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How to Combat Your Phobia
By Joe O'connor of cognitive-therapy-associates.com
One of the most common psychological problems people suffer from are phobias. According to Websters Dictionary, phobias are "an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation." There are literally hundreds of different phobias which are officially recognized by doctors. They are grouped into three categories: agoraphobics, social phobias, and specific phobias. Perhaps the two most interesting aspects about phobias are: how individual people develop them and how they are affected by them? It is still unknown how people develop phobias, although there are many solid theories. There is evidence that phobias can be passed on genetically. It has been demonstrated, for example, that twins who are separated at birth and educated separately develop similar fears. It is thought that children may inherit at least one of their parent's brain abnormalities, leading to the passing-down of a phobia. While this theory has shown promise in practice, there is still not enough genetic evidence to fully support it. Many doctors also believe that traumatic moments in life can trigger the development of a phobia. For example, if your parents took you to the circus as a child and you were badly frightened by the clowns; you may develop a phobia of clowns. This is a good example of a specific phobia but social phobias are developed in much the same way. Social phobias occur when a person has some sort of negative social experience and become afraid of certain public social situations. While most people with specific or social phobias can continue to participate in society (as long as they avoid their fears), sufferers of agoraphobia tend to be much more debilitated by their fear. According to the AllPsych Journal: "Agoraphobics have an intense fear of being in a situation from which immediate escape is not possible or in which help would not be available if the person should become overwhelmed by anxiety or experience a panic attack or panic-like symptoms." This fear can be so intense that it prevents some patients from leaving the safety of their home or bedroom. The symptoms of phobias remain constant no matter which kind plagues a person. Symptoms include, but are not limited to: shortness of breath
sweating
increased heart rate
a feeling of "panic, dread, or horror While people inflicted with phobias may experience more intense symptoms, these are the basic warning signs. There are medications to treat phobias, but there is no “cure”. For some people, simple exposure to their fear is enough to overcome their anxiety. This can be difficult, however, because it takes a lot of will power to confront your fears. It does not always work, either. Psychiatrist have also be known to prescribe medications to alleviate the symptoms of phobias. Anti-depressants have been prescribed frequently as an effective way to combat panic attacks. Benzodiazepines, or benzos, are also popularly prescribed addition to anti-depressants to treat anxiety. While these drugs have shown effectiveness in medicating phobias, they do carry the risk of dependence and need to be taken with caution. Therapy can also help a person to cope with their irrational fears. The most popular psychological treatment of phobias is exposure and desensitization. The therapist helps the patient confront their fear gradually. As the sessions progress, the patient becomes increasingly comfortable around their fear; and, eventually, learns to either cope with or completely eliminate the phobia. Recently, however, a newer form of psychotherapy has developed a different way to help conquer phobias. Cognitive behavioral therapy was developed about twenty years ago. CBT is "essentially a method that identifies and helps a person to correct specific errors in what he or she is thinking that produces negative or painful feelings." So a cognitive behavioral therapist will try to figure out why or what causes a phobia to exist in a person's mind and work on eliminating the fear through logic and reason. Dr. Allison Conner, a member of Cognitive Therapy Associates in New York, believes very strongly in the effectiveness of CBT: "Cognitive behavioral therapy has demonstrated a high success rate in helping people to deal with and overcome phobias and excessive fear reactions. Cognitive therapy's elegantly simple model has proven to be the most powerful and successful type of psychological treatment in outcome studies conducted over the past several decades." While therapy may be the best option for some, it will not always successfully treat a person's phobia. If you would like to know more or are seeking help and live in the NYC area call the Cognitive Therapy Associates at (212) 258-2577. |
Cognitive Therapy Associates website
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