Although phobias are a serious issue, they can be diagnosed and treated
Similar to how "bipolar" is frequently used to describe someone's mood swings or "OCD" to describe someone's obsession with cleanliness, the word "phobia" is frequently used to describe a generalized fear. But contrary to what the frivolous use of the term in popular culture suggests, phobias are actually serious, diagnosable, and more severe than conditions like bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Here's how to distinguish between the two if you have a particularly intense fear. If so, you may also have a phobia and be completely unaware of it.
How do phobias work?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a phobia is what follows:
A phobia is a persistent, uncontrollable fear of a particular thing, circumstance, or activity. A person may go to great lengths to avoid the cause of this fear if it becomes too overwhelming. An anxiety attack is one possible reaction. This fear comes on suddenly, is intense, and lasts for several minutes. When there is no real danger, it occurs.
For what it's worth, OCD and generalized anxiety disorder are among the "related" subjects Johns Hopkins suggests on the page's side. Not just a simple fear or discomfort, but also a mental health issue. It's important to note that just because you would experience intense fear, for example, if you were being pursued by a vicious dog, it doesn't mean you necessarily have a phobia of dogs. It may be a phobia if looking at a picture of a dog brings on a panic attack or other severe reaction, even when there isn't even a single dog in the area or any threat of a dog chase. Even though you are aware that you will probably encounter leashed and well-trained dogs, it may be a phobia if you change your daily activities to avoid dogs.
According to Johns Hopkins, 19 million Americans, who range in severity from mild to severe, have at least one phobia. Although they can start to appear in infancy, they are usually first noticed between the ages of 15 and 20. Numerous studies have been conducted in this area, and scientists now think that both genetic and environmental factors may play a role in the development of phobias. Although some phobias have been associated with "a very bad first encounter" with the trigger, experts are unsure if this is a prerequisite for the development of a phobia.
What phobias are the most prevalent?
Specific phobias, social phobias, and agoraphobia are the three main types of phobias. You're probably familiar with specific phobias because they are associated with a particular object or circumstance. Although those who suffer from these phobias are aware of how intense their fear is, if the trigger is simple to avoid, they might not seek treatment.
Someone who has a particular fear of heights, for example, might be able to avoid skyscrapers or bridges on their own, but it becomes a problem when doing so prevents them from getting a certain job, traveling, or renting a certain apartment. Flying, dogs, enclosed spaces, tunnels, heights, and insects or spiders are examples of common specific phobias. Again, even though any of these could possibly be harmful, phobias are distinguished by extreme fear and reaction even in the absence of danger.
Contrarily, social phobia is an anxiety disorder in which a person experiences intense discomfort because they are afraid of being humiliated, scorned, or embarrassed in front of others—whether in a social setting or during a performance. Most commonly, social phobia affects activities like public speaking, meeting new people, eating in front of others, and the like. According to Johns Hopkins, the intense anxiety that precedes these activities is what distinguishes social phobia from typical shyness.
The fear of experiencing a panic attack somewhere from which there is no way to escape is known as agoraphobia. Panic attacks may result from the agoraphobia-related anxiety. Agoraphobia symptoms include extreme anxiety when alone at home, alone outside, in a crowd, in an elevator, on a bridge, or in similar circumstances.
Therapy for phobias
Not only can phobias be diagnosed, but they can also sometimes be treated. An in-depth study review published in The Lancet noted that a phobia develops from fear to avoidance to diagnosis, and that halting this progression could lower the prevalence of phobias. Additionally, having a phobia is highly predictive of the onset of other anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders. For these reasons, early treatment is very important in order to both improve a person's quality of life and try to prevent other potential problems from occurring.
Of course, the problem with treatment is that, as the review notes, phobias are by definition distressing or outright debilitating. People who have phobias may therefore be reluctant to seek any kind of treatment. Affected people learn how to avoid situations; only 10% to 25% of them ever seek treatment.
Exposure therapy, which involves in-person or imaging approaches to the trigger or stimuli, is the preferred treatment for specific phobias. For specific phobias, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and breathing exercises combined with exposure therapy are advised, whereas for social phobia and agoraphobia, CBT and medication are suggested.
Of course, getting a diagnosis is the first step. Don't let your fear of having to face your trigger prevent you from seeking help from a professional. Just because you have an initial diagnosis does not mean you will be thrown into exposure therapy right away. Once your condition has been identified, you can develop a personalized treatment plan that suits your needs. If any of the above symptoms apply to you, think about getting help. A mental health professional won't intentionally try to make you feel anxious without warning, but every day you put off getting a diagnosis and treatment is another day you might actually experience your stimuli.
#Fear #Phobia #Bipolar #OCD
SOURCE: lifehacker
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