Specific Phobia
A specific phobia is an intense fear that is out of proportion to any real threat and focused on a specific animal, object, activity, or situation. People with phobias experience anxiety when they encounter or even think about the thing they fear. This anxiety sometimes takes the form of a panic attack. But whereas the attacks in panic disorder seem to come out of the blue, the attacks in specific phobia have very specific triggers. The triggers themselves can be divided into five basic categories: animal (for example, dogs, mice, spiders), natural environment (for example, heights, water, storms), injury (for example, blood, injections), situational (for example, airplanes, elevators, enclosed spaces), and other (for example, choking, loud noises). When the trigger is situational, it’s limited to a specific situation, rather than a whole cluster of situations as in agoraphobia.
Most of us have an irrational fear or two. To qualify as a specific phobia, however, the fear must lead to extreme distress or interfere with the ability to carry out normal activities. Such phobias are most common in childhood or early adolescence. They may follow a traumatic event involving the feared thing, an unexpected panic attack in the feared situation, the observation of fearfulness in others, or repeated parental warnings or media coverage about a certain hazard. People frequently find ways of avoiding their triggers. Unfortunately, this avoidance may impair their ability to function in daily life. For example, a mild fear of dogs is not uncommon. However, a teen with a phobia of the animals may be so intensely fearful that he won’t venture outside his home for fear of encountering an unleashed dog.
A specific phobia is an intense fear that is out of proportion to any real threat and focused on a specific animal, object, activity, or situation. People with phobias experience anxiety when they encounter or even think about the thing they fear. This anxiety sometimes takes the form of a panic attack. But whereas the attacks in panic disorder seem to come out of the blue, the attacks in specific phobia have very specific triggers. The triggers themselves can be divided into five basic categories: animal (for example, dogs, mice, spiders), natural environment (for example, heights, water, storms), injury (for example, blood, injections), situational (for example, airplanes, elevators, enclosed spaces), and other (for example, choking, loud noises). When the trigger is situational, it’s limited to a specific situation, rather than a whole cluster of situations as in agoraphobia.
Most of us have an irrational fear or two. To qualify as a specific phobia, however, the fear must lead to extreme distress or interfere with the ability to carry out normal activities. Such phobias are most common in childhood or early adolescence. They may follow a traumatic event involving the feared thing, an unexpected panic attack in the feared situation, the observation of fearfulness in others, or repeated parental warnings or media coverage about a certain hazard. People frequently find ways of avoiding their triggers. Unfortunately, this avoidance may impair their ability to function in daily life. For example, a mild fear of dogs is not uncommon. However, a teen with a phobia of the animals may be so intensely fearful that he won’t venture outside his home for fear of encountering an unleashed dog.
