Should people with phobias seek treatment?
If the object of the fear is easy to avoid, people with phobias may not seek treatment. Sometimes, however, they may make important career or personal decisions to avoid a situation that includes the source of the phobia. When phobias interfere with a person's life, treatment can help.
Are You Afraid of phobias?
Phobias can be a source of genuine and ongoing distress for an individual. However, they are treatable in most cases, and very often the source of fear is avoidable. If you have a phobia, the one thing you should never be afraid of is seeking help.
Why do people get phobias?
Research suggests that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the start of phobias. Certain phobias have been linked to a very bad first encounter with the feared object or situation. Mental health experts don’t know if this first encounter is necessary or if phobias can simply occur in people who are likely to have them.
Why do I have a phobia of the dentist?
This phobia generally develops after an unpleasant experience at a dentist’s office. It can be harmful if it prevents you from obtaining needed dental care. Hemophobia: This is a phobia of blood or injury. A person with hemophobia may faint when they come in contact with their own blood or another person’s blood.
Do most people with phobias seek treatment?
If the object of the fear is easy to avoid, people with phobias may not seek treatment. Sometimes, however, they may make important career or personal decisions to avoid a situation that includes the source of the phobia.
What percent of people with phobias seek treatment?
Only about 40% of people with social anxiety disorder are being treated. More than a third of those with this disorder wait for 10 years or more before they seek treatment.
What are three possible reasons that may lead individuals with a specific phobia not to seek treatment?
Risk factorsYour age. Specific phobias can first appear in childhood, usually by age 10, but can occur later in life.Your relatives. If someone in your family has a specific phobia or anxiety, you're more likely to develop it, too. ... Your temperament. ... A negative experience. ... Learning about negative experiences.
What happens if phobia is not treated?
If not treated, a phobia may worsen to the point where the person's life is seriously impacted by the phobia and by attempts to avoid or hide it, resulting in problems with physical health, friends and family, failure in school, and/or lost jobs while struggling to cope.
How do phobias affect people's lives?
All 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.
What famous person has a phobia?
Celebrities with phobiasKaty Perry: Nyctophobia.Matt Damon: Herpetophobia.Madonna: Brontophobia.Adele: Laridaphobia.David Beckham: Ataxophobia.Britney Spears: Herpetophobia.Rafael Nadal: Nyctophobia.Nicole Kidman: Lepidopterophobia.More items...•
How phobias are treated?
Phobias are typically treated with therapy, medication, or a combination of both: Exposure therapy. During exposure therapy, which is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy, you work with a psychologist to learn how to desensitize yourself to the object or situation that you fear.
In what ways can a phobia affect an individual social life?
How do phobias affect relationships and family life? At times, phobias can cause disagreements in close relationships, as they can limit the activities that partners and families can do together.
What are common treatments for phobias?
Exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are the most effective treatments. Exposure therapy focuses on changing your response to the object or situation that you fear.
Can phobias be treated with medication?
Medication. Medication isn't usually recommended for treating phobias, because talking therapies are usually effective and don't have any side effects. However, medication is sometimes prescribed on a short-term basis to treat the effects of phobias, such as anxiety.
Why are phobias irrational?
Phobias are irrational and disabling fears. If you have one, you'll do almost anything to avoid what you're afraid of. Someone with a phobia understands that their fear is not logical. Still, if they try to squelch it, it only makes them more anxious.
Which phobia is most common?
Arachnophobia – Arachnophobia is possibly the most well-known of all phobias. It is the fear of spiders, or arachnids. Estimates put arachnophobia at affecting roughly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men.
Why do people not seek mental health care?
Let’s take a look at eight of the most common reasons that prevent people from obtaining needed mental health services: 1) Fear and shame. One of the most common reasons for not seeking help is fear and shame. People recognize the negative stigma and discrimination associated with having a mental illness and don’t want to be labeled “mentally ill” ...
Why do people worry about telling a stranger about their problems?
Many express concern about “telling a stranger” about their problems. Additionally, they worry that their personal information won’t be kept confidential. Some people have become demoralized by their mental health issues and believe “nothing will help me” or “I’ll never get better.”.
Why are some of the more hidden factors challenging?
Finally, many of the more “hidden” factors (fear, shame, inadequacy, limited awareness, and hopelessness) are challenging, because the person may function fairly well on the surface and can generally conceal their mental health concerns.
What happens if you don't believe you are sick?
If someone truly believes they aren’t sick, they feel no need to seek or accept treatment. A person may acknowledge some mental health concerns but can lack full awareness of their significance or really don’t understand they have an actual illness.
What are the factors that prevent people from getting treatment?
Not having reliable transportation, child care issues and appointments for treatment that conflict with work or school schedules can also prevent someone from engaging in treatment. Addressing the problem. Any one of these factors which delay or prevent appropriate care can be very difficult to overcome.
What are the barriers to mental health care?
8) Practical barriers. Another common barrier to mental health care is inability to pay for treatment due to financial hardship or lack of health insurance.
Why don't people seek help for mental illness?
Why Don’t People Seek Help for Mental Illness? January 15, 2019. Awareness of mental illness and the need for treatment has been growing in recent years. This is in large part due to campaigns designed to raise awareness of depression, addiction, bipolar disorder, and suicide, as well as more celebrities being open about their own mental health ...
What percentage of people with mental health issues don't seek treatment?
A study by the World Health Organization, or WHO, found that between 30 and 80 percent of people with mental health issues don’t seek treatment. This includes 50 percent of people with bipolar disorder, 55 percent of people with panic disorder, 56 percent of people with major depression, and a stunning 78 percent of people with alcohol use disorder.
What is the third way people can be unaware they need help?
The third way people can be unaware they need help is a condition called anosognosia. This typically occurs in about half of people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. They are essentially so impaired by their illness that they are unaware there’s anything wrong.
Is it hard to admit mental illness?
Most people struggling with mental illness are in a less secure position. Already unsure about themselves and their position in life, it’s hard to risk precious social and professional capital to seek help. Admitting your problem to your doctor, spouse, or even yourself can be difficult.
Can you compare your mental state to someone else's?
You only really know what it’s like to be you. There’s really no way to compare your mental state to someone else’s. If you’ve had a certain disorder since you can remember, it might not occur to you to seek help.
What is the best treatment for phobias?
When phobias interfere with a person's life, treatment can help. For specific phobias, cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure treatment is advised. In exposure therapy, people are gradually exposed to what frightens them until the fear starts to fade.
What is a specific phobia?
Specific phobia is an extreme fear of an object or situation that typically isn't harmful. Examples may include a fear of: Flying (fearing the plane will crash) Dogs (fearing the dog will bite or attack) Closed-in places (fear of being trapped) Tunnels (fearing a collapse)
What is the fear of panic attacks called?
What is agoraphobia? Agoraphobia involves the fear of having a panic attack in a place or situation from which escape may be hard or embarrassing. The anxiety of agoraphobia is so severe that panic attacks are not unusual. People with agoraphobia often try to avoid the location or cause of their fear.
What is a person's fear of being humiliated?
Social phobia is an anxiety disorder in which a person has significant anxiety and discomfort related to a fear of being embarrassed, humiliated, or scorned by others in social or performance situations. Even when they manage to confront this fear, people with social phobia usually:
What is the fear of people with agoraphobia?
People with agoraphobia often try to avoid the location or cause of their fear. Agoraphobia involves fear of situations like the following: People with agoraphobia typically avoid crowded places like streets, crowded stores, churches, and theaters.
What does it feel like to have a social phobia?
Even when they manage to confront this fear, people with social phobia usually: Feel very anxious before the event or outing. Feel intensely uncomfortable throughout the event or outing. Have lingering unpleasant feelings after the event or outing . Social phobia often happens with the following: Public speaking.
What are some examples of fear?
Examples may include a fear of: 1 Flying (fearing the plane will crash) 2 Dogs (fearing the dog will bite or attack) 3 Closed-in places (fear of being trapped) 4 Tunnels (fearing a collapse) 5 Heights (fear of falling)
Why don't people with SAD get care?
While prior research suggests that the most common reported reason people with SAD or GAD haven’t gotten care is out of fear of what others will say or think, showing how powerful stigma really is, other common reasons include lack of financial resources and not knowing where to go for care.
What percentage of people have anxiety disorders?
According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, anxiety disorders as a group are the most common mental disorders among Americans, affecting 18 percent of people in any given year. Over 20 percent of those affected by anxiety disorders are considered to have high severity problems, representing more than 4 percent of the U.S. population.
What percentage of people have social anxiety?
Over the course of a lifetime, it is estimated that 12 percent of people will develop Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), and 6 percent of people will develop Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). People with Social Anxiety Disorder have persistent concerns that others view them negatively, to the point of causing serious difficulty participating in ...
Is being shy a risk factor for anxiety?
There are multiple risk factors for anxiety disorders, including having been shy as a child, being female, financial limitations, being divorced or widowed, a history of stressful life events, having close biological relatives with anxiety disorders, and parents with mental illnesses. And, according to a widely publicized 2017 study in ...
Is mental health insurance difficult?
As it is, between lack of insurance or other means to pay for treatment, poorer coverage for behavioral health, outsourcing of mental health to second-party providers, and frequent den ial of arguably valid claims, getting treatment for mental health issues remains far more difficult than it ought to be.
Does barriers to care track gender?
Barriers to care did not track with gender or educational level. Notably, the more severe the anxiety, the higher the BTQ. This means that those with a greater symptom burden had more difficulty getting treatment. This is exactly the opposite of what we'd want to see.
Can anxiety disorders be treated with parity?
People close to those with problems such as anxiety disorders can find ways to enable loved ones to get care without adding to the burden of stigma and shame, possibly averting tragedy. Parity legislation, which dictates that insurers pay for behavioral health the same as physical health, must be better implemented.
How to deal with a phobia?
It it often the case that the object of a phobia might present itself without warning. In these instances, there may not be time for a person to seek professional help, and it may be necessary for them to use relaxation techniques in order to cope and avoid escalating their fear response. Coping strategies people may use when forced to expose themselves to a phobia include: 1 Focusing on or slowing down breathing. 2 Learn about your phobia. Sometimes, education about the object of a phobia may help slow down the fear response associated with it. 3 Progressive muscle relaxation. Practice tensing up and relaxing different muscle groups, focusing all attention on that activity.
How to overcome a phobia?
Hypnotherapy may help some manage and overcome a phobia. Most often led by a therapist, hypnotherapy involves taking the person with a phobia through the process of guided visualization. They may imagine they are encountering the object of their phobia and then practice self-soothing techniques. Eye movement and desensitization ...
What is the best therapy for phobias?
Many therapeutic approaches to phobia treatment involve slowly exposing a person to the thing they fear and addressing underlying beliefs that may be contributing to the phobia. Exposure therapy , also known as systematic desensitization, has been shown to be an effective phobia treatment method.
What is Claudia's phobia of hot water?
Addressing phobia of hot water in therapy: Claudia, 23, enters therapy, reporting an extreme fear of being burned by hot water. Her phobia is such that she experiences extreme anxiety when showering, doing dishes, or washing her hands because she worries the water will suddenly become hotter and burn her.
What is content vs phobia?
Contents v. Phobias. Treatment for Phobias. Types of Phobias. A phobia is a fear related to certain objects or situations. When a phobia is so severe that it interferes with a person’s ability to function, a therapist or other mental health professional may be able to help them address and explore ways to overcome fear, anxiety, ...
Can phobias present themselves without warning?
It it often the case that the object of a phobia might present itself without warning. In these instances, there may not be time for a person to seek professional help, and it may be necessary for them to use relaxation techniques in order to cope and avoid escalating their fear response.
Does Claudia remember her phobia?
The therapist asks Claudia if she remembers when the phobia began, but she cannot tell him. It takes some time in therapy, but eventually Claudia is able to recall several instances from early childhood—the memories of which she had buried—of her mother punishing her by holding her hands under running water.
How does phobia affect people?
The impact of a phobia can range from annoying to severely disabling. People with phobias often realize their fear is irrational, but they’re unable to do anything about it. Such fears can interfere with work, school, and personal relationships.
What is a phobia?
A phobia is an excessive and irrational fear reaction. If you have a phobia, you may experience a deep sense of dread or panic when you encounter the source of your fear. The fear can be of a certain place, situation, or object. Unlike general anxiety disorders, a phobia is usually connected to something specific.
What is the difference between hemophobia and arachnophobia?
Hemophobia: This is a phobia of blood or injury. A person with hemophobia may faint when they come in contact with their own blood or another person’s blood. Arachnophobia: This means fear of spiders. Cynophobia: This is a fear of dogs.
What is the fear of open spaces?
Agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is a fear of places or situations that you can’t escape from. The word itself refers to “fear of open spaces.”. People with agoraphobia fear being in large crowds or trapped outside the home. They often avoid social situations altogether and stay inside their homes.
What is social phobia?
Social phobia. Social phobia is also referred to as social anxiety disorder. It’s extreme worry about social situations and it can lead to self-isolation. A social phobia can be so severe that the simplest interactions, such as ordering at a restaurant or answering the telephone, can cause panic.
What is the fear of flying called?
Aviophobia: This is also known as the fear of flying. Dentophobia: Dentophobia is a fear of the dentist or dental procedures. This phobia generally develops after an unpleasant experience at a dentist’s office. It can be harmful if it prevents you from obtaining needed dental care.
What is the fear of heights?
Acrophobia: This is the fear of heights. People with this phobia avoid mountains, bridges, or the higher floors of buildings. Symptoms include vertigo, dizziness, sweating, and feeling as if they’ll pass out or lose consciousness. Claustrophobia: This is a fear of enclosed or tight spaces.
Why are mental illnesses left untreated?
Many mental illnesses are left untreated due to the amount of money that it costs to seek medical help, and because of the way that society resentfully views people with mental illnesses. Although there have been many improvements throughout the years, there is still a lot of work for the years ahead.
How much of mental illness goes untreated?
However, this source claims that only 35 to 50% of mental illness cases went untreated in developed countries. Mental illnesses remarkably impact the global economy, costing about $2.5 trillion per year.
Why is acceptance of mental illness important?
This will allow for people of all socioeconomic backgrounds to seek treatment from a psychiatrist. Also, it is important to change the view mental illnesses in society. Acceptance of mental illnesses will encourage people to seek help without feeling ashamed.
Is mental illness a stigma?
However, people with mental illnesses are sadly stereotyped and looked down upon by society. The stigma of mental illnesses, along with several other factors, result in high percentages of untreated mental illnesses in both the United States and across the world. Although, there are several solutions that can improve this problem, ...
Is mental illness a public health concern?
Untre ated mental illnesses are a public health concern worldwide, and it is not limited to the United States. In order to discuss this public health concern, it is crucial to realize why some people with mental illnesses lack access to treatment, or why they do not seek treatment. One main reason that can decide whether someone with ...
Is mental health treatment positive?
Despite the increasing number of current untreated mental illnesses , noteworth y developments in mental health treatment can give a positive outlook in the years to come. To end, there are multiple economic and social factors that cause the high number of untreated mental illnesses in the United States and worldwide.
What is a phobia?
What Is It? A phobia is a persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of an object, person, animal, activity or situation. It is a type of anxiety disorder.
Can phobias dictate your life?
People with these phobias may need to alter their lives drastically. In extreme cases, the phobia may dictate the person's employment, job location, driving route, recreational and social activities, or home environment. To continue reading this article, you must log in.
