![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Avoiding places and things you fear can cause academic, professional and relationship problems. Hearing about negative information or experiences, such as plane crashes, can lead to the development of a specific phobia.Īlthough specific phobias may seem silly to others, they can be devastating to the people who have them, causing problems that affect many aspects of life. Experiencing a frightening traumatic event, such as being trapped in an elevator or attacked by an animal, may trigger the development of a specific phobia. Your risk may increase if you're more sensitive, more inhibited or more negative than the norm. This could be an inherited tendency, or children may learn specific phobias by observing a family member's phobic reaction to an object or a situation. If someone in your family has a specific phobia or anxiety, you're more likely to develop it, too. Specific phobias can first appear in childhood, usually by age 10, but can occur later in life. These factors may increase your risk of specific phobias: Changes in brain functioning also may play a role in developing specific phobias. There may be a link between your own specific phobia and the phobia or anxiety of your parents - this could be due to genetics or learned behavior. Many phobias develop as a result of having a negative experience or panic attack related to a specific object or situation. Much is still unknown about the actual cause of specific phobias. And therapy tends to be easier when the phobia is addressed right away rather than waiting. Most people can be helped with the right therapy. But if your child has a persistent, excessive fear that interferes with daily functioning at home or school, talk to your child's doctor. If anxiety negatively affects functioning in work, school or social situations, talk with your doctor or a mental health professional.Ĭhildhood fears, such as fear of the dark, of monsters or of being left alone, are common, and most children outgrow them. In children, possibly tantrums, clinging, crying, or refusing to leave a parent's side or approach their fearĪn unreasonable fear can be an annoyance - having to take the stairs instead of an elevator or driving the long way to work instead of taking the freeway, for instance - but it isn't considered a specific phobia unless it seriously disrupts your life.Feeling nauseated, dizzy or fainting around blood or injuries.Physical reactions and sensations, including sweating, rapid heartbeat, tight chest or difficulty breathing.Difficulty functioning normally because of your fear.Doing everything possible to avoid the object or situation or enduring it with intense anxiety or fear.Worsening anxiety as the situation or object gets closer to you in time or physical proximity.Awareness that your fears are unreasonable or exaggerated but feeling powerless to control them.An immediate feeling of intense fear, anxiety and panic when exposed to or even thinking about the source of your fear.No matter what specific phobia you have, it's likely to produce these types of reactions: Examples of more common terms include acrophobia for the fear of heights and claustrophobia for the fear of confined spaces. Others, such as choking, vomiting, loud noises or clownsĮach specific phobia is referred to by its own term.Blood, injection or injury, such as needles, accidents or medical procedures.Animals or insects, such as dogs or spiders.Nature, such as thunderstorms or heights. ![]() Situations, such as airplanes, enclosed spaces or going to school.Specific phobias can also occur along with other types of anxiety disorders.Ĭommon categories of specific phobias are a fear of: There are many types of phobias, and it's not unusual to experience a specific phobia about more than one object or situation. A specific phobia involves an intense, persistent fear of a specific object or situation that's out of proportion to the actual risk. ![]()
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