The Facts On Common Phobias:

Most people are aware of someone that suffers from a phobia. Many otherwise rational and calm individuals suffer quite debilitating symptoms of anxiety and paralysis when faced with the trigger to their own personal phobia.

Common Phobias

Perhaps the most common of phobias are those that revolve around social interaction. They range from extreme shyness and avoidance of social situations, through to a morbid fear of public speaking or being the centre of attention. Agoraphobia is the fear of open or public places, and is probably the best known of these common anxiety phobias.

Phobias then move to the more specific, such as intense fears of certain animals, situations or environments. It’s thought that twice as many women as men suffer from a phobia of some kind, and most are formulated in the early stages of young adulthood.

Causes Of Phobias

It’s thought that a predisposition to anxiety could trigger a phobia, and indeed there’s a growing connection between some phobias and inherited family genetics.

Besides genetics, phobias can often develop as a response or pressure to a traumatic experience. Many people are very aware that their fears aren’t rational, so they tend to hide them from friends and family, which can often lead to a gradual worsening of symptoms if left untreated.

Symptoms Of Phobias

Phobia induced anxiety can be experienced as a mental and physical phenomenon. Mentally, a person can suffer extreme fatigue and insomnia at the thought of an upcoming situation that will trigger a phobia, or might even suffer actual physical symptoms like sweating, shaking or irregular heartbeats.

Panic attacks from phobias can manifest as extreme dizziness and migraines through to muscle pain, nausea and interrupted digestion.

Treating and Preventing Phobias

Psychotherapy is probably the most successful way of treating persistent phobias without resorting to medication. A skilled counsellor with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Training can attempt to change the thinking patterns of a phobia sufferer and find ways for them to come to terms with their anxiety. CBT aims to change thinking patterns and alter core beliefs.

Other ways of treating phobias include desensitisation therapy, where a person is gradually exposed to the thing they fear, in order to become used to the situation, and slowly build up a tolerance to it. Group therapy that involves careful and measured desensitisation therapy can be a great treatment for fears of specific animals, objects or environmental situations.

Self Treating A Phobia

Treating a phobia yourself can be tough. You’ll need a concrete plan if you’re going to succeed. Start by making a list of steps that will lead to the final outcome of banishing your phobia forever. For instance, if you’re afraid of dogs, you might start by discussing them and looking at pictures. The next steps would involve standing at increasingly closer distances to a friend’s own dog with the aim of eventually mustering the courage to touch it. With time, patience and constant exposure, you should be able to let a phobia into your life, and start to reduce its effects until they gradually fade to nothing.

About the author : Wendy Lin is an entrepreneur and a mother. Wendy admits that balancing her own business and her family can be difficult, but her family will always be her top priority.
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