Phobia

PHOBIA
INTRODUCTION:
· Phobia arises from a combination of external events and internal predispositions.
· It is the most common form of anxiety disorder.
· Many specific phobias can be traced back to a specific triggering event, usually a traumatic experience at an early age.
· Social phobias and agoraphobia have more complex causes that are not entirely known at this time.
· It is believed that heredity, genetics, and brain chemistry combine with life experiences to play a major role in the development of anxiety disorders, phobias and panic attacks.
· An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias
CLASSIFICATION:
· Social phobia- fears involving other people
– generalized social phobia
– specific social phobia
· Specific phobias - fear of a single specific panic trigger such as spiders, snakes etc.
SOME COMMON PHOBIAS:
· Acrophobia— fear of heights
· Agoraphobia — fear of places or events where escape is impossible
· Ailurophobia— fear of cats
· Algophobia— fear of pain
· Anthropophobia — fear of people or being in a company
· Aquaphobia — fear of water
· Astraphobia — fear of thunder, lightning and storms
· Autophobia— fear of being alone
· Aviophobia — fear of flying.
· Bacillophobia— fear of microbes and bacteria
TREATMENT:
· Some therapists use virtual reality or imagery exercise to desensitize patients to the feared entity.
· Cognitive behavioral therapy lets the patient understand the cycle of negative thought patterns, and ways to change these thought patterns.
· Anti-anxiety or anti-depression medications can be of assistance in many cases.
· Emotional Freedom Technique, a psychotherapeutic alternative medicine tool is allegedly useful.
posted by,
S.Javed Imtiaz Ahmed
Pre final yr cse