A specific phobia is a type of anxiety disorder defined as an extreme and irrational fear or aversion to something very specific.
We all experience fear from time to time. Whether it’s flying through turbulence, anticipating an opportunity at the doctor’s office, or experiencing a violent storm, anxiety is a universal feeling that we all go through at some point in our lives.
However, if you have a specific phobia, you are likely to experience a sense of panic or panic when faced with a specific situation or object.
These irrational fears can interfere with relationships, work, and school, and prevent you from enjoying life.
Unlike Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), specific phobias come in a variety of forms. They are indicated when an individual is faced with a specific situation or object, or even anticipates being confronted with it.
Even though the situation or object poses little or no real danger to the individual, they often cannot control their fear of it and will actively avoid it at all costs.
Although people with specific phobias recognize the irrationality of their fears, the thought of these fears alone is often enough to cause tremendous and debilitating anxiety.
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While ordinary fears cause minor anxiety and can be more easily overcome, specific phobias physically and / or psychologically harm the affected individual to such an extent that they are incapacitated for their daily life.
According to DSM-5, prevalence rates are approximately 5% in children, 16% in those 13 to 17 years of age, and about 3% to 5% in older people. Women are affected more often than men.
Types of specific phobias
Specific phobias are classified into 5 types:
- Animal phobias (for example, dogs, snakes, or spiders)
- Phobias of the natural environment (for example, heights, storms, water)
- Blood injection : Injury phobias (for example, fear of seeing blood, receiving a blood test or injection, watching TV shows showing medical procedures)
- Situational Phobias (for example, airplanes, elevators, driving, closed places)
- Other phobias (for example, avoiding phobic situations that can lead to choking, vomiting, or contracting an illness; in children, avoiding loud sounds like popping balloons or characters dressed up as clowns)
Some examples of these are well known as:
- Fear of the plane ( aerophobia ), or being in a small, closed space ( claustrophobia ).
- Panic of space and natural events , storms, high mountains and peaks due to the height of the heights ( acrophobia ), lightning and thunder, etc.
- Fear of men (androphobia), of symbols and shapes that remind them, of everything masculine, …
- Fear of all kinds of animals and insects (insect phobia) with a clear and recognized fear of spiders or arachnophobia , but also of other animals such as dogs ( cynophobia )
- Fear of seeing blood and everything that has to do with it ( hemophobia ) which includes the measurement of sharp objects and needles ( belonephobia )
- Fear of clowns, called coulrophobia or of the skin, body parts, even belly buttons with a phobia called omphalophobia .
Causes of these phobias
In most cases, specific phobias develop in early childhood between 7 and 11 years of age, although it is possible for a phobia to develop at any age.
Specific phobias can be caused by a variety of different factors: experiencing a traumatic event (for example, being attacked by a dog); watching others go through a traumatic event (for example, witnessing a car accident); an unexpected panic attack (for example, while flying in an airplane); or the transmission of information (for example, extensive media coverage of a terrorist attack).
Often times, people affected by a specific phobia are unable to identify the reason why their phobia developed.
Although the cause of a specific phobia may be unknown, it is important to recognize the symptoms and remember that phobias can be treatable if you seek help from a mental health professional.
Risk factor’s
Risk factors for developing a specific phobia are temperamental, environmental, and genetic.
For example, negative affectivity (a propensity to feel negative emotions such as disgust, anger, fear, or guilt) or inhibition of behavior are temperamental risk factors for a variety of anxiety disorders, including specific phobias.
Overprotective parents, physical and sexual abuse, and traumatic encounters are examples of environmental risk factors that increase the likelihood that an individual will develop a specific phobia.
There may also be a genetic susceptibility to a certain category of a specific phobia; For example, if an individual has an immediate relative with a specific situational phobia of flying, the individual is more likely to have the same specific phobia than any other category of phobia.
Symptoms of specific phobias
Physical symptoms:
- Accelerated heart
- Difficulty breathing
- Shaking or shaking
- Sweating
- Sickness
- Dry mouth
- Chest pain or tightness
Emotional symptoms:
- Feeling overwhelmingly anxious or fearful
- Knowing that your fear is irrational, but feeling powerless to overcome it
- Fear of losing control
- Feeling an intense need to escape
DSM-5 diagnostic criteria
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) describes 7 diagnostic criteria for specific phobias:
- Marked around a specific object or situation (can be a block, anger, cry, etc)
- The fear is immediate.
- It is tried to avoid or it is endured with intense panic.
- They are disproportionate in relation to the reality represented by the element that causes this disorder.
- They are persistent , and generally last 6 months or more.
- They cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Treatment options
Like all anxiety disorders, specific phobias can be treated with the help of a mental health professional.
Treatment options for specific phobias can include therapeutic techniques, medications, or a combination of both.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
The American Psychological Association defines cognitive-behavioral therapy ( CBT ) as “a treatment system that involves a focus on thought and its influence on both behavior and feelings.”
CBT emphasizes the role of dysfunctional beliefs and their influence on emotional and behavioral outcomes.
Therapy focuses on changing such negative thoughts and dysfunctional beliefs to change the reaction to the phobic stimulus.
This is the first step, but treating a specific phobia also involves gradual / graded exposure to the fear stimulus.
Medicines
In some cases, a qualified healthcare professional may decide that medications should be used in conjunction with CBT. Various types of medications are used to treat phobias.
Alexa Clark specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She has experience in listening and welcoming in Individual Therapy and Couples Therapy. It meets demands such as generalized anxiety, professional, love and family conflicts, stress, depression, sexual dysfunction, grief, and adolescents from 15 years of age. Over the years, She felt the need to conduct the psychotherapy sessions with subtlety since She understands that the psychologist acts as a facilitator of self-understanding and self-acceptance, valuing each person's respect, uniqueness, and acceptance.