Lesson 1: Clinical Disorders - Part A

PART A

Phobias

Fear, in general, is beneficial. It helps protect people from otherwise dangerous and life-threatening situations. For example, a fear of food poisoning contracted from ingesting raw meat products may make a person fully cook his or her pork roast. A fear of brain damage may persuade people to wear bicycle helmets when cycling. A fear of bears may encourage hikers to hike in groups and carry bear spray. Phobias, however, involve intense and irrational fears. People can fear a particular thing, place, or condition. Social phobia, a common affliction, involves overwhelming and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. Affected individuals are fearful of being observed and judged by others and of being embarrassed or disgraced by their own actions. Such individuals are likely to avoid public speaking, meeting new people, or using public washrooms.

With specific phobias, exposure to the feared object, place, or condition almost always triggers an anxiety response, often in the form of a panic attack. Although adults with phobias generally understand that their fear is unreasonable, some children do not. Individuals with phobias tend to avoid the feared object or situation. In some cases where this is not possible (such as getting an injection when you have a fear of needles), a person will endure the situation with intense discomfort. The avoidance of specific objects, places, or conditions, however, may interfere with an individual’s normal routine and functioning. People may not leave their houses in their determination to avoid certain triggers.

For a diagnosis of a specific phobia, the fear and anxiety related to an object or situation cannot be due to another psychological disorder and, for those under 18, the fear has to be present for at least six months.

Phobias may develop for a number of reasons. If a father, for example, has an irrational fear of insects, he may pass this fear to his child through the child’s observation of the father’s avoidance behaviours and reactions when encountering an insect.

People may also develop a phobia relating to a traumatic event. For example, if they almost drowned during childhood, they may avoid all activities that involve water. They would not water-ski, canoe, fish, swim, etc. A third way to develop a phobia is through misinterpretation of information. A person who reads about negative experiences with dentists and speaks with people regarding their poor dental work may develop an irrational fear of all dentists, dentist offices, and dental tools. The sight of a dentist’s drill may elicit a panic attack severe enough to prevent a person from getting a simple dental checkup!

Read more about social phobias the web site below:

Teen Mental Health http://teenmentalhealth.org/learn/mental-disorders/social-anxiety-disorder/

Watch the video below which provides a summary of panic disorders, OCD, generalized anxiety disorder and phobias.