Recognizing Adolescent Specific Phobias
A phobia is an irrational and excessive fear of an object or situation. The phobia involves a sense of endangerment or a fear of harm.
Symptoms of specific phobias include:
- Excessive or irrational fear of a specific object or situation
- Avoiding the object/situation, or enduring with distress
- Physical symptoms of anxiety or a panic attack
- pounding heart, nausea or diarrhea, sweating, trembling or shaking, numbness or tingling, problems with breathing, diziness or lightheaded, feeling like you are choking
- Anticipatory anxiety: becoming nervous about being in certain situations or coming into contact with the object of your phobia before contact occurs
Treatment:
- Systematic desentitization: after the person relaxes, he/she imagines the components of the phobia, working from the least fearful to the most fearful
- Graded real-life exposure: gradual exposure to the phobia
- Medications can help relieve the symptoms associated with the phobias
- Phobia clinics and group therapy: are available in some areas for common phobias such as a fear of flying
Types Of Specific Phobias
There are four major types of specific phobias:
- Natural Environment - fears of lightning, water, storms, etc
- Animal - fear of snakes, rodents, spiders, etc
- Medical - fear of seeing blood, needles, dentist, doctors, etc
- Situational - fear of bridges, leaving the home, driving, etc
- Other - clowns, loud noise, choking, holes, falling down, etc
Links to Additional Online Information
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