Many people with a phobia don't need treatment and avoiding the object of their fear is enough to control the problem. However, it may not always be possible to avoid certain phobias, such as a fear of flying. In this instance, you may decide to get professional help and advice to find out about treatment options.
Use self-help resources
Some people use self-help books or online programmes to help cope with phobias. These are often based on principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). They will help you develop your own programme to reduce anxiety and make it easier to deal with your phobia triggers.
For the most part, phobias are a treatable mental health condition. Once treatment has begun, a phobia is likely to improve and generally does not have long-lasting effects.
Talk therapy
Talking with a mental health professional can help you manage your specific phobia. The most effective treatments are: Exposure therapy. This therapy focuses on changing your response to the object or situation that you fear.
1) Arachnophobia – fear of spiders
Arachnophobia is the most common phobia – sometimes even a picture can induce feelings of panic. And lots of people who aren't phobic as such still avoid spiders if they can.
Almost all phobias can be successfully treated and cured. Treating simple phobias involves gradually becoming exposed to the animal, object, place or situation that causes fear. This is known as desensitisation or self-exposure therapy.
Some people avoid the object or situation that triggers their phobia. But this can make your fear worse over time. Being in a scenario involving your phobia can be very difficult though. You may need professional help to enable you to do this.
From its early Freudian roots, it has taken the form of 50- to 60-minute sessions repeated weekly (or more often) over a period of months or even years. For modern cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), 10 to 20 weekly sessions is typical.
The exposure to the feared objects, activities or situations in a safe environment helps reduce fear and decrease avoidance. Exposure therapy has been scientifically demonstrated to be a helpful treatment or treatment component for a range of problems, including: Phobias. Panic Disorder.
“People can overcome phobias.” Some phobias, such as the fear of snakes (ophiophobia), won't usually affect everyday life, but others, such as agoraphobia (the fear of open spaces), can make it very hard to lead a normal life.
Most phobias can be treated successfully. Simple phobias can be treated through gradual exposure to the object, animal, place or situation that causes fear and anxiety.
Those who choose to use medications to treat their phobias must visit a psychiatrist or other doctor for medication management, even if they also see a therapist. In most states, psychologists are not permitted to prescribe medications, although this is slowly changing.
The most effective way to overcome a phobia is by gradually and repeatedly exposing yourself to what you fear in a safe and controlled way. During this exposure process, you'll learn to ride out the anxiety and fear until it inevitably passes.
Many phobias start because of a bad experience or panic attack related to a specific object or situation. Sometimes even seeing or hearing about a bad experience can be enough to trigger a phobia. Genetics or learned behavior. There may be a link between your specific phobia and the phobia or anxiety of your parents.
For the majority of people with undiagnosed or untreated anxiety disorder, there are many negative consequences, for both the individual and society. These include disability, reduced ability to work leading to loss of productivity, and a high risk of suicide.
Phobias can limit your daily activities and may cause severe anxiety and depression. Complex phobias, such as agoraphobia and social phobia, are more likely to cause these symptoms. People with phobias often purposely avoid coming into contact with the thing that causes them fear and anxiety.
A phobia can develop during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood. They can be linked to a frightening event or stressful situation. However, it's not always clear why some phobias occur.
About 19 million Americans have one or more phobias that range from mild to severe. Phobias can happen in early childhood. But they are often first seen between ages 15 and 20. They affect both men and women equally.
Although specific phobias often begin in childhood, their incidence peaks during midlife and old age. Phobias persist for several years or even decades in 10–30% of cases, and are strongly predictive of onset of other anxiety, mood, and substance-use disorders.
Brain circuits of fear are also activated in phobic patients, but to significantly greater levels than in healthy individuals. For example, as seen above, the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis display increases in activity in response to a threat stimulus.
As a child gets older, the nature and intensity of those fears often diminish, but sometimes the fears do follow us into adulthood.
Under Title I of the ADA, a phobia or anxi- ety disorder (except those disorders specifically excluded by the Act) is a disability only if it is a mental impairment that sub- stantially limits one's major life activities.