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Phobia (from the Greek: phobos, “fear”)

Definition

A phobia or morbid fear is a strong, irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger.

There are many specific phobias. If you become anxious and extremely self-conscious, you could have a social phobia. Other common phobias involve tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, animals and blood.

Not all phobias need treatment, but if a phobia affects your daily life, therapy is available that can help you overcome your fears.

  • Panic and fear,
  • Rapid heartbeat,
  • Breathlessness,
  • Trembling,
  • A strong desire to get away.

Causes

Much is still unknown about the actual cause of phobias. Studies seem to show a strong correlation between your own phobias and the phobias of your parents.br

However, children may learn phobias by observing a family member’s phobic reaction to an object or a situation, e.g. a fear of snakes or spiders.

Symptoms

Phobias are divided into three main categories;

No matter what type of phobia you have, it is likely to produce the following reactions:

Risk Factors

Although some phobias seem to have a genetic component, it is often impossible to know who will develop them.

These factors, however, may increase your risk:

Complications

Having a phobia may cause other problems, including:

When to See a Therapist

The prognosis for addictions is varied. Many factors are involved in determining whether a person can recover from an addiction, including:

Importantly however, recovery is likely to be partial and temporary unless underlying issues that led to the addiction have been resolved.

Treatments

Psychotherapy, counselling, and support groups help most people with phobias.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a more comprehensive form of therapy.
Desensitization, for example, if you’re afraid of flying, your therapy may progress from simply thinking about flying to looking at pictures of aeroplanes, etc.
You learn alternative beliefs about your fears and the impact they have on your life.

If you have unreasonable fears, consider getting psychological help. By dealing with your own fears, you will not pass them on to your children.

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