PHOBIAS

Specific phobia is a type of disorder in which the affected individual displays a marked and enduring

fear of specific situations or objects.

Individuals with specific phobias experience extreme fear as soon as they encounter a defined situation or object, a phobic stimulus.

The specific phobia triggers a lot of distress or significantly impairs an affected individual.

Individuals with specific phobias experience impairment or a significant amount of anguish. They may lead restricted lifestyles depending upon the phobia type.

Specific phobia has a unique position among the anxiety disorders in that individuals with this disorder do not experience pervasive anxiety nor do they seek treatment as readily as individuals with other anxiety disorders.

The types of specific phobias include situational and object. They are diagnosed if an individual's fear is cued by a defined situation or object. Examples include situations such as flying, enclosed places, tunnels, or objects of anything from snakes to blue dots.

Causes and Symptoms

The development of a specific phobia may be determined by a variety of factors. Behavioral, cognitive, and social theories of learning and conditioning, psychodynamic models such as the psychoanalytic theory of Freud, physiological studies of the brain , family background and genetic predisposition, variations in sociocultural themes, and theories on trauma can influence the development of specific phobia disorder.

display marked and enduring fear when they encounter a defined situation or object, the phobic stimulus.

• anxiety as soon as they confront the phobic stimulus. When they confront the phobic stimulus, a defined situation or object, patients with specific phobia may experience a panic attack related to the specific situation. Children may cry, cling, freeze, or display tantrums when they express their anxiety in the face of the phobic stimulus.
• although adolescents and adults realize that their fear is unreasonable and disproportionate to the situation, children may not recognize that their fear is excessive.
• avoidance, distress, and anxious anticipation when they encounter the phobic stimulus.

Their avoidance reactions interfere with their daily functioning, or they express significant distress about having a phobia.

Demographics

General United States population

Specific phobias are common. The prevalence rates of specific phobia in community samples range from 4% to 8%. Over the course of a lifetime, the prevalence estimates in community samples range from 7.2% to 11.3%.

Gender issues

There are twice as many women with specific phobia than there are men with this disorder. The gender ratio variable varies depending upon the type of specific phobia. Approximately 75%–90% of people with the animal, situational, and natural environment types are female. Approximately 55%–70% of people with the blood-injection-injury subtype are female. For height phobias, there are fewer women than men than for other specific phobia types; however, illness phobias are more common in men.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of specific phobia is complicated by factors such as degree of impairment and differential diagnosis. Although fears of specified situations or objects are common, a diagnosis of specific phobia relies on the degree of sufficient impairment.

With regard to differentiating specific phobia from other disorders, there are several disorders with similar symptoms. They include panic disorder with agoraphobia , social phobia , post-traumatic stress disorder , obsessive-compulsive disorder , hypochondriasis , schizophrenia , delusional, and other psychotic disorders.

Individual variations in specific phobia

Classification systems distinguish between individuals with different types of specific phobias. The types of specific phobia, situation, object, and other, relate to particular features such as the age, gender, and culture of an individual.

For example, researchers have found that for the animal type, some animals such as a tiger or a bear did not trigger disgust for tiger-phobic or bear-phobic individuals, but other animals such as a spider triggered disgust for some spider phobic individuals, but did not trigger disgust for other spider phobic individuals.

Prognosis

If specific phobias exist in adolescence, they have a greater chance of persisting in early adulthood. Specific phobias that continue into adulthood generally become chronic if they are not treated. Furthermore, there is a greater chance for an individual diagnosed with specific phobia to develop new phobias as a young adult. Phobias contracted during childhood or adolescence that continue when individuals become young adults remit approximately 20% of the time.

Resources

Antony, Martin, M., Ph.D., and David H. Barlow, Ph.D. "Social Phobia, Specific Phobia." In Psychiatry. Volume

Edited by Allan Tasman, M.D., Jerald Kay, M.D., and Jeffrey A. Lieberman, M.D. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1997.

2American Psychological Association. 750 First Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20002-4242. (202) 336-5500. <http://www.apa.org> .

Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA). 11900 Parklawn Drive, Suite 100, Rockville, MD. 20852-2624.(301) 231-9350. <http://www.adaa.org> .

Description

Definition

Phobias

Presentation By: Mohamed Balkis

Information By:

Ahmad Ahmad