Treatment For Phobias
With so many people suffering from some kind of phobia it’s reassuring to know there are various treatment for phobias around. A phobia itself can be classified as a deep and ongoing fear of activities, animals, people or certain situations. Phobias such as fear of spiders, fear of flying, fear of heights etc are incredibly common in todays society. It’s been estimated that approximately 1 person in 23 suffers from some kind of phobia. This makes roughly 11.5 million sufferers in the US whilst in the UK there are approximately 2.5 million. For the majority of people these fears can be dealt with and are minor. However, for some the fear is so extreme that they end up causing severe anxiety and negatively impact on their daily routine and life.
There are three main types of phobias. These phobias are considered as sub-types of anxiety disorder.
Specific phobias
As the title suggests these are phobias that are very specific. For example a fear of animals, physical things (such as injections, blood or hurting oneself), the natural world (for example bad weather, heights) and specific situations (e.g. aeroplanes, confined spaces etc).
Agoraphobia
This is a general fear of leaving home, being away from ones family and your “safety zone” and any panic attacks that may ensue as a result. It can also occur as a result of specific phobias such as social embarrassment (social agoraphobia), fear of contamination or fear of open spaces as a result of a traumatic event that occurred away from ones comfort zone.
Social phobia
This is when an individual has a deep fear of social situations such as meeting new people. People who suffer from this phobia tend not to be confident in the presence of people they haven’t met before or don’t know well. They will also assume that these people will think negatively of them. In addition to this they may be scared of how they will react in such circumstances i.e. they will be unable to speak or stutter or will tremble. Around 5% of people will have some form of this phobia.
In terms of treatment for phobias there are a few options available to sufferers:
Talking treatments (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
This is often a very effective phobia treatment. This is also one of the great treatments for anxiety and is discussed in length there.
Desensitization
This is a type of Cognitive behavioural Therapy which is the most frequently used treatment for phobia mainly due to it’s success rate. It’s said that between 75% – 90% of all sufferers are able to overcome phobias as a result of treatment.
This treatment is also known as exposure therapy and it entails gradual “exposure” to the cause of the phobia. First it is confronted mentally and as ones confidence grows, in reality. Once you repeatedly confront your phobia, becoming gradually confident makes you realise that it cannot really harm you and allows you to take control and not the other way around.
Medication
Due to the high success rate of desensitisation, medication is not normally recommended as a treatment for phobias. Where it is prescribed it will be as a result of the effects of phobias such as anxiety disorders or depression.
Agoraphobia will sometimes be treated through antidepressants particularly if you are suffering panic attacks as well. They can also be given for sufferers of social phobia.
Although phobia sufferers may feel that their symptoms are so extreme as to be untreatable there are highly effective cures available. Talking treatments and desensitization show that you can start living a normal life by making the move to get treatment for phobias.
