Imagine waking up everyday and going through your daily routine living in fear. Imagine living with an intense irrational fear of a certain situation or object which is not likely to be any sort of danger towards you. In a study by the National Institute of Mental Health, it was estimated in 2011 that 8.1% and 18.1% of all ages of Americans suffer from phobias. About 50 million people in the United States live with some sort of phobia. A phobia is a kind of anxiety disorder where the sufferer has a dread of a living creature, a certain situation, place or thing. The brief anxiety we may feel before giving a speech or taking a test is far less drastic than someone suffering from a phobia. This anxiety can cause a long lasting, intense psychological and physical reaction that interferes with the ability to function normally. (Mary Ellen. Wedding, and Barbara A. Gylys). There are so many different kinds of phobias but there are also three separate categories as well. Phobias are categorized into three subtypes, specific, social, and agoraphobia’s. (DSM-IV-TR). They can cause many different symptoms and causes; there are so many unbelievable kinds, and only treatments for certain cases.
First of all, the different categories of phobias are specific, social, and agoraphobia. Specific phobias are the fear and avoidance of blood, heights, animals, travel by air or automobile, and other situations and specific stimuli. In the U.S. and other countries, specific phobias are the most “prevalent” of the different anxiety disorders. Nine to ten percent of children and adults are affected. (Hollander & Simeon, 2008; Kessler & Wang, 2008; NIMH, 2006). Social phobias are having an anxiety or fear about acting in a way that could be embarrassing or being criticized by others. This phobia is so persistent and intense that it can impair or enable a person to function normally. Public speaking, performing live, fear of eating in front of people, and the fear of using a public restroom are some common examples of social phobias. Agoraphobia’s are having the fear of being too far or away from a safe place such as your home, being away from a familiar person like a close friend or spouse, or being in a place that may be crowded or difficult to escape from or where help may be unavailable. Someone suffering from Agoraphobia’s tend to avoid social gatherings or interactions because of how serious their anxiety may become. They may refuse to drive or use public transportation as well. This sever case of anxiety can cause some people to become too isolated to even work and they may become too frightened to even leave their home, which would result in becoming housebound. Agoraphobia has been known to be far less common than specific phobias are.
Along with the anxiety and fear caused by having a certain phobia, many symptoms and causes can arise. Psychological symptoms that can occur would be rapid, pounding heartbeat, stomach disorders, nausea, diarrhea, frequent urination, choking feelings, flushing of the face, perspiration, tremulousness, and faintness. No matter what kind of phobia you may have, the symptoms tend to be the same. A person suffering may feel an uncontrollable panic, terror or even dread being exposed to what their fear may be. Often knowing that their fears are exaggerated and are unreasonable, cause a person to feel powerless to try and control them. In certain cases, just thinking about the fear can causes a person to feel anxious. With children, they may have tantrums of clinging and crying. When it comes to the causes of phobias, there is still so much unknown about the actual cause. However, there has been a link found between the phobias parents may have and the phobias their children will have.
There have been four characteristics found to increase the risk factors of developing a phobia. The first risk factor is your age. A social phobia usually develops earlier in life by the age of 13. Agoraphobia’s tend to occur in