Condition Lookup

Phobias

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Facts

Phobias are fears sparked by certain situations that can interfere with a person’s coping abilities or lead them to stay away altogether. These situations are not normally dangerous or frightening, but people with phobias experience strong feelings of anxiety when they find themselves in these environments. 1 in 10 people will experience phobias at some point in their lives. These individuals can be calm and rational most of the time, yet find themselves paralyzed with fear when they are faced with a particular situation.

Phobias can be categorized into a number of different types:

  • Agoraphobia is the fear of going into public places, including fear of open spaces and of crowds. Agoraphobia affects mostly women, who tend to develop the condition early in adult life.
  • Social phobia is an avoidance of social situations, resulting from extreme shyness or fear of being embarrassed in public. Social phobia affects men and women equally. It often starts in childhood or adolescence and may be accompanied by other anxiety disorders or depression.
  • Specific (isolated) phobias include many types of intense fear reactions. These include:
    • fear of animals (e.g., spiders [arachnophobia] or snakes [ophidiophobia])
    • environmental fears (e.g., of heights [acrophobia], or water [aquaphobia])
    • situational fear (e.g., fear of airplanes, or fear of enclosed spaces or elevators [claustrophobia])
    • fear of blood-injection-injury (e.g., fear of needles, blood, or invasive medical procedures such as dental work or surgery)other phobias (e.g., fear of loud noises, choking, or vomiting)

Twice as many women are affected as men, and tend to develop their fears in childhood or early adolescence, with the phobias persisting into adulthood.

Causes

Social and specific phobias sometimes run in families, providing evidence of a genetic connection. Some people are born with a predisposition towards anxiety, which makes them particularly susceptible to developing phobias.

Phobias may develop as a response to pressure or following traumatic events. In other cases, unreasonable fears may develop with no apparent trigger. Adults generally recognize that their fears are irrational or excessive, and this can act as an isolating factor. The affected person might not talk to friends and family about a fear that they believe is silly.

Phobias may also be learned through observation. Observing someone behave fearfully to their phobia(s) can lead to development of phobias despite lack of personal interaction. Media exposure may be responsible for the development of certain phobias. Phobias are also a natural part of development. Most children go through stages where they are scared of the dark, of monsters, or of strangers. Many teens develop anxieties associated with self-image and others’ perception of them. While these fears are normal and often get left behind over time, they can sometimes persist or become incapacitating.

Treatment and Prevention

Treatment can either take place through use of psychological interventions or medications.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a non-medicinal psychological intervention in the treatment of social phobias, panic disorders, and specific phobias. Cognitive therapy, the specific psychological intervention that is effective in social phobias and panic disorders, aims at changing thinking patterns and finding ways of redefining or coming to terms with core beliefs behind certain fears. Behavioral therapy, specifically desensitization therapy, is effective for certain phobias where the person is gradually exposed to the feared situation while they are taught how to cope with and manage the resultant anxiety. Confronting fears in the safety of a therapeutic environment helps to dull people’s phobias, and gradually helps them put the fears – and their responses to them – into perspective. Other components of CBT include psychoeducation, anxiety management, and reduction of safety behaviours.

Exposure therapy is also used and has shown to be effective in treating phobias. It is a psychological treatment that helps people confront their fears. If you avoid something you are fearful of, it can help reduce feelings of fear in the short term, but it could make the fear become even worse over the long term. With exposure therapy, people with phobias will practice getting used to the anxiety-provoking situation and feel comfortable gradually. This can be used with CBT.

Talking about a specific fear can help to alleviate the intense anxiety associated with it. Trusted friends and family can provide good support, especially when anxiety follows some trauma in a person’s life. Self-help groups can also be very therapeutic by allowing people to share experiences and to find out how others with similar problems cope with their fears. Relaxation and stress-management techniques – learned from professionals, groups, books, videos, or online resources – can go a long way towards helping people to control their anxiety.

Treatment using medications involves antidepressant medications that are effective in treating the various symptoms associated with social phobia, panic attacks, and co-occurring depression. Anti-anxiety agents (benzodiazepines) and beta-blockers may also play a role in treatment. Available medications include:

  • Benzodiazepines are effective anti-anxiety medications that can be very helpful in the short-term treatment of anxiety, for immediate use during an acute panic attack, and during behavioural treatment as a person attempts to face their feared situation or specific phobia. Generally, they are not used for long-term treatment.
  • Beta-blockers – normally used in the treatment of heart conditions – are effective in the treatment of social phobia. They are specifically prescribed for individuals who must perform or talk in public and require short-term medication to stop the associated physical symptoms of the phobia from developing SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) alter the levels of serotonin in the brain, and have fewer side effects than the other anti-depressant medications. Although they can be helpful in alleviating symptoms like sweating, fast heart rate, and trembling, they do not treat anxiety itself.  
  • Tricyclic antidepressants used in low doses have been widely used in treating anxiety disorders; however, these medications have side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, and weight gain.
  • MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) work well on panic disorder and social phobia; these medications require people to adhere to a restrictive diet that at times can be troublesome. Failure to adhere to the diet can result in very serious reactions.

All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2025. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/condition/getcondition/Phobias

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