A person with a certain phobia displays an intense and unrealistic fear or reaction to a certain situation, place or object. If you have a phobia, you will most likely experience a sense of dread or panic when you encounter the source of your phobia even though you know the particular object or situation is harmless. As a result you may start avoiding the object or situation causing the fear. If uncontrolled, this fear can begin to affect your personal and professional relationships.
Some of the most commonly seen phobias are as follows
- Acrophobia – Fear of heights
- Agoraphobia – Fear of public spaces or crowds
- Arachnophobia – Fear of spiders
- Aerophobia – fear of flying
- Astraphobia – fear of thunder or lightening
- Claustrophobia – fear of closed or confined spaces
- Cynophobia – fear of dogs
- Emetophobia – fear of vomiting
- Entomophobia – fear of insects
- Hemophobia – fear of blood
- Hydrophobia – fear of water
- Nyctophobia – fear of darkness
- Ophidiophobia – fear of snakes
- Philophobia – fear of love
- Trypanophobia – fear of needles
Signs & Symptoms:
The most commonly seen symptoms of a phobia are the ones associated with anxiety or a panic attack. These could include:
- Increased heart rate
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Chest pain or tightness
- Shortness of breath
- Dry mouth
- Stomach upset
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Confusion or disorientation
- Headache
- Tremors
Our approach
Life can be a struggle and is full of situations that test human strength and perseverance. People may be going through a difficult time at work, or having trouble with their partner, they may not be doing well in their studies and may be dealing with the loss of a loved one. There’s a saying that goes, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times…” It goes to show that we must rise above the stressful times we are all facing.
People have different coping mechanisms to deal with stress; some listen to music, some isolate themselves, some talk with themselves or with someone they trust, some take a break from work or go on holiday. All of these are methods that help to a certain degree. However, to truly be a master of your phobia response, it is always best to reach out to a Therapist that can help.
Treatment
The first step of treatment is to seek appropriate psychological counselling from a well qualified and experienced counsellor such as our esteemed team at Happy n Healthys who also provide Online Psychological Treatment. Most phobias are treatable once a proper diagnosis is done. Treatment is individualised for every person depending on the type and severity of the phobia. The various methods of treatment include:
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY:
To help identify and change the negative thoughts and uncontrolled reactions to the phobic situation within a controlled setting
MEDICATIONS:
To help calm the fear of object or situation causing the phobia
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION:
A controlled exposure to the anxiety provoking object or situation so that the fear is overcome gradually over a period of time
HYPNOTHERAPY:
Can be used to uncover the underlying cause of the fear. Can also help the person be more accepting of suggestions that helps make the desired change
Often, a combination of medications and psychological counselling works best to manage the phobia. An excellent way of achieving this is to seek online psychological treatment with the team of Online Psychologists Happy n Healthys.
Services
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Stress Management
- Couple Counselling
- Child Psychology
- Bipolar Disorder
- Addiction
- Phobia
- OCD
- Anger Control
- ADHD
- Self Improvement
- Work Place Pressure
