Terrified of the creepy-crawlies? Scared of slithering serpents? Well, you’re not alone. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, phobias affect approximately 10% of adults. There are a

FEARS AND PHOBIAS

Terrified of the creepy-crawlies? Scared of slithering serpents? Well, you’re not alone. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, phobias affect approximately 10% of adults. There are a number of explanations for why phobias develop, including evolutionary and behavioral theories. Whatever the cause, phobias are a treatable condition that can be overcome with cognitive and behavioral therapy techniques.

What do people fear most? The following phobias are ten of the most common fear-objects that lead to symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and breathlessness. In some cases, these symptoms escalate into a full-blown panic attack. These common phobias typically involve the environment, animals, or specific situations.

1. Arachnophobia:

· The fear of spiders.

· This phobia tends to affect women more than men.

2. Ophidiophobia:

· The fear of snakes.

· Often attributed to evolutionary causes, personal experiences, or cultural influences.

3. Acrophobia:

· The fear of heights.

· This fear can lead to anxiety attacks and avoidance of high places.

4. Agoraphobia:

· The fear of situations in which escape is difficult.

· This may include crowded areas, open spaces, or situations that are likely to trigger a panic attack. People will begin avoiding these trigger events, sometimes to the point that they cease leaving their home.

· Approximately one third of people with panic disorder develop agoraphobia.

5. Cynophobia:

· The fear of dogs.

· This phobia is often associated with specific personal experiences, such as being bitten by a dog during childhood.

6. Astraphobia:

· The fear of thunder and lightning.

· Also known as Brontophobia, Tonitrophobia, or Ceraunophobia.

7. Trypanophobia:

· The fear of injections.

· Like many phobias, this fear often goes untreated because people avoid the triggering object and situation.

8. Social Phobias:

· The fear of social situations.

· In many cases, these phobias can become so severe that people avoid events, places, and people that are likely to trigger an anxiety attack.

9. Pteromerhanophobia:

· The fear of flying.

· Often treated using exposure therapy, in which the client is gradually and progressively introduced to flying.

10. Mysophobia:

· The fear of germs or dirt.

· May be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Common Symptoms

Phobias can be divided into three types: specific phobia, social phobia and agoraphobia. Although the symptoms of each type will vary, there are some symptoms common to all phobias. These include:

Terror: A persistent and overwhelming fear of the object or situation.
Physical Symptoms: Dizziness, shaking, palpitations.
Obsessive Thoughts: Difficulty thinking about anything other than the fear.
Desire to Flee: An intense instinct to leave the situation.
Anticipatory Anxiety: Persistent worrying about upcoming events that involve the phobic object or situation.

Therapy Options for Phobias

Phobias are commonly treated by a therapist. The exact methods used, however, may vary between therapists. Here is a look at some common types of therapy that are used to treat phobias.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT, is possibly the most common form of phobia therapy today. CBT is based on the interconnectedness of thoughts, beliefs, feelings and behaviors.

According to the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy, a phobia sufferer believes that the feared situation is inherently dangerous. This belief leads to negative automatic thoughts that occur as soon as the feared situation is encountered. The automatic thoughts lead to a phobic behavioral reaction.

Techniques that are commonly used in cognitive-behavioral therapy are drawn from the schools of behaviorism and learning theory as well as the school of cognitive theory.

Behavioral techniques that may be used as part of CBT include flooding and systematic desensitization. Cognitive techniques include cognitive reframing and psychoeducational techniques.

Group Therapy

Group therapy may incorporate many different types of therapy that can be administered in a group setting. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is possibly the most common type of group therapy for phobias, although any form of therapy may be performed in a group setting.

Many group cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions for phobias are advertised as seminars. A group of nervous flyers, for example, may assemble at an airport hotel for the weekend. A combination of psychoeducational classes and exposure sessions inside the airport may be performed.

Individual Therapy

Any type of therapy can be performed in an individual one on one setting. Individual therapy allows the therapist and client to focus on each other, building a rapport and working together to solve the client's issue.

Some types of therapy focus on deconstructing the personality in order to trace the roots of the phobia. Psychoanalysis, pioneered by Sigmund Freud, is perhaps the best-known example of this type of therapy. Although these therapies can be used in a group or family setting, they are often performed one on one.

Extensive psychotherapy is rarely used to treat phobias today, primarily due to the expense and time commitment involved. Psychoanalysis and related therapies may progress for months or even years, while brief therapies such as CBT can produce results in just a few sessions.

Family Therapy

If the therapist feels that the client’s family situation may have contributed to the development or progression of the phobia, then family therapy may be used as part of treatment.

Family therapy may take several different forms, and utilize techniques from any or all of the various forms of therapy. A particularly common application of family therapy places the therapist in the role of facilitating one or more communication sessions between the family members. Family therapy is commonly used in treating children with phobias, but may be used in treating adults as well.

Many therapists use a combination of therapy techniques to treat phobias. Medications may be prescribed as well. Your therapist will design a unique treatment plan to meet your needs.

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Дата добавления: 2015-11-04