Phobic disorders

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What is Phobic disorders?

A phobia is the irrational fear of an object or situation. The patient is often aware that their fear is irrational but remains powerless to control their reaction.

Anxiety disorders are classified according to whether the anxiety is persistent (general anxiety) or episodic, with the episodic conditions classified according to whether the episodes are regularly triggered by the same cue (phobia) or not (panic disorder).

Who gets Phobic disorders?

This is the most common form of anxiety disorder. The prevalence of all phobias is 8%, with many patients having more than one. Phobias are most likely to begin in late childhood and continue into adulthood if left untreated. Women have twice the prevalence of most phobias than men.

Predisposing Factors

As with most anxiety disorders, the only known risk factor is a family history of anxiety disorder. Many types of phobia run in families, expecially those relating to blood injection and certain types of injury.

Progression

Phobias generally arise from a bad experience with a previously benign stimulus. For example, a person who has been previously trapped in an elevator runs a greater risk of devloping a phobia of elevators. In children, however, phobias usually arise from imagined threats to their personal safety (e.g. stories of ghosts told in the playground).

Most phobias will last indefinitely until the patient decided to overcome their specific fear of an object or social situation. Certain phobias such as the fear of spiders (arachnophobia) is quite easily managed by the complete avoidance of spiders. Patients with such as specific phobia need not suffer social or occupational dysfunction to avoid the stimulus. Patients who fear social ridicule (social phobia) are more likely to suffer social and occupational harm, for the phobia prevents their participation in activities of everyday life.

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