Phobia is a persistent, unduly strong fear of a certain
object or situation. Common phobias include fear of crowds, darkness, heights,
and such animals as cats, snakes, or spiders. Phobias may severely limit a
person's life. Phobic individuals may spend much time worrying about their fears
and may be too frightened to carry out normal activities.
Many
phobias have special names. For example, the fear of heights is called
acrophobia. Agoraphobia is the dread of open spaces, and
claustrophobia is the fear of confined spaces or of being closed in.
Ailurophobia is the fear of cats, ophidiophobia is the fear of
snakes, and arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. Other phobias include
hydrophobia (fear of water), mysophobia (fear of dirt or germs),
and xenophobia (fear of foreigners or strangers).
A complete list of various Phobias
Therapists
use numerous approaches to treat phobias. Two popular treatments are
psychoanalysis and behavioural therapy, which are based on different ideas about
the causes of psychological problems.
Sigmund Freud, an Austrian
doctor and the founder of psychoanalysis, believed that phobias and other
psychological disorders are caused by unconscious desires. According to Freud,
individuals repress (force into the unconscious mind) desires that they have
been taught are bad. Freudians believe that a phobia is a symbolic expression of
these repressed feelings, such as aggressive impulses or sexual drives, and of
the punishment linked with the feelings in the unconscious. In psychoanalytic
treatment of phobias, the therapist and patient try to uncover such repressed
feelings. Psychoanalysts believe that when a patient fully understands the
repressed feelings, the fear will disappear or become manageable.
Behavioural therapy is the method most often used to
treat phobias. It holds that a phobia is a learned response and can be
unlearned. Therapists using behavioural treatments often employ techniques that
involve gradually exposing the phobic individual to whatever is feared. The
exposure may take place in real life or in the person's imagination. For
example, claustrophobic patients may imagine themselves in smaller and smaller
rooms until they can visualize a tiny space without anxiety. The gradualness of
the exposure is considered important in making the treatment effective and
relatively painless. A popular technique called systematic desensitization
combines gradual exposure with relaxation or other experiences to reduce
anxiety.
Many therapists who treat phobias conduct group therapy in
addition to individual treatment. Group therapy enables phobic patients to talk
with others who have the same fears and learn from one another. Some therapists
also use hypnosis to help phobic patients face their fears.
