Phobia Symptoms: Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore
DEFINITION & NATURE
It is a type of anxiety disorder that involves constant fear of an object or situation. These disorders are treatable. It includes a sense of danger or a clear warning of upcoming suffering. If symptoms become severe, people may separate themselves to avoid uncomfortable situations. Result in restricting their lifestyle. When a person experiences phobia symptoms related to something specific, they may begin to shape their lives around it.
SYMPTOMS
Phobia symptoms
Symptoms include which can be as follows:
- People may feel dizzy and lightheaded.
- Some people feel nauseous.
- Due to fear, people sweat.
- Increase in heartbeat.
- Sense of shortness of breath.
- A person may experience an upset stomach until they feel safe in their surroundings.
- People get distracted by a feared object.
- People might feel a sense of unreality in their minds.
- Due to distress, some people fear dying.
Phobia Causes
It does not seem to possess a single source, but it might have many joint factors.
Examples that might show are as follows:
- A phobia could be linked to a specific incident or trauma, such as robbery or assault.
- It can be seen as a learned reaction that a person might develop from family and friends.
- Genetics also plays a vital role – there is some evidence that suggests/shows that people tend to be more anxious as compared to others.
TYPES OF PHOBIA
According to APA(American Psychiatric Association), it differentiates them into three different types, which can be seen as:
SPECIFIC PHOBIAS
Fear of a certain thing is a component of specific phobias. Usually, these can be divided into four groups: environmental, medical, situational, and animal.
AGORAPHOBIA
This is a situation that describes it as a fear of being trapped in a place or situation from which you cannot escape. As a result, the person having a phobia might begin to ignore such situations that cause them distress. In certain situations, the fear may become so prevalent that the individual is unable to leave their home out of fear.
SOCIAL PHOBIA
Fear of social circumstances is referred to as social phobia. In some cases, people might be afraid of performing any task in front of people.
Social Phobia
The term “social phobia” itself indicates that the person fears socializing and tries to avoid going out or performing any social activity. This is not nervousness, but is very intense. People are scared even of normal situations. Now we know about Social Phobia Symptoms :-
Social Phobia Symptoms:-
- People are afraid to socialize.
- They are not able to talk to anyone due to fear.
- They are afraid of what people will think about their judgment.
- Dry throat, sweating, shaking of hands—all this happens to them when they are among people.
Health Phobia
When someone has a health phobia, they worry that they might be suffering from a serious illness. They still worry that he/she might have a serious condition, even when his medical results are clear. Now we know about health phobia symptoms:-
Health Phobia Symptoms:-
- Visiting the doctor repeatedly.
- Noticing even the smallest physical symptoms, such as slight body pain, a rapid heartbeat, or headaches, and taking them seriously as signs of a serious illness.
- Searching for your anxiety-causing symptoms on Google repeatedly.
- Keep thinking about all of these things repeatedly.
- Claustrophobia: Fear of being in confined spaces.
- Aerophobia: Fear of flying.
- Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders.
- Emetophobia: Fear of vomiting.
- Erythrophobia: Fear of blushing.
- Hypochondria: Fear of becoming ill.
- Acrophobia: Fear of heights.
- Escalaphobia: Fear of escalators.
Phobia Treatment
Therapists can treat simple phobias by exposing a person to the object that causes them distress. This method is commonly known as self-exposing therapy.
Treating more complex phobias often takes longer and involves talking therapies, such as:
- counseling
- psychotherapy
- cognitive behavioral therapy
Medication may be prescribed to help with anxiety caused by certain phobias may include.
- Antidepressant.
- BBeta-blockers