Treating Phobias Research Paper

Phobias can be treated one of four ways. The most common is to faces the fear. This person would either get assistants from a behavioral therapist or go at it alone. This would be the most extreme way of getting over the phobia. Or a person can receive help from a behavioral therapist. The therapist may ask the patient to read up on the object or place, then look at photos of their fear. The patient might be asked to final go face their fear after all the research and preparation (Mayo Clinic). The treatment with medication is always an

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.

Though the experience of phobias is relatively common and their physical characteristics are generally well understood, there is no real consensus on the neurobiological basis of phobias. Instead, there are currently several different models and theories that work to try to understand how and why phobias occur in the human brain. Most hypotheses regarding phobias take a different approach, from biological to psychoanalytic to evolutionary. Is there one model that seems "less wrong" or more satisfying in our efforts to understand the biology of phobias? Using the various models, how do phobias seem to come about? How does thinking about phobias add to our understanding of the brain and behavior?

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

Anatidaephobia is the fear of a duck watching you at all times. Yeah it’s a weird one but, it's real, too real for people that suffer from it. It could mess up your life. For example, you could never go to a farm because you will be too scared. Some people can’t even leave their house, because they think a duck is watching them.

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

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.

The level of fear is usually inappropriate to the situation and may cause the person to avoid common, everyday situations. Specific phobia also go “hand in hand” with social anxiety and Anticipatory anxiety, which involves becoming nervous ahead of time about being in certain situations or coming into contact with the object of your phobia. (For example, a person with a fear of dogs may become anxious about going for a walk because he or she may see a dog along the way.) The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about 5%-12% of Americans have phobias. Specific phobias affect an estimated 6.3 million adult Americans. Phobias are usually noticed in adults and adolescence but can occur at any age but they are more common in men than in women. Specific phobias are also very common in children but will fade as time goes on however in adults phobias are “all of a sudden” and last longer, only 20% of phobias in adults go away without

Exposure therapy is exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus. For example, if one has a phobia of dogs, then the therapist will slowly expose them repeatedly to a dog. This type of therapy is considered the best treatment for specific phobia. There are some other treatments to help, though. Another type of therapy proven to help specific phobia is cognitive behavioral therapy. In this type of therapy, a patient would be exposed to an object, but the main objective is to create a different mind set in the future about the object and new ways to cope when around the phobic stimulus. Along with a type of therapy, a doctor may prescribe medications to be taken with the therapy sessions. These medications are meant to help the body and the mind to relax and stay calm. Medications can also be prescribed to help treat anxiety for situational phobias and to be used when the patient needs it. Many doctors prescribe medications that are either betablockers or sedation drugs (“Specific Phobias”). Betablockers are used to help treat the physical effects of phobias such as keeping the heartbeat steady. Benzodiazepines, such as Ativan, are types of drugs that help reduce anxiety by creating a sedative effect on the patient taking them (“Specific Phobias”). By having regular therapy sessions and taking medications, a person can eliminate a

I think phobias can be a learned behavior but it can also be a reaction to a traumatic event (for example, my grandma has a phobia of cats because in Cuba she got attacked by one and now all her kids are afraid of cats too). I think depending on the severity of the phobia, is how you choose the way to approach it in terms of overcoming your fear. Since, I do believe phobias can be a learned behavior, I do believe you can unlearn or minimize the behavior. I think I would use either exposure therapy, hypnosis, or cognitive restructuring depending on the person. I think exposure therapy would work for some people because some people need to be exposed to their fear in order to overcome it. I think hypnosis might work because with

One way to help treat specific phobia is through cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a therapy used to help target behaviors and help examine the thoughts and cognitions (Berkman, Blickman, Heine, Malekzadeh, Teunissen, Bussmann, Kwakkel, Meeteren, Groot, TREFAMS-ACE, 2013). This treatment can help a person with specific phobia because this therapy can be used as an active intervention to help the individual face their fears of

Just imagine for a moment that you have a cynophobia or the fear of dogs, would this be how you would feel. Driving down the road the oil light comes on. "I must stop the car to add more oil or I will damage the car engine. This looks like a good place to pull over. I'll just stop in front of this house. The oil is in the trunk, so I'll pop the top first, then get the oil out of the trunk. OK, I have the oil, but what if there is a dog at this house. Hurry, I have to hurry. A dog might come running out and bark at me any minute. Just get the oil in the engine. I can't my hands are shaking. Don't worry, there is no dog. Just get the oil in the engine. I don't care

The topic and layout of this paper follow the text from Ronald Comer, fundamentals of abnormal psychology (Seventh edition). Specifically covering phobias, specific phobias, and agoraphobia. Further, exploring the causes and treatments of phobias (Comer, 2014). The topic of phobias in the authors opinion is a way for a greater understanding of their surroundings. That allows for a greater understanding of children and their fear through phobias.

The subject of phobia can still be considered as a mystery as no concrete answers to why phobia occurs. The psychologist are still making serious attempt and experiments to find the cause and finding an answer to the problems of

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).