Psychological Disabling Phobias and Fears
Category Topic: Phobias and Fears
Author: Disabled World
Updated/Revised Date: 2023/04/19
Contents: Summary - Introduction - Main - Subtopics - Publications
Synopsis: A phobia can be classified as a disability in that it can effect a person's psychological being or the ability to perform certain tasks. Fears are common and normal in childhood, however, for some children and teenagers, their fears can become very severe over time, and even develop into a phobia. In children and adolescents, the identified fear must last at least six months to be considered a phobia rather than a transient fear. Phobias are more often than not linked to the amygdala, an area of the brain located behind the pituitary gland in the limbic system. The amygdala secretes hormones that control fear and aggression, and also aids in the interpretation of this emotion in the facial expressions of others.
Introduction
What is a Phobia?
In clinical psychology, a phobia is defined as a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely, the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities.
Main Document
A phobia can be classified as a disability in that it can effect a person's psychological being and ability to perform certain tasks. A phobia is an irrational, intense, persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or persons.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 8.7% of people, or about 19.2 million American adults, suffer from one or more specific phobias. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made. It is generally accepted that phobias arise from a combination of external events and internal predispositions.
Phobias are more often than not linked to the amygdala, an area of the brain located behind the pituitary gland in the limbic system. The amygdala secretes hormones that control fear and aggression, and aids in the interpretation of this emotion in the facial expressions of others.
Phobia's in Children : Fears and Childhood Phobia's
Fears are common and normal in childhood, however, for some children and teenagers, their fears can become very severe over time, and even develop into a phobia. In children and adolescents, the identified fear must last at least six months to be considered a phobia rather than a transient fear.
Childhood phobias can make it difficult for your child to go to school, be around other kids, or get involved in combined activities, such as school camping trips and day camps etc.
Phobias can be very hard on children and teenagers, especially when their friends or family don't understand why the child is getting upset over something that is nothing to them. An adult or teenager can often realize their fear is unreasonable or excessive, whereas a younger child might not be aware of this.
A child psychiatrist, psychologist or other qualified health or mental health professional usually diagnoses anxiety disorders in children or adolescents following a comprehensive medical and psychiatric evaluation. Parents who note signs of severe anxiety in their child or teen should help by seeking an evaluation and treatment early. Early treatment can prevent future problems.
Phobia Categories
Most psychologists and psychiatrists classify most phobias into three categories:
- Agoraphobia: A generalized fear of leaving home or a small familiar 'safe' area, and of possible panic attacks that might follow. It may also be caused by various specific phobias such as fear of open spaces, social embarrassment (social agoraphobia), fear of contamination (fear of germs, possibly complicated by obsessive-compulsive disorder) or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) related to a trauma that occurred outside.
- Specific phobias: Fear of particular objects or social situations that immediately results in anxiety and can sometimes lead to panic attacks. Specific phobia may be further subdivided into five categories: animal type, natural environment type, situational type, blood-injection-injury type, and other.
- Social phobia: Also known as social anxiety disorder - fears involving other people or social situations such as performance anxiety or fears of embarrassment by scrutiny of others, such as eating in public.
Facts and Statistics
Phobias are a common form of anxiety disorders, and distributions are heterogeneous by age and gender.
- Women are nearly four times as likely as men to have a fear of animals (12.1 percent in women and 3.3 percent in men)
- Social phobias are more common in girls than in boys, while situational phobia occurs in 17.4 percent of women and 8.5 percent of men.
- Between 4 percent and 10 percent of all children experience specific phobias during their lives, and social phobias occur in one percent to three percent of children and adolescents.
- An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7 percent and 18.1 percent of Americans suffer from phobias, making it the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.
View our list of common phobias
Subtopics
Latest Publications From Our Phobias and Fears Category
1: Insight into Trypophobia: Disgust, not Fear, Fueling Aversion to Holes - Trypophobia, commonly known as fear of holes, is linked to a physiological response more associated with disgust than fear.
2: The Inheritance of Fears and Phobias: Exploring the Genetic Factors - Fears a parent may experience can be passed down to their children and results of experiments suggest fallout from traumatic experiences may extend through generations.
3: The Power of Talk Therapy for Children with Anxiety Disorders - A brain scan with functional MRI can predict which patients with pediatric anxiety disorder will respond to talk therapy and may not need psychiatric medication.
4: Brain Neural Circuits Responsible for Fear Identified - Researchers identify clearly defined neural circuits responsible for the processing of fear states. Findings could ultimately help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety disorders.
5: Nyctophobia: Understanding the Fear of the Dark - Being afraid of the dark is called Nyctophobia, a phobia characterized by an acute fear of the darkness or a dark environment.
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