You know that thing that if someone even mentions it to you, you begin to get sweaty, and nervous, and goose bumps crawl up your back? You know that thing that if you were around it, you’d go run and hide like a little three year old? Well my friend, that is what you call a phobia, and we all have them. The biggest problem with fears or phobias for that matter, are that the majority of us let them control our lives, not defining ourselves by what we do and accomplish, but by avoiding our fears at all possible costs. There is a common expression that states that the only way to get over your fears, is to face them, so that is what we’re going to do.
A common misconception is that a fear and a phobia of something is the exact same thing, but it is not. Fears are what people are afraid of, but they can be healthy, and overtime can be conquered. Phobias on the other hand are more extreme. They are an intense reaction to a fear that is way out of proportion to the possible danger. But to the person with the phobia, the danger feels real because the fear is so very strong ("Fears and Phobias" 2009). Some phobias develop after a person has some type of scary experience with a certain thing or situation. A tiny structure in the brain called the amygdala, keeps record of experiences that trigger strong emotions, an as soon as a certain thing or situation triggers a strong fear reaction, the amygdala warns the person by triggering a fear reaction every time he or she encounters (or even thinks about) that thing or situation ("Phobias" 2008).
There are three main types of phobias: agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobias, otherwise known as simple phobias. The first type of phobia, agoraphobia, deals mostly with panic attacks. People who suffer from this tend to feel uncomfortable in large public places and fear having attacks in public ("Phobias" 2008). Social phobia is slightly similar in the fact that it seems the main cause of this phobia also revolves around public situations. In this case however, someone with a social phobia will be put in a situation where attention is turned to them whether it be through performance or just casual conversation. They fear having the chance of embarrassing themselves. Sadly in social phobia cases, alcoholism seems to commonly come into the picture, because it can help the person calm their nerves (Swanson, 1986, p.103). Finally the last and what seems to be most common are specific phobias. These are fears of specific objects, situations, or activities that may cause a person harm, loss of emotional or physical control. These usually are a result of some traumatic event, and tend to occur early in ones life, often in childhood ("Phobias" 2008).
Phobias, if they become too extreme, can slowly start to take control of a person’s life, which means some sort of treatment should be sought. The easiest, most common approach is to simply begin exposing oneself to whatever the phobia is. Many times by simply taking baby steps, one can reach their goal of overcoming their fear, but this is only in cases where phobias are not extreme. The second step would be to seek some sort of counseling. Usually with time and the assistance of a professional, phobias can be defeated. There are the most severe cases however where medication is advised. In these cases, many times medication just helps the person live as normal of a life as they can, not necessarily overcoming the phobia, but preventing it from being a drastic commanding presence within their daily routine ("Phobias" 2008).
My partner, Amy, and I have our own fears that we would consider phobias. Obviously neither one of us have time for counseling sessions with professionals, or the money to invest in medication, so we have devised a rather different approach. We are going to face our fears head on and see if we can get anywhere with it. We’d like to know exactly what we can do about overcoming our fears, and also what others think would be a good idea. I always enjoy hearing everyone’s “homemade remedies” for curing colds or the hiccups, so we thought we’d take that approach to the streets, and see if the Dr. Phils and Delilahs out there have any ideas on how to help us get over a fears. We’re not saying this is going to work, but we’re going to be optimistic because who knows, maybe someone has the answers we’ve been looking for.
Our Ten Questions:
(2009). Fears and Phobias. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from My Student Health Zone Web site: http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=studenthealthzone&lic=180&cat_id=20312&article_set=34940
(2008). Phobias. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from Medline Plus Web site: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/phobias.html
(2008). Phobias. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from Mental Health Channel Web site: http://www.mentalhealthchannel.net/phobias/index.shtml
Swanson, Guy E. (1986).Phobias and Related Symptoms: Some Social Sources. Sociological Forum. 1, 103-130.
Walls, J (2005). The Glass Castle. New York, New York: Scribner.
“You're going to learn to swim, he said.
He put an arm around me, and we started across the water. Dad was dragging me. I felt terrified and clutched his neck so tightly that his skin turned white.
There, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Dad asked when we got to the other side.”
-Jeannette Walls pg. 64