7/6(금)-PHOBIA

PHOBIA By definition, phobias are IRRATIONAL, meaning that they interfere with one's everyday life or daily routine. For example, if your fear of high places prevents you from crossing necessary bridges to get to work, that fear is irrational. If your fears keep you from enjoying life or even preoccupy your thinking so that you are unable to work, or sleep, or do the things you wish to do, then it becomes irrational. One key to diagnosing a phobic disorder is that the fear must be excessive and disproportionate to the situation. Most people who fear heights would not avoid visiting a friend who lived on the top floor of a tall building; a person with a phobia of heights would, however. Fear alone does not distinguish a phobia; both fear and avoidance must be evident. (Lefton, L. A., 1997) The Phobia List Class Categories Psychiatry identifies three different categories of phobias (DSM-IV,1994): Agoraphobia Agoraphobia is the intense fear of feeling trapped and having a panic attack in a public place. It usually begins between ages 15 and 35, and affects three times as many women as men—about 3% of the population. After an initial panic attack, the person becomes afraid of experiencing a second one. As they begin to avoid the places or situations in which the panic attack occurred, their fear generalizes. Eventually the person completely avoids public places. In severe cases, people with agoraphobia can no longer leave their homes for fear of experiencing a panic attack. Social phobia People with social phobia have deep fears of being watched or judged by others and being embarrassed in public. This may extend to a general fear of social situations—or be more specific or "circumscribed," such as a fear of giving speeches or of performing (stage fright). More rarely, people with social phobia may have trouble using a public restroom, eating in a restaurant, or signing their name in front of others. Social phobia is not the same as shyness. Shy people may feel uncomfortable with others, but they don't experience severe anxiety, they don't worry excessively about social situations beforehand, and they don't avoid events that make them feel self-conscious. On the other hand, people with social phobia may not be shy—they may feel perfectly comfortable with people except in specific situations. Specific phobia Persistent and irrational fear in the presence of some specific stimulus which commonly elicits avoidance of that stimulus, i.e., withdrawal. SUBTYPES: animal type - cued by animals or insects natural environment type - cued by objects in the environment, such as storms, heights, or water blood-injection-injury type - cued by witnessing some invasive medical procedure situational type - cued by a specific situation, such as public transportation, tunnels, bridges, elevators, flying, driving, or enclosed spaces other type - cued by other stimuli than the above, such as of choking, vomiting, or contracting an illness Causes and symptoms Experts don't really know why phobias develop, although research suggests the tendency to develop pho-bias may be a complex interaction between heredity and environment. Some hypersensitive people have unique chemical reactions in the brain that cause them to respond much more strongly to stress. These people also may be especially sensitive to caffeine, which triggers certain brain chemical responses. While experts believe the tendency to develop pho-bias runs in families and may be hereditary, a specific stressful event usually triggers the development of a specific phobia or agoraphobia. For example, someone predisposed to develop phobias who experiences severe turbulence during a flight might go on to develop a phobia about flying. Another possible explanation is that people generally develop phobias for objects they cannot predict or control. Danger is more stressful when it takes us by surprise (Mineka, 1985; Mineka, Cook, & Miller, 1984). Lightning is unpredictable and uncontrollable. In contrast, you don't have to worry that electric outlets will take you by surprise, so it's not likely that you'll have an "electric outlet phobia." What scientists don't understand is why some people who experience a frightening or stressful event develop a phobia and others do not. There may be other reasons why some phobias are more common than others. One is that we have many safe experiences with cars and tools to outweigh any bad experiences. We have few safe experiences with snakes or spiders or with falling from high places (Kleinknecht, 1982). Cross-cultural psychologists point out that phobias are influenced by cultural factors. Agoraphobia, for example, is much more common in the United States and Europe than in other areas of the world (Kleinman, 1988). A social phobia common in Japan but almost nonexistent in the West is taijin kyofusho, an incapacitating fear of offending or harming others through one's own awkward social behavior! or imagined physical defect (Kirmayer, 1991). The focus of cognition for a sufferer of this phobia is on the harm to others, not on embarrassment to the self as in social phobias in the West. Taijin kyofusho is described by Japanese psychiatrists as a pathological exaggeration of the modesty and sensitive regard for others that, at lower levels, is considered proper in Japan (Gray, 1994). While the specific trigger may differ, the symptoms of different phobias are remarkably similar: e.g., feelings of terror and impending doom, rapid heartbeat and breathing, sweaty palms, and other features of a panic attack. Patients may experience severe anxiety symptoms in anticipating a phobic trigger. For example, someone who is afraid to fly may begin having episodes of pounding heart and sweating palms at the mere thought of getting on a plane in two weeks. Treatment People who have a specific phobia that is easy to avoid (such as snakes) and that doesn't interfere with their lives may not need to get help. When phobias do interfere with a person's daily life, a combination of psychotherapy and medication can be quite effective. In all types of phobias, symptoms may be eased by lifestyle changes, such as: eliminating caffeine, cutting down on alcohol, eating a good diet, getting plenty of exercise, reducing stress *Comprehension & Questions 1.What are you afraid of and why? 2.If you're afraid of something do you think is it a phobia? According to the article, what's the differences between a phobia and just being afraid of ? 3.How do you cope with it? 4. Have you ever tried to overcome it? 5. Here are some interesting phobias. What do you think of these?   Ablutophobia- Fear of washing or bathing. Alektorophobia- Fear of chickens. Allodoxaphobia- Fear of opinions. Ambulophobia- Fear of walking. Anglophobia- Fear of England or English culture, etc. Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. Asymmetriphobia- Fear of asymmetrical things. Aurophobia- Fear of gold. Barophobia- Fear of gravity. Blennophobia- Fear of slime. Botanophobia- Fear of plants. Bromidrosiphobia or Bromidrophobia- Fear of body smells. Cacophobia- Fear of ugliness. Caligynephobia- Fear of beautiful women. Cathisophobia- Fear of sitting. Cenophobia or Centophobia- Fear of new things or ideas. Chaetophobia- Fear of hair. Chrometophobia or Chrematophobia- Fear of money. Chromophobia or Chromatophobia- Fear of colors. Chronophobia- Fear of time. Dipsophobia- Fear of drinking. Ecophobia- Fear of home. Eleutherophobia- Fear of freedom. Ephebiphobia- Fear of teenagers. Epistemophobia- Fear of knowledge. Erotophobia- Fear of sexual love or sexual questions. Geliophobia- Fear of laughter. Geniophobia- Fear of chins. Geumaphobia or Geumophobia- Fear of taste. Graphophobia- Fear of writing or handwriting. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia- Fear of long words. Macrophobia- Fear of long waits. Mageirocophobia- Fear of cooking. Mechanophobia- Fear of machines. Papyrophobia- Fear of paper. Peladophobia- Fear of bald people. Sinistrophobia- Fear of things to the left or left-handed. Telephonophobia- Fear of telephones. Textophobia- Fear of certain fabrics. Xerophobia- Fear of dryness.  <DIV></DIV>