Phobias are a common psychological disorders and can be defined as irrational fears about specific objects or situation. People with Phobias are aware that their fears are unreasonable but feel they have no control over these fears.
There are several common Phobias:
Simple Phobia: The individual fears specific situation or object. Examples are fear of flying, fear of heights or tunnels, and fear of blood, injections, and illness.
Social Phobia: A person fears being judged by others for not being as good as them. This can result in anxiety symptoms during social interaction such as, loss for words, blushing, sweating, and rapid heart beat. Individuals who experience these symptoms feel very embarassed and rather avoid social situations all together.
Agorophobia: This is a more complicated Phobia. The person believes that they will have a panic attack in situations that are difficult to escape from, such as airplanes, elevators, subway, theater etc. The individual is focused on the danger of having a panic attack rather than believing that the situation is actually dangerous to be in.
People with Agorophobia gradually limit their activities to just those they feel safe in. This hinders them from living productive and profitable life. Some will only leave their house accompanied by someone they trust, and some end up not leaving their home at all.
Treatment
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Specific behavioral techniques have been shown to reduce or even eliminate these phobias. Systematic Desensitization, Flooding in-vivo or imagines, and Exposure and Response Prevention are among the research-based techniques used to help persons with Phobias. For example, if a person wishes to get rid of their fear of flight, they will first be trained in progressive relaxation and effective breathing techniques. Then, in a gradual and systematic manner the patient is exposed to their anxiety with the therapist’s support.
Cognitive techniques such as self soothing statements and mental preparation before encountering anxiety provoking situations are used in combination of the above behavioral techniques to develop more effective coping skills to overcome Phobias.
Medication
There are no effective medication to eliminate simple fears. Certain medications, such as minor tranquilizers can be used temporarily to reduce the anxiety. However, these medications do not reduce the anxiety permanently, and people tend to become dependent on them in order to perform these tasks. Agorophobia is the exception to the rule in that there are several types of medications that can reduce the frequency and intensity of panics. These include the tricyclics, some of the Benzodiazapines, and some of the SSRI’s. Unfortunately, the panic tends to return if medication is discontinued.
