A :
B :
C :
D :
E :
F :
G :
H :
I :
J :
K :
L :
M :
N :
O :
P :
Q :
R :
S :
T :
U :
V :
W :
X :
Y :
Z
Phobia
Medical Questions » Phobia
| Name: Phobia |
| Also known as: |
| An unnecessary fearful reaction that provokes severe anxiety. May be due to a fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), spiders (arachno-phobia), open spaces (agoraphobia), heights (acrophobia), sharp implements, specific animals, eating in public or almost any thing or activity imaginable. |
Causes of Phobia
Most commonly develop in anxious people in the late teens and early adult years, and more common in women than men. Some patients have a fear of a particular circumstance because of an unpleasant experience in the past (eg. claustrophobia after being trapped in a lift), but this is not a true phobia as it is a rational fear triggered by a previous unpleasant experience. |
Symptoms of Phobia
An unreasonable fear of something, place or activity that should not provoke fear. An anxious patient may rationalise their anxiety and the palpitations, sweating, nausea and headaches it causes by considering it to be a fear of something. It may become an obsession that dominates the patients life, particularly if the fear is of contamination, dirt or disease, which leads to repetitive actions such as constant, excessive hand-washing. In other situations, patients may go to extreme lengths to avoid the object of their fear (eg. stay in rooms on the ground floor of hotels), or undertake rituals that make a fearful activity safe (eg. always wear a certain piece of clothing when flying). The patient with one serious phobia usually develops more and more phobias of less and less fearful objects and situations, as the neurotic disease or anxiety worsens. |
Tests for Phobia
No diagnostic tests. |
Treatment for Phobia
Psychiatrists can help patients deal with the underlying anxieties, give behavioral treatment that gradually exposes the patient to the fear, and prescribe medication that controls the problem.
|
Complications of Phobia of its treatment
Patient may become housebound or unable to function in society. |
Likely Outcome of Phobia
Most can cope with appropriate treatment, but phobia often lasts lifelong. |
|
|
