Argumentative Essay On Phobias

There are also medications which exist to treat anxiety, the leading one being benzodiazepines. Other classes of drugs which are also able to treat anxiety and depressive disorders include anti-depressants, anti – convulsants drugs, and also beta blockers. The brain is a network of neurones which signal across synapses. There are two types of neurotransmitters, excitatory (positive) and inhibitory (negative). Benzodiazepines works by enhancing the actions of inhibitory neurotransmitters which exerts an inhibitory effect on neurones and reduces anxiety in this way.

Known as a mental disorder a phobia is a persistent fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to compelling desire to avoid it. Phobias tend to affect the way people live their lives, for example, their working and social environments, considering that they last for a very long time and are capable to cause intense psychological physical stress. It is considered today the most common mental and anxiety disorder in the United States (Matig Mavissakalian & David H. Barlow 1981 pp 2). There are many phobias such as: the fear of aging, fear of changing, fear of clowns, fear of getting fat, fear of being in closed spaces, etc.

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy." (www.healthy place.com) Many people have trouble accomplishing what they want to do in life because of health issues. A main health issue people suffer from is anxiety. There are different types of anxiety disorders you can have. Each one of them hold you back from doing what you want to succeed in life and may even cause you to make bad choices.

You are in an airport waiting for your plane to arrive. You've never flown before, and are more terrified than you can ever remember being. Everyone has told you the supposedly comforting statistics - "millions of planes take off each day and there's only a handful of crashes," "flying is safer than driving." You know rationally that there is no reason to be so scared, but regardless your heart is racing, your palms are sweating, and you're light-headed. Simply the thought of being up in the air, out of control, makes you feel faint. Finally the flight attendant announces that your plane has arrived. But as all the other passengers line up to get onboard, you grab your luggage and walk straight out of the airport,

Introduction: Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two—of mice, for example, or your annual dental checkup. For most people, these fears are minor. But when fears become so severe that they cause tremendous anxiety and interfere with your normal life, they’re called phobias. A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger. Common phobias and fears include closed-in places, heights, highway driving, flying insects, snakes, and needles. However, we can develop phobias of virtually anything. Most phobias develop in childhood, but they can also develop in adults. If you

Most drugs used to treat anxiety are called SSRIs, such as Xanax, Valium, and Librium. These drugs are Central Nervous System depressants (“downers”) and are prescribed in low doses to treat anxiety. These drugs slow down the nervous system, so that one’s anxious thoughts cease to exist until the drug begins to wear off. As a anxious person continues to use SSRIs to relieve their anxiety, their brain begins to become dependent on the drug, this can cause the user to go through withdrawal. Withdrawals can increase the anxiety and tension of a person, which in effect, does the exact opposite of what the user

“A phobia is essentially a human being's irrational fear of something. It could be an object, an animal, a situation or an environment. These fears are persistent, intense, excessive and unrealistic, which is primarily why phobias are deemed irrational. A clinically phobic person's reaction to what scares him/her may seem extreme and the fright may not appear to be justified.” (Grenier et al., 2011) A specific phobia is known by a deep and persistent fear of an object or situation which becomes anxiety. The anticipations of the stimulus may make the symptoms arise. Many individuals who suffer with this disease will avoid the stimuli. They will take extra steps and precaution to have no contact. The main characteristics that the DSM-5 describes for this disorder includes “the individual suffering from a persistent fear that is either unreasonable or excessive, caused by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation, exposure to the stimulus usually results in an anxiety response, the sufferer recognizes that their fear is disproportionate to the perceived threat or danger, individuals take steps to avoid the object or situation they fear, and the phobic reaction, anticipation or avoidance interferes with the individual’s normal routine and relationships, or causes significant distress. At last, the phobia that the person has to be constant for a period of six months or longer.” (American Psychiatric Association,

Treatments given to those affected with anxiety are mostly combinations of medications and psychotherapy, as well as natural resources. The medications often prescribed are to help with the physical and psychological issues, some work with the chemicals in the brain, and some work with the muscle tension in the body that is caused by the fight-or-flight reactions. A group of medicines called anxiolytics, or better known as tranquilizers are given to those who suffer from anxiety. The medications prescribed often do their job, but it may take some time to find the proper medication and dosage to fit the individual's needs. The two different kinds of anxiolytics given out to patients are called benzodiazepines or barbiturates. Barbiturates work

Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that causes people to persistently become extremely irrational and strongly avoid/object a particular thing or situation when in their presence. The causes of phobias are still largely unknown, but what we do know is we all have fears in some shape or form; whether it be a common phobia such as: animals, insects, reptiles, the dark, acrophobia (heights), drowning, micro-phobia (germs), claustrophobia (closed spaces); or something less common such as: fear of rain or fear of beards.

A competent therapist will not simply treat a client’s phobia with exposure therapy. Rather, the therapist begins by conducting a functional assessment to develop a treatment plan. Information should be obtained about the factors pertaining to the excessive fears or anxiety. The therapist should determine what situations or stimuli serve as triggers for the anxiety or fear. The way the client responds to the fear should be noted. Further, the therapist should consider the links that exist between triggers and responses. Generally the links are faulty cognitions that must be addressed with the client. This important first step may take between one and six hours and require several sessions. The therapist can then proceed to create a list of the client’s primary problems. To keep the list manageable, it should contain no more than ten problems. The main problems should be listed first. The therapist can decide if any of the problems on the list would be suitable for exposure therapy. The next step before using exposure therapy is to have the client obtain a medical evaluation. Some medical conditions such as thyroid dysfunction, amphetamine use, or drug withdrawal can mimic or increase anxiety. Exposure therapy may be contraindicated for some medical conditions. Using flashing lights during exposure therapy could bring on an epileptic seizure

In this paper I will be describing phobias and fear, but more specifically coulrophobia (the fear of clowns) and Monophobia (the fear of being alone). I also will describe possible causes of phobias, the history of phobias, how fear is helpful in small amounts, what fear does to someone and how to defeat it. Fear is present in all people but some more than others and I would like to know why. The definition of a phobia is “an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something”. Phobias are never simple and often do not have a simple answers or cures, but there are ways of dealing with phobias. There are some treatments that can help you get over your fears. Phobias are not easy to get into without getting into very

Medication provides long-term or short-term treatment for patients; it is commonly paired with therapy to help with physical symptoms or help patients relax during sessions and other activities. There are four major classes of medications used to treat anxiety: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI), benzodiazepines, and tricyclic antidepressants. Anti-anxiety medication slows down the central nervous system, giving the user a calm and relaxing feeling. Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin are popular anti-anxiety medications. These types of medication (benzodiazepines) are classified as tranquilizers. Medications are fast acting and commonly used to alleviate anxiety episodes or panic attacks. The effects wear off after a certain period of time and taking these medications comes with drawbacks.

Of the many disorders presented in chapter 15, I find phobias the most interesting. Phobias are more than just a strong fear or dislike. A specific phobia is diagnosed when there is an uncontrollable, irrational, intense desire to avoid some object or situation. There are numerous types of phobias. A few common phobias are; agoraphobia, which is the avoidance of situations in which one will fear having a panic attack, especially a situation in which it is difficult to get help, and from which it difficult to escape. Social phobia, which refers to an intense fear of being watched and judged by others. It is visible as a fear of public appearances in which embarrassment or humiliation is possible, such as public speaking, eating, or performing.

However, phobia can even cause people to risk their health. For example, the fear of dentists can leave people suffering from it willing to risk the health of their teeth in order to avoid having to go through an exam or procedure ( MacKay). When one knows about an upcoming confrontation, it can be the reason why one can not sleep or finds it hard to focus on important tasks. Due the change in daily routine, this unrealistic fear can interfere with the ability to socialize, work, or go about everyday life, brought on by and object, event or situation. But even animals have anxieties and phobias just as every human being (www.phobia-help.de). A phobia is an irrational fear, one knows that the object or situation, one is scared off, can not hurt one, but one is still afraid. A reason for this is that the human mind can not distinguish what is real and imaginary. When one has uncontrollable anxiety attacks, he loses rational judgement, leading to complicated problems. However, anyone can develop a phobia, men and women, teens and young adults, and elderly lady or a one-year-old boy (MacKay).

An unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat : Fear. Fear is a strong word, it can mean a variety of things and lead to a variety of things depending on who you are. My fear caused me to shake and tremble as if the world was coming to an end. It makes me feel safe around no one. I look back on my life and ask myself, was it all worth it for this? It makes me shrink and fall the size of of a humming bird. My stomach starts to feel like it never has before. My head is spinning in circles and my hands are trembling to the point where I think they might fall off.