You are standing on the edge of a boat, absolutely terrified of jumping in. All of your friends have told you facts about how rare it is to be bit by a shark, but you are still terrified. Most of your friends have jumped in, encouraging you to come in. They all try to coax you in by explaining how irrational your fear is. You have already done research about this stretch of water and know that there are no sharks in the water, but you are still scared. You shake your head at your friends and run back inside the boat, feeling relieved. This irrational fear is called a phobia.
Phobias are diagnosed as an irrational fear to a situation, activity, or object/animal/person. A phobia is a feeling of extreme fear, even though the stimuli to cause
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Phobias are not life threatening or an illness, but it does impact one’s life. Some people do not go into town or to the park because they are afraid of dogs. This is an example of how phobias can limit one’s life. Phobias are not an illness, but they are not healthy. They can cause one’s heart to race and can cause extreme panic. For example, people who are epileptic and have a phobia need medicine to control the panic or else they can go into a seizure or pass out. The most successful treatment is exposure therapy. This treatment usually involves a therapist to help the patient. In this treatment the therapist exposes the patient to their fear until the patient realizes how irrational the fear is and becomes emotionless toward the stimuli causing the …show more content…
In this treatment, the patient watches another patient confront their fear and the original patient realizes how irrational their fear is. Therapists sometimes also use relaxation and hypnosis, although it is not as popular or successful as exposure therapy and modeling. During relaxation, the therapist shows the effects (increased heart rate, quick breaths, etc.) of their fear and teaches the patient how to control these effects. Recently, drugs have been used to control the effects and panic associated with phobias. Anti-anxiety medication are used in situations to eliminate the physical effects of the phobia. Actually, anti-anxiety medication has the same effect as exposure therapy, both reduce the blood flow to the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that registers fear. Researchers are trying to create a cure that shall involve PET, MRIs, and CT scans to further understand the brains of those with phobias. Neurologists are also researching the brain to not only cure phobias but to prevent them all
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).
Conquering phobias is a specialty of hypnotherapists. A phobia is a compulsive fear of a specified situation or object (Knight 2). A few types of phobias are fear of open spaces, fear of snow, fear of the cold, fear of marriage, fear of insanity, fear of being alone, fear of darkness, fear of disease, fear of beards, fear of birds, fear of being stared at, fear of bein...
Everyone loves food, but not everyone loves what it does to their body. Society has put such a huge emphasis on body image that many males and females are concerned with what they eat and how it makes them look. This has lead to many people with eating disorders and trying multiple diets. According to LiveStrong approximately 45 million Americans diet each year (Uzoma). Not everyone sees the results they wish when dieting, which makes them frustrated and some give up. The reason the diets are not working may be due to the fact that they are not partaking in the right diet for their body. One effective diet for all is tracking what you eat.
Almost everyone alive has a fear of something whether it be heights, spiders or even clowns. Some people however have more serious issues with their fears, fears that follow them almost everywhere they go, these fears are called phobias. It is estimated that 4 to 5 percent of Americans have some type of phobia, which is an irrational fear of situations and certain objects. There are over 500 known phobias; a very common phobia is social phobia.
Phobias have been in existence for many years. As humans we fear things that are life threatening and unnatural. Someone who has an irrational fear of something is considered a phobia, which is an extreme illogical fear or dislike of something. Fear is a very common emotion which distinguishes from phobia regarding the severe distress someone with a phobia goes through. Fear is a rationalized and instinctive emotion that comes in response to a threatening situation. The reaction caused by fear can be managed. Phobias can hinder someone’s life. People who struggle with phobias constantly avoid the object of fear, and will do anything required not to see it. It’s hard to directly to clearly figure out the cause regarding
Researchers and doctors find eating disorders to be very complicated to figure out due to the many different factors leading to eating disorders. The majority of these issues derive from media images portraying the “perfect” bodies bringing people to believe that they need to change their eating habits to become that “perfect” image. On average, people waste around 31 hours a week on the internet and spend anywhere from two to four hours a day looking up cosmetic surgery procedures and investigating dietary and weight loss plans in an attempt to get that model worthy body (The Telegraph). Men and women should be proud of whom they are and not be envious of others so much as to want to change their entire appearance; God made us all perfect through his eyes; why would anyone want to change that uniqueness about them?
In this world, there are many psychological problems and issues that people are dealing with. One of the main issues that they deal with is their fears. In this case, severe fears which are called phobias. There are over five hundred (500) types of phobias with a specific name, classification and description of that phobia. Phobias can become very extreme and hard to deal with if not treated after a certain amount of time. From understanding what a phobia is, the history, statistical facts, signs/symptoms and different types of treatment one can learn and understand that phobias are a serious matter and can be treated for. As long as a person understands what phobia they have, commit to finding a treatment and have a strong enough mind, they can see that they can do anything and be rid of their fears because you are only as strong as your weakest fear.
Phobias are considered a part of anxiety disorders, a phobia is an intense and irrational fear of a certain thing or situation. Some examples of phobias include fear of heights, insects, and even talking in front of a large crowd. The intensity of phobias differ from patient to patient but the severity of phobia...
...6. Generalization from the original phobic stimulus to stimuli of a similar nature will occur; 7. Noxious experiences which occur under conditions of excessive confinement are more likely to produce phobic reactions; 8. Neutral stimuli which are associated with a noxious experience, may develop motivating properties. This acquired drive is termed the fear drive; 9. Responses (such as avoidance) which reduce the fear drive are reinforced; 10. Phobic reactions can be acquired vicariously (Rachman 31). These theories are used to identify how people obtain phobias and other situations that may occur with phobias.
Have you ever wondered how some athletes have gotten so good at a certain sport? Have you ever thought about what they did in order for them to get this good? For some the answer is simple; workout and train. But for others the answer is different; the use of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids. There are some people that argue that steroids should be legalized and allowed in professional sports. Other people argue that steroids should not be allowed. Today I am going to state my opinion and justify my reason. Steroids should not be allowed in professional sports because it can be very dangerous to the athlete’s health, it is a way to gain and un-fair advantage and it can be dangerous in both social and physical aspects.
Simple phobias include irrational fears of things like animals such as dogs, cats, or the most common snakes. Specific phobias are centered around specific situations such as small spaces, claustrophobia, or heights, acrophobia. Social phobias are irrational fears of interactions with other people. For example, a person might have a social phobia of public speaking or fear of embarrassment. Another form of social phobia is agoraphobia which restraints a person from being in unfamiliar, open or closed spaces, typically resulting in panic attacks. These different types of phobias have two things in common; they are irrational, and they are treated in similar
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
Introduce Topic: A phobia as defined by medicalnewstoday.com, “is an irrational fear, a kind of anxiety disorder in which the sufferer has a relentless dread of a situation, living creature, place or thing.”
All of us at one point in our life have had a fear of something, whether it’s public speaking, trying something new for the first time, or even presenting just like we're all going to be doing. I'm sure most of us will be nervous and we try our best to get rid of that feeling. Some people have Social anxiety which is known as social phobia. It is the fear of social interaction with other people and of being judged and looked down upon. It can also be a fear of embarrassment. This leads to feelings of inadequacy, self-consciousness, and depression. Social anxiety is an issue that affects many individuals as it should be taken more seriously and should not be considered as a weakness. Moreover, individuals with social anxiety should not be judged
We all have our fears, rather it be flying or driving. However, when a phobia is present the individual has extreme irrational fears that interfere with their quality of life. For example a fear of heights may limit an individuals living or employment choices. If this individual is offered the job of a lifetime, however, the office is located on the twentieth floor; they will refuse the job due to the fear of heights.