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What Is a Phobia? A phobia is defined as the

unrelenting fear of a situation,

activity, or thing that causes

one to want to avoid it.

Women tend to be twice as

likely to suffer from a phobia

compared to men.

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Different Types ofPhobias? There are several types of phobias, including

social, situational, animal, and specificphobias (fear of particular items or objects).

While the list of phobias is almost endless,we'll take a look at some of the most commonphobias on the next slides.

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Phobia - dx

Q. DSM-IV-TR, list five criteria for specific

phobia in adults, what are they?

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Phobia dx - 1

Ans.

1. Excessive and persistent fear, cued by an

object or situation.

2. Exposure to the object or situation causes

anxiety response.

3. Pt recognizes the fear is unreasonable.

see next slide

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phobia dx - 2

4. The phobic situation is avoided or endured

with intense distress.

5. [usually DSM expectation that] causes

dysfunction or distress.

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Phobic Disorders

Phobias

1. Specific phobias

2. Social phobia

3. Agoraphobia

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Specific Phobias

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Social Phobia Also known as social

anxiety disorder, socialphobia is an excessive

fear of embarrassmentin social situations.Examples include fearsof public speaking,

meeting new people,and other socialsituations.

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Agoraphobia Agoraphobia is a fear of in a situation from

which one either cannot escape or from which

escaping would be difficult or humiliating.

Although agoraphobia, like other mental

disorders, it also tends to run in families and

for some people, may have a clear genetic

factor.

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Claustrophobia Claustrophobia is an

abnormal and persistent

fear of closed spaces, as

in elevators, tunnels, or

any other confined

space. This type of fear

is excessive and quitecommon.

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Zoophobia Zoophobia is a term that encompasses fears of

specific types of animals such as spiders

(arachnophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia),

birds (ornithophobia), bees (apiphobia), etc.

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Acrophobia Acrophobia is an

abnormally

excessive and

persistent fear of

heights.

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Aerophobia An abnormal and persistent fear of flying is

called aerophobia. This phobia generally

develops after a person witnesses a plane

crash or loses a family member in a plane

crash or accident.

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Blood-Injection-InjuryPhobias Blood-injection-injury

phobias consist of several

specific phobias including

fear of blood (hemophobia),

injury phobia, and fear of

receiving an injection(trypanophobia or

aichmophobia).

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Effects of Phobias If left untreated, a phobia

may worsen to the point atwhich the person's life isseriously affected.

There may be periods ofspontaneous improvement,but a phobia does not usuallygo away unless the person

receives treatments. Alcoholics can be up to 10

times more likely to suffer.

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Causes and Risk Factors for Phobias

it is thought that phobias runin families, or can betriggered by life events.

Phobia sufferers have beenfound to be more likely tomanage stress by avoidingthe stressful situation and by

having difficulty minimizingthe intensity of the fearfulsituation.

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Signs and Symptoms ofPhobias Symptoms of phobias often

involve having a panic attack

as well as physical symptomslike shaking, sweating, rapid

heartbeat, trouble breathing,

and an overwhelming desire

to escape the situation.

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How Are Phobiasevaluated? Many health-care providers may help diagnose

phobias specialists whom you see for a medicalcondition, psychiatrists, psychologists, and socialworkers.

you may need to submit to a medical interviewand physical examination.

A phobia may be associated with a number ofother mental -health conditions, especially other

anxiety disorders. Routine laboratory tests are often performed

during the initial evaluation to rule out otherpossible causes of the symptoms.

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Treatment of Phobias Exposing them to

circumstances that areincreasingly close to the

one they are phobic. A second method is

cognitive behavioraltherapy (CBT), which helpsin changing the way ofthinking of the sufferer.

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Three techniques to accomplish this goal:

Didactic component: This phase helps to set uppositive expectations for therapy and promote thephobia sufferer's cooperation.

Cognitive component: It helps to identify thethoughts and assumptions that influence theperson's behavior.

Behavioral component: This employs behavior-modifying techniques to teach the individual with aphobia more effective strategies for dealing withproblems.

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Medications to TreatPhobias Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)

medications are often used to treat phobias. These

medications affect levels of serotonin in the brain.

Examples of these medications include fluoxetine(Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil),

fluvoxamine (Luvox), citalopram (Celexa), and

escitalopram (Lexapro).