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Specific Phobia
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Phobias occur in several
forms. A specific phobia is a fear of a particular object or situation.
Social Phobia is a fear of being painfully embarrassed in a social setting.
And agoraphobia, which often accompanies panic disorder, is a fear of being
in any situation that might provoke a panic attack, or from which escape
might be difficult if one occurred.
Many people experience specific
phobias, intense, irrational fears of certain things or situations- dogs,
closed-in places, heights, escalators, tunnels, highway driving, water,
flying, and injuries involving blood are a few of the more common ones.
Phobias aren't just extreme fear; they are irrational fear. You may be
able to ski the world's tallest mountains with ease but panic going above
the 10th floor of an office building. Adults with phobias realize their
fears are irrational, but often facing, or even thinking about facing,
the feared object or situation brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety.
Specific phobias strike more
than 1 in 10 people. No one knows just what causes them, though they seem
to run in families and are a little more prevalent in women. Phobias usually
first appear in adolescence or adulthood. They start suddenly and tend
to be more persistent than childhood phobias; only about 20 percent of
adult phobias vanish on their own. When children have specific phobias--for
example, a fear of animals--those fears usually disappear over time, though
they may continue into adulthood. No one knows why they hang on in some
people and disappear in others.
If the object of the fear
is easy to avoid, people with phobias may not feel the need to seek treatment.
Sometimes, though, they may make important career or personal decisions
to avoid a phobic situation.
When phobias interfere with
a person's life, treatment can help. Successful treatment usually involves
a kind of cognitive-behavioral therapy called desensitization or exposure
therapy, in which patients are gradually exposed to what frightens them
until the fear begins to fade. Three fourths of patients benefit significantly
from this type of treatment. Relaxation and breathing exercises also help
reduce anxiety symptoms.
There is currently no proven
drug treatment for specific phobias, but sometimes certain medications
may be prescribed to help reduce anxiety symptoms before someone faces
a phobic situation.
Source: nimh.nih.gov
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