Something is a phobia when you have to alter your way of life to handle your fear. A phobia is a serious restriction in your life caused by intense or unreasonable fear or dread sparked by a specific thing or scenario.
You’ll go to tremendous measures to avoid something that most people would consider harmless. When you encounter the phobia or even just the idea, you start feeling apprehensive.
Continue reading to learn more about phobias and their effects.
Understanding Phobias
While some phobias, like ophidiophobia (the dread of snakes), rarely interfere with daily living, others, like agoraphobia (the fear of open spaces and crowds), can make it very difficult to live a normal life.
Specific phobias include the fear of spiders, heights, or dentists. In contrast, more generalized phobias include the dread of developing a phobia, the fear of open spaces, and the fear of social interaction (phobophobia).
It’s possible that social anxiety begins as shyness and then intensifies to the point where it interferes with your life.
Agoraphobia and panic attacks frequently coexist. Agoraphobics typically steer clear of the environments that make them anxious.
How Phobias Develop
It is generally acknowledged that phobias start in childhood, between the ages of four and eight, even though the precise mechanism by which they develop is unknown.
Agoraphobia typically begins in the late teens or early twenties, while social anxiety typically begins around adolescence.
You may get kids used to the things they’re scared of to avoid acquiring phobias. In this approach, you can eliminate someone’s phobia of something like spiders before it causes them problems later in life.
Assistance with Phobias
Treatment for specific phobias usually includes some form of exposure to the item that causes you the most anxiety.
Psychotherapy
You can better handle your particular phobia by speaking with a mental health expert. The most successful therapies are exposure therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Exposure therapy aims to alter how you react to the thing or circumstance that gives you anxiety. You might be able to learn to control your anxiety by gradually and repeatedly exposing yourself to the cause of your particular phobia and the associated thoughts, feelings, and sensations.
If you’re frightened of elevators, your therapy might proceed from simply thinking about using an elevator to viewing elevator images, approaching elevators, and finally using an elevator. After that, you might ride up several floors before getting into a busy elevator.
In cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), exposure is combined with other strategies to help patients gain new perspectives on and coping mechanisms for the feared item or circumstance.
You gain new perspectives on your anxieties, physical discomfort, and how they have affected your life. CBT focuses on developing a sense of mastery and confidence over your thoughts and feelings instead of feeling helpless in the face of them.
Medication
Exposure therapy in psychotherapy is typically effective in curing particular phobias. However, there are situations when taking medicine might assist lessen the anxiety and panic sensations you experience when contemplating or being exposed to the thing or circumstance you are afraid of.
Medications may be utilized during early treatment for short-term use in certain occasionally occurring scenarios, such as taking a flight, giving a speech in front of an audience, or undergoing an MRI.
Conclusion
It is important to understand that a phobia is a serious restriction in your life caused by an intense or unreasonable fear. Getting expert help is essential to handling your fear and leading a normal life.
If you’re looking for a reliable Calgary counselling services for your phobia, don’t hesitate to call Virtuous Circle Counselling. We provide the practical tools necessary for you to improve your daily life and relationships. Call now to schedule a counselling session.
