With over 500 recognized phobias, what exactly is a phobia and how does it affect a person? A fear alone does not distinguish a phobia. A phobia is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that poses little or no real danger. A phobia is long-lasting and can cause intense physical and psychological reactions. Both fear and avoidance must be present and to the point of interfering with everyday life. Because you become so preoccupied with thinking about the fear, you often are unable to sleep, to work, function in a social setting or enjoy things you normally like to do. IRRATIONAL fear is predominate in phobias.
Adults usually recognize that their phobia is excessive and unreasonable, while children do not usually have a sufficient impairment that warrants a diagnosis. The following is a list of subtypes for phobias and are fairly self-explanatory: 1. Animal Type (fear cued by animals or insects), 2. Natural Environment Type (fear cued by storms, heights, water, etc.), 3. Blood-Injection-Injury Type (fear cued by seeing blood, injury, injections or other invasive medical procedure), 4. Situational Type (fear cued by specific situation such as flying, bridges, public transportation) and 5. Other Type (fear cued by other stimuli such as choking, loud sounds, contracting an illness). Women tend to have diagnosed phobias more than men and phobias seem to run in families. Seek professional help if you have excessive fear or phobias as there are a number of effective interventions that can help.
