Common phobias and their Cure

By Eleni Delivani

A phobia is an acute, persistent and irrational fear of something that can´t actually be considered as dangerous. Phobias are recognized as a typical form of anxiety disorder.
One or two irrational fears can be found in almost everyone. Many people are scared
of heights or flying, lots of people do not like the sight of spiders, snakes
or other bugs or animals, and most people would feel uncomfortable at the thought of delivering a speech to a large crowd of unfamiliar people. For the majority
of people though, these fears are trivial and intermittent discomforts. The
difference with phobias is that these irrational fears may be so extreme and
exaggerated, to the point of being paralyzing and, in certain cases, really
interfere with one´s daily existence. Individuals with phobias are mainly characterized by the fact that they are willing to do anything, even at a great discomfort for themselves, in order to
avoid confronting the object or situation of their fear. If this proves to be impossible, they tend to exhibit a number of emotional and physical symptoms,
ranging in intensity according to the seriousness of their condition and to the
proximity they are forced into with the object of their phobia. These indications
are similar to those of an approaching panic attack, and may include sweating,
nausea, faintness or faintness, numbness, chest pains, difficulty in breathing
or swallowing, the necessity to escape, a fear of going crazy or dying. In a number of
cases, particularly when the individual is forced into really close contact with the
object or situation he or she fears, or if escape seems difficult or impossible,
these symptoms may evolve into a full blown panic attack.
It is generally recognized that phobias, similarly to panic or generalized
anxiety disorder, have their origin in a malfunction of the amygdala. This is a
small organ of the human brain shaped like an almond and occasionally referred to
as the log-book of fear. The amygdala is responsible for recording events which trigger the feeling of fear in an individual. It labels them as potentially
threatening or dangerous and sets off the 'fight or flight' reflex whenever a
situation which it associates with such an event reoccurs. The 'fight or flight'
reflex is your body´s natural way to protect itself by launching an immediate response to a perceived danger, even before your brain can fully
register its presence. In the case of people with phobias though, the amygdala
overreacts, triggering off this perfectly normal reflex, in relation to objects
or situations that are not actually threatening. For example, as a child you may have had a distressing experience in water, or nearly drowned. The amygdala associates water to danger and
registers any situation related to water as possibly threatening. As a consequence, while you might have forgotten the initial episode, you freeze in terror every time you see a large stretch of water. If your phobia does not really affect how
you live your life, then it is probably not worth worrying about too much. But if
your constant effort to avoid what you´re fearful of interferes with your every day
activities or if it forces you to give up things or situations that you would normally like, you should definitely ask for help.
The most effective treatment against phobias, is considered to be based in
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The standard method is known as systematic
desensitization or exposure therapy. It basically involves a gradual and
non-threatening introduction to the object or situation that normally causes you
anxiety. As you are gradually brought into closer contact with whatever it is
that you fear, initially in your imagination and then in reality, you begin to comprehend that you may never actually contemplate sky-diving as a hobby, but that you may condition yourself to cross a high bridge to work,
instead of driving a hundred extra miles daily in an effort to avoid it. Every
time you are subjected to the object of your phobia, as part of your treatment,
you start gaining more control over your fear, as you comprehend that it is
largely unjustified. The sense that you can actually be in command of your fear results
in gradually relieving you of your phobia. Exposure therapy is considered to be
very effective, as approximately 80% of individuals succeed in overcoming their
phobias through this treatment.
Another form of therapy which has been found quite useful for many types
of phobias is related to subliminal technology. Bearing in mind that the operation
of the amygdala is held responsible for most phobias, this type of approach
attempts to re-program the amygdala by talking directly to it and 'erasing' its
memory related to fear. It is quite uncomplicated to use, and requires listening to an
audio CD once or twice each day for two weeks, which should be sufficient to
show a great improvement

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