Phobias and the brain Individuals who suffer from phobias have been shown to display increased activity of the amygdala when exposed to phobia-inducing stimuli, noted on functional MRI. The amygdala is known to be associated with emotional reactions.
They're finding that the amygdala--a small, almond-shaped structure in the middle of the brain's temporal lobes--is a key player, and that malfunctions of the amygdala and associated brain structures may give rise to many phobias.
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.
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.
Fear and stress have a dramatic ability to affect learning, memory, and extinction processes in the brain. Memory of fearful events is often more robust than for neutral events and this is in part mediated by the release of stress-related hormones.
As soon as you recognize fear, your amygdala (small organ in the middle of your brain) goes to work. It alerts your nervous system, which sets your body's fear response into motion. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released.
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.
Simple phobias can be linked to an early negative childhood experience. For example, if you're trapped in a confined space when you're young, you may develop a fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) when you're older. It's also thought that phobias can sometimes be "learnt" from an early age.
The most effective treatments are: Exposure therapy. This therapy focuses on changing your response to the object or situation that you fear. Gradual, repeated exposure to the source of your specific phobia, and the related thoughts, feelings and sensations, may help you learn to manage your anxiety.
In fact, any event that triggers a strong fear (phobic) response can lead to PTSD. Children have even developed PTSD symptoms from watching horror films on TV.
They develop when a person has an exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger about a situation or object. If a phobia becomes very severe, a person may organise their life around avoiding the thing that's causing them anxiety. As well as restricting their day-to-day life, it can also cause a lot of distress.
Phobias are thought to be learned emotional responses. It is generally held that phobias occur when fear produced by an original threatening situation is transferred to other similar situations, with the original fear often repressed or forgotten.
The cognitive characteristics of phobias are also divided into two characteristics: selective attention and irrational beliefs. If a person with a phobia is presented with an object or situation they fear, they will find it difficult to direct their attention elsewhere.
Fear can interrupt processes in our brains that allow us to regulate emotions, read non-verbal cues and other information presented to us, reflect before acting, and act ethically. This impacts our thinking and decision-making in negative ways, leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions.
Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Arachibutyrophobia is a rare phobia that involves a fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
Fear starts in the part of the brain called the amygdala. According to Smithsonian Magazine, “A threat stimulus, such as the sight of a predator, triggers a fear response in the amygdala, which activates areas involved in preparation for motor functions involved in fight or flight.
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.
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. People with arachnophobia tend to feel very uneasy in settings which could harbour spiders or have visible signs of their presence, such as webs.
Talking treatments, such as counselling, are often very effective at treating phobias. In particular, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been found to be very effective for treating phobias.
Research suggests that phobias can run in families, and that both genetic and environmental factors (nature and nurture) can contribute to developing a phobia.
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.
“There's no need for anyone to continue to suffer,” he says. “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.
Phobias can happen in early childhood. But they often first occur between ages 15 and 20. They affect both men and women equally. But men are more likely to seek treatment for phobias.
Physical symptoms of phobias
feeling unsteady, dizzy, lightheaded or faint. feeling like you are choking. a pounding heart, palpitations or accelerated heart rate. chest pain or tightness in the chest.