Phobias

PHOBIAS

What is a Phobia?

A phobia is really an extreme fear about something that is not actually dangerous. The stange thing about phobias is that people are usually able to realise that the phobia is not sensible when they are in a safe place, but it doesn't stop the fear when the object or situation that they fear is near.

What Types of Phobia are there?

Phobias are generally classed into 3 different groups:

SIMPLE PHOBIAS - could be called a single phobia. Includes things like a fear of flying, heights, spiders and has been known to include seemingly innocent objects like fruit. (Fruit? - Ed)
SOCIAL PHOBIAS - these are things to do with situations in public. Includes things like eating or speaking in public and generally leads to the person being afraid that they will do something horrendous or something bad is going to happen which will make other people look on them badly.
AGORAPHOBIA - this is often called claustrophobia. Includes things like a fear of enclosed spaces, using buses and trains, even just leaving the house. Agoraphobics often think that if they are put into their feared situation that they will collapse or lose control. Having an escape route generally relieves the situation a little in milder agoraphobics, as indeed it does with Social Phobics.

How Many People Suffer from Phobias?

Because people tend to be a bit secretive about phobias it's hard to knw exactly what proportion of people have phobias. Although about 1 in 9 people seems like a good estimate. Also, Phobias are common in children up to about the age of six.

How do People Develop Phobias?

The exact cause of phobias is not known, although one of the more common sense theories around suggests that phobias are learned fears. That is not to say that one major event triggers them off, in fact, very rarely is this the case. Typically, they may arise in peoples' teenage years, out of childhood fears, or around the time people are becoming more independent. But don't worry, you don't necessarily need to know the cause to be able to treat it.

What Therapies Work?

Behavioural Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy have been shown to be quite effective in reasonable short periods of time. Additionally, Anxiety Management Techniques and Relaxation Techniques are useful. However, there are sometimes complicating factors in treatments such as Personality Disorders, Affective Disorders, Drug or alcohol abuse , or Relationship Problems.

These tend to make treatments more complicated as they are often interwoven with the phobia. Psychodynamic based therapies are often helpful in these cases.

However, as with all therapies, the exact method of treatment should be designed for the individual person rather that the person being fitted into the right therapy. In other words the therapy that will probably work best for you will be one that suits your particular personality, background and current circumstances.

We are thinking of creating a SimplePsych factsheet on Phobias which goes into more detail while still using easy to understand English. If you would be interested at this service being offered to you please let us know by emailing us Click Here

Thank you.

* RECOMMENDED BOOKS *

If you are interested in going into even more depth, the following book(s), sold by Amazon.co.uk, are recommended by us. Each is followed by a rating for ease of reading (1-3).

1=Simple and Easy to comprehend.
2=More Complex but still a good read.
3=Very Complex, only for professionals/those studying to degree level.

Anxiety, Phobias, & Panic: A Step-By-Step Program for Regaining control of your Life (Peirifoy)

RATING SCORE = 2 A generalised self-help book but with quite a reasonable section on phobias.

Overcoming Social Anxiety (Butler)

RATING SCORE = 2 This book comes from a Cognitive Behavioural school of thought, is well written, and provides a more practical approach than many of the books out there.

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