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A World Full of Phobias

Fear is a necessary reaction in many situations. A phobia occurs when the fear is someone feels is significantly greater than is required by a given situation. A phobia is an illogical fear. Unfortunately, and fortunately, our lives are not necessarily run by logic. There are plenty of other factors that come into play. Regardless of that fact, phobias make life uncomfortable in certain situations. There are hundreds of documented phobias in existence, but there is a way to categorize them into three groups. The first is that of situations, the second is that of social situations and the third is that of a specific situation. These three categories of phobias will be explained more fully as we go on.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is the term used to describe a collection of phobias that may seem unrelated. They are probably linked in the patient's mind through panic attacks. Since panic attacks are horrible things to go through and leave lasting impressions of fear, the person will often associate the attacks with situations. If one attack happened in a store, another happened in an open empty field and another happened on a vacation, the person may have fears of crowds, large empty spaces and long distances from home. There are probably other reasons for the developing phobias that continue to grow in an ever-encompassing web, but panic attacks are the most likely reasons for the fears. A person's world can literally fill with phobias until they feel incapacitated and imprisoned.

Social Phobia

Social Phobia is a disorder that describes a person who has phobias only of social situations. The fear is usually performance oriented. Whether the person is worried about speaking in front of large crowds or just introducing themselves to someone new, the phobias interfere with daily life. Panic attacks are related to social phobia in much the same way that they are associated with agoraphobia. A person with social phobia has probably had a panic attack in a social situation at some point and is fearful of a recurrence. These people avoid social performance situations at all costs because they are afraid of failure and ridicule.

Specific Phobia

People who suffer from Specific Phobias are usually only afraid of one specific situation. They may be afraid of some kind of animal or some particular kind of transportation method. Such people avoid dogs or snakes or cars or planes. Interestingly, people with Specific Phobia know that their fears are irrational. Nevertheless, they respond with severe anxiety to the feared situations. They avoid the feared situation and can usually live relatively normal and uninterrupted lives. In some cases, specific phobias develop because of other conditions such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Sometimes the phobias show themselves after some uncomfortable experience. Sometimes there is no explainable reason whatsoever for the irrational fears.

Phobias are irrational fears. Sometimes the person suffering from a phobia realizes this fact, while at other times they are convinced of the logical reason for the fear. Medications are not the preferred treatment for phobias, so in order to find healing, a phobic person will, at some time, have to face their fears.

Frances, Allen MD and First, Michael B. MD. Your Mental Health: A Layman's Guide to

the Psychiatrist's Bible. New York: Scribner, 1998.