SPECIFIC PHOBIAS: CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT
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| Specific Phobias |
SPECIFIC PHOBIAS
Specific phobias come under the classification of anxiety disorders. So, firstly you will have to learn what anxiety is and what anxiety disorders are.
Anxiety is a typical, defensive, mental reaction to a horrendous or undermining circumstance. Delicate to moderate anxiety can additionally foster execution and assurance a suitable move is made.
In any case, absurd or delayed symptoms of severe anxiety can be incapacitating, lead to outrageous wretchedness, and cause a lot of shortcomings in social work. The level of anxiety levels increases, and the level of execution/activities increases. Nonetheless, as the uneasiness level increments beyond satisfactory or endured levels, the performance decreases.
Nonetheless, exorbitant or long-term anxiety can be incapacitating or devastating, driving towards extreme misery, torment, and inconvenience, and causing much impairment to social working.
Anxiety disorders are portrayed by nervousness or anxiety that is out of proportion to any actual threat and is excessive for the situation or distressing to the point that it interferes with daily functioning. Both medical and medication-related factors can cause or exacerbate anxiety.
The term 'anxiety disorder’ incorporates an arrangement of grievances that can either exist isolated or identified with another psychological or real ailment. Symptoms of anxiety change yet usually present with a mix of mental, physical, behavioral, and social manifestations.
In specific phobias, marked and persistent apprehension is present that is over the top or unreasonable, encouraged by the presence (or expectation) of a particular article or circumstance (for example flying, arachnids). Victims keep away from the dreaded item/subject or suffer it with serious uneasiness.
Specific phobias are classified into five subtypes: animal type (snakes, dogs, spiders), natural environment type (heights, water, storms), blood-injection type (blood, injury, medical procedures), situational type (flying, bridges, elevators), and others.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and MAOIs phenelzine and tranylcypromine are recommended for the treatment of social anxiety and specific phobias.
The DSM-IV-TR class of phobic issues incorporates two essential sorts: specific phobia and social phobia (also called social anxiety disorder). Social anxiety disorders include over-the-top or preposterous apprehensions and lead to evasion conduct to limit nervousness.
The fundamental distinction between specific phobia and social anxiety disorder is that the former includes dread and aversion to explicit items or circumstances, though the latter includes social circumstances.
Both social anxiety and specific phobias involve fears that are excessive and lead to avoidance behaviors to minimize fear. Social anxiety involves generalized and intense anxiety involving social interactions, whereas specific phobias involve intense fear associated with specific objects or situations (e.g., spiders or elevators).
CAUSES OF SPECIFIC PHOBIAS
The actual cause of specific phobias is still not known. The exact etiology of specific phobias is at this point unclear about the genuine reason. Negative experiences play an important role in causing specific phobias. Specific phobias develop because of having a negative encounter or fit of anxiety identified with a particular article or circumstance.
Hereditary and environmental factors are also involved in causing specific phobias. There might be a connection between your own particular fear and the fear or uneasiness of your parents. This could be because of hereditary qualities or learned conduct. Changes in the cerebrum or brain working additionally may assume a part in treating specific phobias.
SYMPTOMS OF SPECIFIC PHOBIAS
If someone has stamped and persevering apprehension that is inordinate, unrealistic, or ridiculous, encouraged by the presence or expectation of a particular article or circumstance (for example flying, arachnids), then, at that point, he is experiencing specific phobias. Victims keep away from the dreaded item/subject or suffer it with exceptional nervousness.
DIAGNOSIS OF SPECIFIC PHOBIAS
Diagnosis of specific phobias depends on an intensive clinical meeting and demonstrative rules. Your PCP will pose inquiries about your indications and take a clinical, mental, and social history. The person may utilize the symptomatic standards in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), distributed by the American Psychiatric Association.
The DSM-IV-TR criteria for specific phobias say that marked and persistent fear of a specific object or situation that is excessive or unreasonable indicates specific phobias.
TREATMENT OF SPECIFIC PHOBIAS
Management of specific phobias has traditionally involved avoidance of the stimuli. Medications generally are not considered beneficial, but Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) involving repeated exposure to the feared situation and systematic desensitization is effective.
The purpose of cognitive-behavioral therapy is to change negative idea patterns like assumptions for performing ineffectively and over worry about bad assessment by others. These negative assumptions lead to expanded dread and nervousness, which further disable execution capacities.
Exposure therapy is recommended for the treatment of specific phobias. The aim of exposure therapy is to change your reaction to the article or circumstance that you dread. Slow, rehashed exposure to the wellspring of your particular fear and the connected considerations, sentiments, and sensations may assist you with learning to deal with your uneasiness.
Computer-generated, virtual environment desensitization (virtual reality) therapy has been used successfully to reduce fears associated with flying and heights.
Benzodiazepines not only effectively reduce anxiety associated with a phobic trigger, but can also interfere with the efficacy of exposure therapies. Commonly used benzodiazepines are clonazepam and alprazolam.
Î’-Adrenergic receptor blockers reduce peripheral autonomic symptoms of anxiety. Propranolol and atenolol are the two recommended agents. They act by blocking the stimulating effects of adrenaline.