Last week, we discussed panic disorders. Today, we'll be talking about phobias, which is a cluster under panic disorders. Phobias are irrational and paralysing fear towards something, and a person who has a phobia will go to great lengths to avoid facing their fear (WebMD, n.d.). People with a phobia understand that their fear is illogical, but they can’t control their fear. Telling them to “snap out of it” or “it’s not scary” is not helpful at all. It’ll just make them more distressed.
NOT just a regular fear
While being fearful or phobic towards something sounds the same, they are not. According to Covin (2012), a psychologist from Ottawa, fear is an ‘emotional response to a real or perceived threat’. Phobia is similar to fear, but they have an underlying difference: the anxiety a person with phobia experienced paralyses him. His daily routine is disrupted.
For example, if a person has a social phobia – an irrational fear of being negatively assessed by others, the person may just avoid meeting people for a long period at the start. However, the phobia slowly worsened; the person starts to make excuses to not leave his house.
What's the statistics in Singapore?
Well, reports suggest phobias are not as common in Singapore compared to the globe. According to Dr Ng (as cited in Goh, 2014), an associate consultant with the Department of Community Psychiatry at the Institute of Mental Health, approximately 9% of Singaporeans suffer from phobias at least once in their life. However, the statistics may be higher because people are mostly unwilling to seek help for their phobias and try to manage their symptoms by avoiding their fear object, so their cases go unreported.
Types of Phobias
Have you wondered what are some common phobias? While it is hard to find out the top lists of phobias experienced by people in Singapore, the top five phobias ranked around the world include (Goh, 2014):
1. Arachnophobia (fear of spiders)
2. Pteromerhanophobia (fear of flying)
3. Trypanophobia (fear of injections)
4. Nyctophobia (fear of the dark)
5. Claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces)
Symptoms of Phobias
Symptoms are similar to that of panic disorders, and common examples include (WebMD, n.d.):
Panic attacks
Blushing
Faintness
Rapid Heartbeat
Tremors
Sweating
Treatment for Phobias
1. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Since phobia is a cluster under panic disorders, CBT is a popular treatment. Clients will learn techniques to control their thoughts and emotions such that the fear does not paralyse them (WebMD, n.d.). The negative thoughts patients have been changed into more positive thoughts about the fear object, which helps clients manage their fears better.
2. Exposure therapy
In exposure therapy, the therapist attempts to reduce the client’s fear by gradually exposing him to the fear object (NHS, n.d.). For instance, if someone has social phobia, just hearing the word ‘public’ may trigger a panic attack. To assist the client, the therapist will first get the client to think about spending time with people, and then show images of people having a conversation once clients are comfortable. The main idea for exposure therapy is that the therapist will work together with the client to work their way up (NHS, n.d.) to confront and reduce the client’s fear.
3. Medications
Besides antidepressants which are prescribed to help clients manage their anxiety, tranquilisers might also be prescribed to manage severe anxiety (NHS, n.d.). However, doctors do not recommend tranquilisers as a regular dosage as the drug will result in withdrawal symptoms (NHS, n.d.), which negatively affects the client.
Self-help for people with phobias
Different phobias have different self-help (not self-care). Similar to GAD, self-help includes:
1. Reduce consumption of caffeinated food and drinks
Caffeinated food and drinks will cause individuals to exhibit symptoms like tremors and increased heartbeat. Consuming caffeinated food and drinks on a regular basis will not help an individual to reduce feelings of anxiety when confronting his fear object. If you have a phobia, cut down on caffeinated consumption.
2. Visualisation
Visualisation is a method that requires individuals to visualise the fear object, and when anxiety strikes, to combine relaxation and breathing strategies to soothe oneself (NHS, n.d.). Using this method whenever you visualise your fear object should help you to manage your anxiety better.
Summary
We hope you have a better idea of what a phobia is. To have a clear summary of what it is, check out the video below:
Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what phobia entails! If you have a closed one who you think has an irrational fear towards something, do not downplay their fear. You do not know the extent of their fear. Instead, ask how you can assist them in managing their fear. Lastly, if you have anything to share with us, please do! We would love to hear from you.
Should you feel overwhelmed and need assistance, click here.
In the next post, which comes out next Wednesday, another serious mental disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), will be discussed.
References
Covin R. (2012, June 16). The Difference Between Phobia and Fear. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/roger-covin/phobia-and-fear_b_1596640.html
Goh T. (2015, May 25). Fear Factors. Retrieved from https://www.tnp.sg/news/fear-factors
NHS (n.d.) Phobias - Self-help [Information on a webpage]. Retrieved from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/phobias/self-help/
Osmosis (2016, March 02). Phobias - specific phobias, agoraphobia, & social phobia [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/PCOg2G797ek
WebMD (n.d.). What are Phobias? [Information on a website]. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/understanding-phobias-basics
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