Phobias

Conquering Phobias
A phobia is a deep, abnormal or irrational fear, which can interfere with your normal day-to-day life. They are imagined fears and fall into the category of anxiety disorders. It can be triggered by an object, event or situation.

The “fear” that you may have actually may cause little or no real danger at all. If you suffer from phobia, it can affect your ability to mingle with friends, colleagues and/or relatives. Phobia can affect anyone—children, adults and the elderly.


Types of phobia
There are many different kinds of phobia. Some of the most common ones are:

* Acrophobia—fear of heights.
* Agoraphobia—fear of open spaces or public places such as a mall or an elevator or a room filled with people.
* Claustrophobia—fear of enclosed places.
* Social phobia—fear of everyday social situations, fear that people may have negative opinions about you.
* Hemophobia—fear of blood.
* Hydrophobia—fear of wate



Children may develop symptoms of specific phobia as young as age 5,particularly phobias such as thunderstorms, animals or phobias relatedto bodily injury.

Social phobia and situational phobias, suchas fear of heights or of enclosed places, usually appear much later asyou enter into adulthood
If you suffer from phobia of a particular nature, you will always try avoiding those objects or situations. If you are not able to do so, you may experience the following symptoms:

* Difficulty breathing.
* Panic and sweating.
* Feel terrified.
* Faster heartbeat.
* Start trembling.
* Want to run away or escape from the situation.

What causes phobia?
The causes of phobia are unclear. Experts believe that phobias can be inherited from your parents. For example, children may acquire a phobia by observing certain phobic reactions of his or her parents such as a fear of spiders or snakes.Other factors that can be a cause of phobia are brain chemicals, genetic traits and/or certain shocking or disturbing incidents in an individual’s past.

Anxieties and fears
Anxieties and fears are quitenormal. Everyone experience some sort of anxiety or fear at some pointin their life. However, a little bit of anxiety can actually help youstay alert and focused.

Having fears or anxieties about certainthings can sometimes help you safeguard yourself. For example your fearof fire would naturally keep you at a distance from it and therebyensure your safety. But when you get obsessed with this fear to theextent that it affects your normal life, it becomes a phobia or anxietydisorder.

Try to analyze your phobia
What you can initially do is, try to analyze the patterns into which your phobia falls. Simply feeling uncomfortable or uncertain about an object or situation is quite normal. If your fear is not upsetting your life, it is not generally considered a disorder, and you may not need treatment. But if your pattern of phobia or fear is constant with a particular stimulus and it disrupts your normal life, inform your doctor about it.

For example, you are so anxious about traveling by an aircraft that youavoid it and take a longer, much time consuming train journey instead of taking the short flight to your destination. This is one of thetypical signs that you may have a phobia.

Complications of phobia
Left untreated, phobia can cause a lot of complications in your life. Some of the most common ones are:

* Social seclusion: If you have social phobia(fear of everyday social situations) or fear of public places(agoraphobia), you may find yourself avoiding social situations andpublic places. This can also have a negative impact on yourprofessional life. Your finances can suffer and you may find itdifficult to maintain proper relationships with your colleagues orbusiness partners.
* Substance abuse: Phobias can make you take to alcohol and drug abuse to cope with the problem.
* Depression: Social isolation, substance abuse and avoiding people and enjoyable activities—all these can lead to depression.



Treatment

Inform your doctor if you feel your phobia is disturbing your normal life. With timely intervention and the right treatment, your doctor will help you win over your fears—have no phobia about that.