Phobias - what is it? Types of human phobias

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The word "phobia" has Greek roots - phobos - "fear". This is a condition in which a person experiences an excessive and unreasonable degree of panic. It is triggered by exposure to or expectation of a particular object or circumstance. This is how phobias are born.

What is this?

Psychologists define a phobia as an irrational uncontrollable fear. Therefore, it is almost impossible to logically explain their manifestation at one time or another. However, sometimes phobic anxiety disorder arises from an irrational dislike and hatred of something. In this case, fear has a veiled form.

Of course, fear is an innate emotional process, a genetically predetermined physiological component. This feeling can be caused by imaginary or real dangers.

If treatment is started on time, in the first stages of the development of a phobia, it can be defeated. But since over time it settles more and more in the human brain, it is difficult to “uproot” it from there. It will take a lot of effort to recover from a phobia.

Psychology, fortunately, is struggling with this. According to statistics, there are currently no clinical casesoften. In such cases, it is said that fear begins to get out of control and interfere with normal life, turning into attacks of real panic.

Phobias differ from ordinary fears in their obsession, torment and sharpness. The patient fails to drive this state out of his consciousness, while the intellect remains intact. Another sign is the patient's realization that his fear is not normal.

The birth of phobias

Phobia itself will never arise out of the blue. In most cases, it is the result of a difficult experience, long depression, stress, or as one of the components of a neurosis. That is, the causes of phobias are stress, emotional experience (hidden or not realized by a person). Z. Freud argued that a phobia appears due to the suppression, displacement into the darkness of the subconscious of shame, guilt, a very difficult experience.

Most of all obsessions, as well as phobias, are people who put reason above feelings. For them, the most important thing is the ability to control the situation. These people are primarily male businessmen or officials, because they have a huge responsibility for a long time. This does not give them the opportunity to relax. They believe that in a stressful situation one should not experience strong emotional experiences. Due to the fact that such people try to keep everything under control, they begin to suffer from the betrayal of their own brain.

Phobia begins to develop more strongly from the moment when a person decides to organizeyour life without the object of your fear. In some cases, when the subject of anxiety is rare (snakes, for example), then the patient's life proceeds calmly. But the complex phobias that exist are complex enough to be avoided. These include, for example, agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house and being in a public place), or, as it is also called, social phobia (fear of being among people).

Main categories of phobias

1. Specific or simple phobias. What it is? It is a disproportionate feeling of fear about specific situations, living beings, activities, places, and inanimate things. For example, dentalophobia (fear of dentists), cynophobia (fear of dogs), aviophobia (fear of flying), ornithophobia (fear of birds).
2. Social phobias. What it is, you will now find out. They are also called social anxiety disorder. Fear is a complex or complex phobia that has deep roots. A patient suffering from this type of ailment has difficulty in a social setting. Quite often it is very difficult for him to be and be among people. Attending parties, weddings, exhibitions, he experiences great anxiety. A person is tormented by the fear of embarrassment, condemnation and public humiliation, for example, at the mere thought of speaking in front of a large number of people, he panics. Starting from adolescence, the individual tries to avoid such social situations. Depression may develop over time.
3. Agoraphobia is the fear of being ina situation that has no way out, that is, a person is afraid of getting stuck in a desperate situation and not getting help. These include the fear of traveling on buses or trains, the fear of visiting large stores. In some particularly severe cases, the individual is unable to leave his own home. Agoraphobia includes complex, complex phobias.

List of the most common phobias

There are a large number of their types, many of which are divided into subclasses. The following are the most common phobias. What it is is also explained.

To date, the most common is eremophobia - the fear of loneliness. But this applies to those people who are afraid to be alone with themselves.

Aviaphobia

Aviaphobia is no less common. People suffering from this disease are afraid of flying. Their condition is aggravated by the fact that any plane crash is very brightly covered in the press. In addition, the fear of flying can also lie in other fears, such as claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces) and acrophobia (fear of heights). A person suffering from aviophobia can be advised one thing: try to distract yourself from thoughts of fear (listen to music, read a book, watch a movie, etc.).

Peiraphobia and glossophobia

A fairly common ailment in the modern world is the fear of public speaking. This is the deepest fear of all mankind. Each of us is afraid of appearing ridiculous, stupid, incompetent or ridiculous.

Of course beforeabsolutely everyone is nervous about a speech - from a teacher to a politician. The only thing that can teach you to overcome this fear is frequent performances in crowded companies. If it is extremely difficult for a person to start fighting his fear, then it is better for him to work with an experienced psychologist who will teach exactly the practice of communication.

Acrophobia

Acrophobia is the fear of heights. In most cases, it is rather a fear of falling. It is easy for the individual to avoid the object of the phobia - one must not climb high points. As a last resort, distract from the fact of being at a height.

Nyctophobia

The phobia of darkness is familiar to everyone since childhood, but not everyone can cope with it over time. For adults, this is the most irrational fear. You can try to get rid of it by asking yourself what it is that scares you in the dark.

Thanatophobia

Thanatophobia - the fear of death - has a serious impact on many people. Its variety is necrophobia - the fear of corpses. Many mistakenly believe that this ailment also includes a fear of cemeteries. But this fear has another name - coimetrophobia. Necrophobia is a fear that is difficult to overcome. It should be understood that life is a cycle that includes death. It is important to realize that there will always be people who remember you.

Atychiphobia

Fear of making a mistake or failing haunts even successful people. It can even trigger other common fears (rejection, change, what people think). That's whyyou need to stop thinking about what may or may not happen and think positively.

Reectophobia

Fear of rejection is a very strong and overwhelming fear. Quite often, under it lies the desire to be accepted or loved. A person needs to make sure that someone needs him and will not be abandoned.

Arachnophobia

A fairly well-known fear is the fear of spiders. It has no reasons and prerequisites for the appearance. This irrational fear simply arises and sometimes even irritates the person suffering from it. Some people decide to overcome it in the following way. They spend a long time in an area or country where spiders are very common and come in many species and sizes.

Phobophobia

Many jokingly often have the question of what is the name of the fear of phobias. It turns out that there is such a fear - phobophobia - the fear of starting to be afraid of something. A rather unusual phenomenon occurs in those who have been in a stressful situation in the past. Its reappearance in the future frightens a person, and especially those feelings that he endured are worried. Phobophobia feeds on itself, fear starts to get out of control and exhausting.

Claustrophobia

Fear of enclosed spaces is a very anxiety disorder. A person suffering from claustrophobia describes it as feeling trapped with no entry or exit. It usually manifests itself emotionally and physically. What causes this phobia is still not exactly known. It begins to develop during adolescence and oftendisappears or becomes less pronounced by adulthood.

However, not all fears fall under the definition of the term "phobia". The list of the most common is constantly updated, updated and expanded.

Symptoms of phobias

Typical signs of a panic attack are:

• rapid heartbeat;
• chest pain;
• interruptions in the work of the heart, arrhythmia may occur;
• sweating;
• shortness of breath or rapid breathing;
• violations of the vestibular apparatus;
• there is a feeling of a lump in the throat, squeezing;
• dizziness or fainting;
• darkening in the eyes, "flies";
• weakness all over the body;
• strongly compressed muscles, to the point of pain (mostly shoulders, abdomen, neck, throat);
• cramps of the muscles of the arms and legs;
• chill;
• numbness of some parts of the body;
• trembling;
• nausea, vomiting, diarrhea;
• suffocation;
• lack of air;
• feeling of horror, panic, fear.

It is not necessary that all symptoms be present. A person suffering from some kind of phobia already knows roughly what to expect in the next panic attack.