Phobias – Causes, Management and Treatment

See also Virtual Reality Therapy for Phobias 

A Phobia is an irrational, inappropriate or exaggerated fear of a situation or object.  People can develop a fear of almost anything (including a fear of phobias known as phobophobia!) and there are many lists of the funny weird and unusual phobias available on the internet.  However some of the most common phobias can cause great distress to an individual and make life more difficult as the person struggles to avoid a particular situation / object.

Some of the most commonly seen phobias at the

Access Psychology  Ireland clinic include;

 

Fear of Flying

 Fear of Driving

 

 

Fear of Heights

Fear of Public speaking

Fear of Open spaces

 Fear of speaking on phone in open plan offices ( may be a social anxiety)

 Fear of speaking at meetings (introducing self etc)

Social Phobia – see Social Anxiety Disorder

 Fear of Bridges (driving / walking over)

 

 Fear of driving on motorways

 Fear of being too far from home / public toilets (often a result of conditions such as severe IBS)

 Fear of specific animals

 Fear of driving on narrow winding roads ( especially on buses abroad at high altitude)

 Fear of Lifts (glass / enclosed)

 Fear of underground car parks

 Fear of driving beside water

 Fear of storms

 Fear of water

(More information on each of these phobias will be published soon.  In the meantime if you would like more information please contact us a the clinic on 01-235 1000 or by email at info@accesspsychology.ie)

Some causes of fear may be easily avoided but others may have serious consequences.  For example a person with a fear of flying may miss out on important family events or experience marital distress when it comes to deciding on the family holiday.  For others a fear of public speaking may mean that they avoid applying for promotion or a new job in case it involves making presentations or even an increase in business meetings.

 Causes, Management and Treatment of Phobias.

 

 Some people can trace the cause of their fears back to a specific event such as flying in bad weather, or remember that a parent had a similar phobia which they probably passed on.  Others however cannot think of any reason for their fear.  In these cases it may be due to how a part of the trigger that they focus on; for example a person who focuses on the feeling of the eight legs of a spider on their skin is more likely to fear them than someone who focuses on how small a spider is in relation to themselves and the fact they could blow a spider away without even touching it.  Others may have got on a plane when their stress levels were already high.  The added stress of packing, airports and cramped seating would then be enough to trigger anxiety on a plane which then turns in to a fear of flying.

 Most people manage their phobia by avoidance but if there is one thing you learn from reading this remember this; Avoidance keeps the fear alive.  For as long as you avoid it (the stimulus) it has “beaten” you.  Treatment therefore must involve facing what you fear.

 There are various ways of treating a phobia and the most successful ones use a mixture of tackling the skewed thinking processes involved in phobias as well as relaxation techniques (cognitive behavioural exposure and relaxation techniques). For greatest benefit, the individual should be gradually exposed to the phobic stimulus (trigger) to allow new learning to occur.

For more information and advice regarding treatment please contact Access Psychology Ireland on;

TEL: 01-235 1000 or email : info@accesspsychology.ie or send us a message on our Contact Us page.