What are Phobias?

The word ‘Phobia’ comes directly from the Greek for ‘fear’ – ‘Phobos’. In mental health terms, it is characterised as a fear, or morbid fear of specific objects or circumstances.

Phobias are anxiety related and, in extreme situations, can lead to panic attacks.

Phobias are not always understood or treated with a suitable level of empathy and have sometimes been portrayed in popular culture as comical. However, they can cause severe distress, can even lead to physical symptoms and at Talkmind we take them very seriously.

Common phobias include:

arachnophobia – spiders
acrophobia – heights
aerophobia – flying, airplanes
agoraphobia – open spaces or crowds
claustrophobia – small spaces
trypanophobia – injections
coulrophobia – clowns

What are the symptoms of Phobias?

A disorder based on fear can have well known physical symptoms, such as shaking, sweating, rapid heartbeat and more. However, the psychological symptoms are equally as invasive and difficult to manage. These may include ‘supporting fears’ which arise because of the phobia itself – symptoms such as:

fear of passing out
fear of losing control
embarrassment
crying
inability to move
avoidance of events which may involve the object or situation, e.g., refusing to fly, so missing out on work or holidays
mental detachment – disassociation
anxiety and panic
irritability
irrational behaviour
panic attacks
depression

How does Talkmind treat Phobias?

As this is generally considered to be both a psychological and behavioural disorder, many of the major treatments we offer are therapy based, and treatments include:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Exposure Therapy (ET) – this involves carefully planned exposure to the object or situation in a safe and controlled process
Mindfulness
Meditation
Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)*

*Medication is not always a treatment for phobias themselves; however, it can help with symptoms like anxiety or panic.

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