a situation? This might be a phobia. A phobia is an intense irrational fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation.
Types of Phobias
The most common phobias include:
Acrophobia - fear of heights
Aerophobia - fear of flying
Arachnophobia - fear of spiders
Astraphobia - fear of thunder and lightning
Autophobia - fear of being alone
Claustrophobia -fear of confined or crowded spaces
Hemophobia -fear of blood
Hydrophobia - fear of water
Ophidiophobia - fear of snakes
Zoophobia - fear of animals
Examples of Phobias
One could have a phobia of flying, heights, animals, receiving an injection, or seeing blood.
Effects of Phobias
People with phobias can develop psychological disorders like social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, panic disorder, OCD, trauma related disorder, eating disorder or schizophrenic disorders. Phobias can intervene with a person’s daily functioning and create chaos in their social, personal and professional life.
Causes of Phobias
Phobias are usually caused due to an uncomfortable or stressful experience of the phobic object in childhood, high anxiety paired with the phobic object, a frightening event, or learned behavior by someone at home or in the family.
Symptoms of Phobias
The common symptoms of phobia are out of proportion fear and anxiety, vomiting, fatigue, trouble functioning, shaking, goose bumps, and rapid breathing.
Therapy for Phobias| Phobia Treatment
Phobias can be treated by 2 main approaches: Medication and Psychotherapy.
Medication
Medication is used to reduce the symptoms of phobias. Medication works better when used in conjunction with psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy
In psychotherapy, the two main therapies are used to treat phobias are:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The purpose of CBT is to help the client overcome negative automatic thoughts which results in phobic reactions, and teaching them to overcome their fear by changing the way they think and react.
Exposure Therapy
In exposure therapy, also known as desensitization, the client is exposed to the fear gradually.