Fear: Phobias

Fast Facts about Phobias

• More than one in 10 Americans have one or more specific phobia.
• An estimated 5.3 million Americans suffer from Social Phobia.
• 24% of women and 17% of men say they have some degree of fear of being in crowded or wide-open places.
• Phobias seem to run in families.
• Women ranked snakes as their #1 fear.
• Men ranked being buried alive as their #1 fear.
• 25% of Americans have a snake phobia Ophidiophobia or Snakephobia
• 17% of Americans have a height phobia Acrophobia
• 9% of Americans have a flying phobia Pteromerhanophobia

More Facts about Phobias

• More info. at health.discovery.com/centers/mental/phobias/facts.html
• Resources for Phobias/Anxiety Disorders

A Partial List of Phobias from A-Z

Acrophobia: fear of heights Bibliophobia: fear of books Cynophobia: fear of dogs Dentophobia: fear of dentists Entomophobia: fear of insects Frigophobia: fear of cold or cold things Glossophobia: fear of speaking in public Hemophobia: fear of blood Isolophobia: fear of solitude, being alone Keraunophobia: fear of thunder and lightening Lygophobia: fear of darkness Mysophobia: fear of germs, contamination or dirt

Nyctophobia: fear of the dark or night Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes Phasmophobia: fear of ghosts Rhytiphobia: fear of getting wrinkles Satanophobia: fear of Satan Triskadekaphobia: fear of the number 13 Uranophobia: fear of Heaven Venustraphobia: fear of beautiful women Wiccaphobia: fear of witches and witchcraft Xenophobia: fear of strangers of foreigners Zoophobia: fear of animals

Fear of the "other"

Fear of crime and fear of terrorism are two kinds of fears of the "other." There are some groups that try to make people afraid. The media and political groups will often build on people's fears to reach their own goals.

• Be careful about your use of the media.  TV news reports many negative events. Some media make the world look more dangerous than it is.
• Because unfamiliar things are the scariest, try to get to know more about different people, places, and countries. Find things that you have in common.  Find familiar parts of the situation or person.  
• The goal of terrorism is to make people afraid.  The best way to fight terrorism is to reduce public fear. It is important to put the risks of terrorism, crime, and attacks in perspective.
• Take actions to protect yourself, but think about them carefully.  Will the protective actions just make you more afraid?  Will they keep you from doing other important things?  Balance the protective actions with the likelihood of the danger.
• Spend the most time on the things that are most likely and most important in your life.  Find comfort in following your daily routine.

To be a Phobia.

• There is a strong, over-whelming fear
• The fear is set off by a particular object or situation that the person experiences or thinks he/she might experience
• There is an immediate anxiety response, such as sweating, fast heart rate, difficulty breathing, etc.
• The fear is out of proportion and the person knows it's unreasonable to be so afraid of it
• The person either avoids the object or situation completely or tolerates it with severe anxiety
• The fear clearly interferes with the person's usual routines or job, or ability to function
• The person has had these fear reactions for a long time (6 months or longer)

Types of Phobias

Specific Phobias, an exaggerated fear of a particular object or situation, can be grouped into 5 categories as noted below (with examples):

• Situational Type
• Flying on a plane,
• Being confined to small spaces
• Natural Environment Type
• Thunderstorms
• Heights--Cliffs
• Blood, Injection, Injury Type
• Receiving a shot
• Animal Type
• Spiders
• Snakes
• Other Type
• Situations that might lead to illness or choking
• Technology, such as computers
• Breaking a bone

Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder: SAD)

Enough people have a phobia related to social situations that this phobia is separate from Specific Phobias. People who have a social phobia are extremely anxious about being judged or behaving in a way in which they might become embarrassed or be made fun of by others. It is almost twice as prevalent in women as in men, though a higher portion of men seek help.

(Sources: MFTSource at www.mftsource.com ; Anxiety Disorders Association of America at www.adaa.org ; and Loretta Kroin, Ph.D., CHOICES: Psychology Consultation Center, Indianapolis, IN)

How are Phobias Treated?

Most Specific Phobias in adults do not go away on their own. Keep in mind that Anxiety Disorders (both Specific Phobias and Social Phobias) are real, should be taken seriously, and are treatable. Many people with an anxiety disorder can get help from trained health and mental health care professionals or therapists.

Although treatment is individualized, there are several standard approaches used by therapists that have proven to be effective over time. Please remember this is not a complete list of the treatment options available:

Facing Your Fears (called "flooding")

One way to handle Phobias is to be exposed to the feared object or situation over and over again until the fear itself goes away. Some phobias are so strong that flooding must be done by imagining your fears rather than coming face-to-face with them in real life.

Relaxation Training (called "systematic desensitization")

It's impossible to feel anxiety or fear when you are relaxed, so a person can be taught to replace their anxiety response with a relaxation response whenever they experience exaggerated fear. This training process involves three steps:

1. Relaxation training
2. Taking gradual steps (going through 15 to 30 situations that gradually help the person move up from least fearful to most fearful)
3. Going through all the steps while remaining relaxed

Here's an example of some gradual steps a person might take if they have Acrophobia (fear of heights):

1. Standing on a chair
2. Standing on a ladder
3. Standing on the balcony of a 2-story building
4. Standing in the observation room of the Sears Tower

Medications

While no drugs have been proven to cure or to treat Specific Phobias, some drugs are effective in helping to relieve the symptoms of anxiety. For example, someone with a fear of flying who must fly can take an anti-anxiety drug like Xanax (alprazolam) or Klonopin (clonazepam) to help them make it through their trip. Some people with Social Phobias may be given antidepressants to help reduce their anxiety symptoms.

There is no question that Phobias affect a person's ability to function at work and in family or social settings. But the prospects for long-term recovery for most people who get professional help are very good. People with Phobias can regain control of their feelings and thoughts-and their lives!