Phobias
Often people who claim to have a phobia actually have a fear. They are scared of something but don’t have an anxiety / panic response. They manage to face or tackle the situation or problem without it interfering in their lives. They are not completely averse to it. Such people can normally be relieved of their fear through education. If for example someone was squeamish about the idea of a house spider crawling over their hand but spent a few moments in the presence of zoologist who explained to them how harmless a spider is and why it moves so fast, they could probably start to let go of their fears.
If they have a panic response to seeing a spider (arachnophobia) then the same information would probably be of some use to them in tackling the phobia but wouldn't constitute a cure in itself. If the panic or anxiety they feel is enough to make them avoid places where they might encounter spiders then they have a phobia, and often are as adverse to the feelings of panic as they are to the spider itself. That's a point worth stressing; phobic people are often phobic or petrified of the bodily physical symptoms of anxiety and panic themselves, i.e. they are scared that if they go in a lift they will panic. Obviously this thought is normally accompanied by other extremely catastrophic thinking. What if the lift gets stuck? What if the lift plummets? What if there is a fire? What if we are stuck and no one knows we are here?
The person with a fear of spiders may think it will bite them or attack them. A person with a phobia may feel that they will lose control, go mad, pass-out, or even die if the spider comes near them. In these cases it can be more important to deal with these feelings of anxiety and panic than anything to do with the object itself per se. When there has been a certain inoculation against the symptoms exposure to the feared object or situation can be much quicker and easier. By inoculation to the symptoms I mean getting used to them, recognising them for the temporary, harmless and natural feelings they are, and recognising that they lead neither to death or passing out or going mad. For more information on this see the section on Clare Weekes.
Below is a list of common phobias in alphabetical order. The clickable ones will lead you to a page with specific information about that phobia including advice for treatment and success stories. This page is new and it will take some time to collate the information on each phobia, so if your phobia is not clickable then please check back soon or email me! Also please read the resources at the bottom of each page.
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Alien balloon banana bee bird blood blood injury bridge button choking clown commitment / committment computer dark / darkness death / dying dental / dentist dirt disease dog driving |
eating
elevator exam / test fat flying / airplane Food / eating foot / feet germ hair heights injection insect long words marriage Math / maths medication midget Moth noise
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paper
penis people phone / telephone public speaking relationship school sex shark sleep snakes social / socail spider statistics storm toilet vomit / vomitting wasp water work |
Please read these other pages if you haven't done so already.
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What’s the difference between a fear and a phobia?
Do I have social Phobia?
What’s the best treatment for agoraphobia?
What medication is best for phobias?
What therapies are best for phobias?
What about my fear of flying?
The Phobia List also has a very extensive list of phobias.