One of the characteristics of a phobia is a feeling that is greater than the fear of a situation or object with an exaggeration of the danger associated with the said situation or even object. This persistent fear often leads to an anxiety disorder that leads an individual to develop mechanisms that ensure one avoids the object or situation that triggers the occurrence of the phobia. Phobias can have highly debilitating effects on an individual including the development of depression, isolation, substance abuse, and even suicide. Many people take phobia for granted however, it is clear that it has the potential to impair the quality of life for both the affected and the people around them. The fact that many of the phobias are manageable using …show more content…
Social phobias easily lead individuals to shunning situations where they feel they might be the focus of other people in the society, as they often feel unaccomplished and therefore assume that they will be the subject of the said populations (American Psychiatric Association, 2015). The fear of negative judgment imposed by other people in the society points at a situation where one ensures that they stay devoid of situations that involve socializing with other people in the society. This makes it almost impossible for individuals with these phobias to take up roles that require public participation (Randi and Irena, 2015). It ascribes to what one can view as the phobia of other people 's reaction to an individual. Fear of rejection by others is a good example of a social phobia. Social phobias can take the form of gelotophobia, which is the fear of other people laughing at an individual, or even glossophobia, which is the fear public speaking. Social phobias can easily limit an individual y ensuring that one avoids all situations that can lead to scrutiny or contact with the public. This is debilitating and can easily lead to harmful consequences that include the inability of an individual to perform their roles in the society or even the inability to take up work for fear of judgment by others (Bourne, …show more content…
This is for instance the case when one develops a panic attack simply because they find themselves in an elevator or other enclosed space especially if they have a fear of heights or are claustrophobic. For the former, if an individual is in an elevator and realizes that they are in the fiftieth floor of a building, then they can easily get terrified and even develop panic attacks fearing that the building might just collapse leading to their demise. In such a case, one can begin trembling and holding on to solid items in the room in a bid to ensure that a solid structure is protecting them, and not simply the glass on the walls. Another symptom is the use of all efforts to ensure that one does not encounter the item or situation that causes phobia (American Psychiatric Association, 2015). This can for instance be in the form of avoiding an airport at all costs where an individual suffers from aviophobia. Where one suffers from agrizoophobia, then they will try as much as they can to avoid contact with an environment that has animals. Such an individual will always come up with strong excuses on the reasons why it is a hundred times better to go swimming in a pool as opposed to visiting a zoo. This is all in a bid to ensure that one is as far away as
One of the most common anxiety disorder is social phobia, which can sometimes be interchangeable with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Marc de Rosnay, and others, states that Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by a clearly noticeable fear and avoidance of most social situations where the individual may be put under scrutiny by others, and by fear in such situations, the individual will behave in an embarrassing manner (de Rosnay). One of the most notable feature of social phobia is that it has an early onset, as early as 7-9 months in most cases. The characteristics of having social phobia, or social anxiety disorder, is that the individuals are shy when meeting new people, quiet in a large group, blush easily, and often avoids making eye contact. There are a lot of concerns/problems with having social anxiety disorder. As a group, individuals with anxiety disorders had the largest burden of role disability compared to other common mental health conditions, exceeding the burden for mood disorders and in some cases, substance abuse (Grigorenko).
A phobic disorder is marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger. Agoraphobia is an intense, irrational fear or anxiety occasioned by the prospect of having to enter certain outdoor locations or open spaces. For example, busy streets, busy stores, tunnels, bridges, public transportation and cars. Traditionally agoraphobia was solely classified as a phobic disorder. However, due to recent studies it is now also viewed as a panic disorder. Panic disorders are characterised by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly (Weiten, 1998).
Characteristics of agoraphobia are a marked fear or anxiety about two or more of the following: "using public transportation" like cars, planes, trains, and buses; "being in open spaces" like a market, a parking lot, a bridge, or ship; "being in enclosed places" like a store, a theater, or an elevator; "standing in line or being in a crowd"; or "being outside of the home alone." (APA, 2013, pg 217) This fear differs from other phobias in that the fear is not the specific place or thing, but the person is afraid that they might not be able to leave or get help if they panic or are incapacitated or have embarrassing symptoms or situations. This might be because of other medical conditions such as vomiting or inflammatory bowel symptoms. Older adults might fear falling. Children might fe...
The concept can be better understood through the example of a woman observed by researcher and psychiatrist Fraser Kent. This arachnophobic woman was so afraid of spiders that she would sweep, dust and vacuum twice a day to make sure spiders never settled in her home. She would clean, and then burn any bags coming from the grocery store to make sure that none entered the house from outside (2). This is an example of a person with OCD and a phobia. The obsessive-compulsive was birthed from her phobia. This greatly altered everyday life for her as she was fearful of leaving her house unless she knew her environment would be spider free. Unfortunately this is not an isolated case; there are many examples of the everyday lives of people worldwide that display the hardships of having a phobia and trying to lead a normal life. There are an estimated 26 million Americans alone living with a phobia. This ...
A woman hates to stand in line in the grocery store because she's afraid that everyone is watching her. She knows that it's not really true, but she can't shake the feeling. While she is shopping, she is conscious of the fact that people might be staring at her from the big mirrors on the inside front of the ceiling. Now, she has to talk to the person who's checking out her groceries. She tries to smile, but her voice comes out weakly. She's sure she's making a fool of herself. Her self-consciousness and anxiety rise to the roof...(Richards 1) (1).
... that he may have read online. This nearly resulted in his death. This phobia proves to be the worst phobia that doctors face, when trying to convince a patient that everything on the internet is not necessarily true, and that the patients should come to them for better advice. An individual who is severely affected by a phobia would have an increase in heart rate, which could lead to a variety of other ailments, such as, fainting, seizures, nausea and even sweating. For those who have the fear of any sort of medical treatment in an extreme manor, there are specific coping treatments that could be taken. Psychological treatments are the treatment of choice, especially when dealing with this type of fear for medical procedure. One such treatment is, Exposure based treatment for instance – the exposure of the patient to the feared object without any necessary danger.
The term social anxiety is, by most, not associated with being a serious, mental sickness. The common person usually thinks someone with social anxiety is simply not a “people person” However, social anxiety has been defined as either a disorder or phobia. Social Anxiety Disorder is an actual, underdiagnosed psychiatric disorder which should be recognized not as mere shyness, but a psychological illness with symptoms and treatments. It is a disorder which is becoming more and more prevalent as time progresses. Due to the technological advances and appliances that exist in the modern age, there has been an overall change in the average amount of social interactions that the everyday person may have. This leads to an exceeding amount of people who get nervous, frightened even, of being in any type of social situation. Just about half of Americans labels themselves as shy; mostly everyone has had stage fright at some point in his/her life. For a shocking amount of people, that sort of situation is dreadful (“Beyond Shyness and Stage Fright” 1). The stage fright “becomes a disorder when the resulting symptoms make individuals miserable or seriously interfere with their work, friendships, and family life. This crippling dread of certain personal encounters and social situations is called social anxiety disorder or social phobia, and it is increasingly understood to be a treatable condition” (“Beyond Shyness and Stage Fright” 1).
In conclusion, phobias are a big part of many people’s lives these days and a growing medical condition. People do not realize how badly phobias can affect their lives so they don’t receive medical attention. There are no cures for phobias but there are treatments which will help the phobic get over their fear. I personally believe that if people care enough about their lives, they will treat their phobias. Phobias can totally alter your life so if you have any of the symptoms I have listed above, please go and get treatment.
Social anxiety disorder is also known as social phobia. It is defined as the fear of social situations that involve interaction with other people. It is the fear and anxiety of being judged and evaluated negatively by other people or behaving in a way that might cause embarrassment or ridicule. This leads to feelings of inadequacy, self-consciousness, and depression. The person with social anxiety disorder may believe that all eyes are on him at all times. Social anxiety disorder is the third largest mental health case issue in the world, and it can effect 7% of the population (15 million Americans) at any given time.
The way we think in phobicly does not help us at all. At the very most it is a relic from some past threat. Phobias are not usually big issues with many of us, but their principle affects us all, when we think of irrational nervousness in situations where there is no physical threat.
Main Point 1: There are three main categories of phobias. The first category is Specific Phobias which are known as simple phobias. Specific phobias or simple phobias are usually fears about specific situations, living creatures, places, activities, or things. Examples of simple phobias is dentophobia (dentists), aerophobia (flying), claustrophobia (small spaces), and acrophobia (heights). The other two categories are Social Phobia and Agoraphobia. These two are known as complex phobias. The article “What is a Phobia?”, describes them as complex phobias because “they are linked to deep-rooted fear or anxiety about certain situations, incidents or circumstances, which make them more disabling than simple phobias.” Social phobia is also referred to as social anxiety disorder. Social phobia may be defined in which a person has an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations. (Webmd.com) A person with social phobia finds being in social situations very difficult to handle with because of the lack of social skills or experiences that person may have. Going out to social events such as parties or functions may cause anxiety to a person with social phobia. There is that fear a person has of being embarrassed in public. People with this phobia may be afraid of a specific situation such as public speaking. Medicinenet.com defines “agoraphobia” as “a fear of being outside or otherwise being in a situation from which one either cannot escape or from which escaping would be difficult or humiliating.” The results of agoraphobia are anxiety and panic attacks. People with agoraphobia sometimes confine themselves inside their own home when symptoms are
Specific phobia, described in DSM-V, is a certain kind of anxiety disorder, in which a patient experiences an amount of unreasonable intense fear for certain objects or situations. Stimulators include animals, natural environment, situations and blood injection injury (APA, 2013). Intense fear and extreme anxiety generally result in patients with social impairment. In the United States, the lifetime prevalence for specific phobia is 12.5% (Kessler & Chiu, 2005). As one of the most common mental disorders in the United States, specific phobia attracts both academia and the general population’s attention. General treatments for specific phobia include exposure
We have now discussed the ways which we can identify signs of social phobia and also some useful ways to treat them. It is important to know that if you do feel you may have a fear of being social with others, it doesn’t make you weird nor an outcast. So it’s important to put yourself out there, make friends and TALK. As proof that it can be done, here I am, giving a speech on social phobia when I was diagnosed with social phobia.
A Phobia is the fear of a specific circumstance, situation, or objects. Agora is an ancient Greek word meaning marketplace. Combining the two words gives us agoraphobia, which is a fear of being in crowded places, a fear of losing control in public, or the fear of being unable to escape to a safe place (usually one’s home). It became a medically recognized disorder in the mid-1800s. “The Anxiety Disorders Association of America says about one in 11 Americans suffers from panic attacks. Two-thirds also suffer from agoraphobia, and about three-fourths of all agoraphobics are women.”
A phobia is a variation of an anxiety disorder that is usually triggered by a particular stimulus, which then provokes an extreme or possibly irrational fear response. It is unclear as to exactly how phobias arise in individuals, but it is likely that psychological aspects have a role to play. In this essay, I will discuss different psychological factors, specifically behavioural elements, which contribute to the acquisition of phobias and how important and universal these are in terms of explaining how some individuals develop such disorders.