Phobias

Mental health is as vital as physical health today. Just like physical ailments, there exist psychological ailments. Several such mental disorders might affect day-to-day life. One such disorder is phobias. Phobia can be classified as an anxiety disorder that causes an irrational fear of a particular situation or object.

Meaning and definition

An anxiety disorder determined by a prolonged, irrational and extreme fear of a certain situation or some object is known as phobia. It can result in sudden fear and panic attacks even by anticipating the object or situation causing fear. 

As stated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), phobias can be determined by the following characteristics:

1- People with phobias often have a long-term reaction of fear to a situation or object.

2- The fear lasts for six months or even more.

3- The fear is irrational.

4- The fear often produces anxiety and severe panic attacks and is not proportionate to the real danger.

5- The patient often adopts unusual ways to avoid the object or situation of fear. For example, a person suffering from fear of closed spaces, i.e., claustrophobia, takes the staircase to the twelfth floor instead of the elevator. 

6- Phobias disrupt daily life and work. 

Difference between fear and phobia

Fear can be defined as a protective and natural mechanism to protect a living being from the real dangers present in the environment in which it lives. The fear is proportional to the amount of real danger present and often subsides with time.

Example: Small children are often scared of the dark, but the fear goes away as they grow up and understand that there is no real danger. 

Phobia is the irrational fear that arises just by the thought of a particular situation or object and causes physical ailments such as uncontrollable panic attacks and anxiety.

Example: A woman with claustrophobia panics and sweats just at the thought of being locked in a dark and closed room. 

Types of phobia

DSM classifies the types of phobias as follows:

1. Specific phobias

Specific phobias can also be termed simple phobias. When the presence of some specific objects or creatures in the environment results in prolonged irrational fear, panic attacks and anxiety, it is known as a specific phobia. 

 Injury phobias – e.g. fear of blood, hematophobia

• Natural phobias – e.g. fear of water, hydrophobia

• Situational phobias – e.g. fear of flying, aerophobia

• Animal phobias – e.g. fear of spiders, arachnophobia

2. Agoraphobia

When a person fears open spaces, it is called agoraphobia. A person having agoraphobia might feel extremely vulnerable when in the open space and might seek healing or reliable company to go out. People with agoraphobia are often indoors and avoid being in open spaces like markets or lawns. 

3. Social phobia 

Social phobia is defined as the fear of social gatherings. People with social phobia avoid social gatherings and interactions. Social gathering or crowd results in panic attacks and extreme anxiety levels in the sufferer. People with social phobia perform weirdly and poorly when in social gatherings. Social phobia can be further classified as follows:

• Performance phobia

Example: Fear of performing in front of the class, resulting in panic attacks, stammering or uncontrollable anxiety.

•  Generalised phobia

Example: A person facing anxiety and panic attacks in a crowd.  

• Interaction phobia 

Example: An employee facing panic attacks or anxiety while interacting with their colleagues.

Symptoms of phobias

The symptoms of phobias can be classified as follows:

• Physical: The symptoms include physical issues such as sweating and increased heart rate when confronted with an object or situation of fear.

• Cognitive: Cognitive symptoms of phobias affect cognition, leading to poor concentration, memory issues and panic in the presence of a feared object.

• Behavioural: These symptoms of phobias include behavioural changes such as avoidance of the feared situation or objects. 

• Emotional: Emotional symptoms of phobias are uncontrollable fear, feeling low, dread, hopelessness or anxiety. 

What causes phobia?

The causes of phobia are as follows:

1- Past traumas and incidences: Phobias can be the outcome of the traumas or incidences that occurred in the past. For instance, a drowning incidence in the past might cause hydrophobia (fear of water) in the survivor. 

2- Responses learned from past or early life: Phobias are often connected to experiences. We learn what we see. Suppose one of the parents has a specific phobia and a certain unusual way of responding to that irrational fear; this might cause the children to fear the same object or situation and respond in the same way they learned from their parents throughout their life.

3- Prolonged stress: Phobias can result from long-term depression or stress. The anxiety arising out of depression or prolonged stress may later lead to the development of a phobia. 

4- Genetic factors: Phobias can also transfer genetically. Therefore, people with a family history of phobias are more prone to the phobia than others. 

Conclusion  

Phobia is the irrational fear arising out of anticipation or facing the feared situation or object. The fear often results in anxiety and other cognitive, behavioural and emotional symptoms. Phobias can be addressed with various coping techniques and therapies. People suffering from phobias should be provided professional help, such as psychologists or counsellors.