Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Phobias and Their Treatment

     Phobias can be described as an irrational and uncontrollable fear of a certain activity, situation or object. Most people who have phobias go to extreme lengths to avoid what they are afraid of. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine (n.d), about 19 million Americans have one or more phobias that range from mild to severe. Phobias affect both males and females equally. A list of phobias include Acrophobia: fear of heights, Arachnophobia: fear of spiders, and Claustrophobia: fear of confined spaces. There are many other phobias that individuals have as well. 

    The most common treatment of phobias include medication, therapy or both. Medications include antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and beta blockers. These medications help to ease the anxiety associated with the phobias. Therapy options include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Exposure Therapy. Both options of therapy expose the individual to their phobia and eventually help to overcome it. 







Fritscher, L. (2020, June 16). Treatment Options for Phobias. Verywell Mind. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/treatment-options-for-phobias-2672022

Phobias. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2022, from
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/phobias

2 comments:

  1. Although some people struggle really hard to deal with their phobias some seem very strange. I heard that people can have a phobia of something so simple as just laughing its called geliophobia. I could not believe it when I found out how can you possibly have an intense fear of laughing.

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  2. Phobias are so interestingly strange. At the end of the day, anyone can have a phobia about anything. For intense my two strangest phobias are megalophobia (which is a fear of big things) and submechanophobia (which is the fear of anamatronics in the water). I honestly don't get why I have these fears, but all I know is that the giant whale from the Natural History Museum and the Jaws ride in Universal scare the crud out of me. I don't think I would get treatment for these because they are so unbelievable irrational, but I would understand why people have to.

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