What are you afraid of? This simple question for many may bring up reasonable thoughts of dangers that could happen in everyday life. However, an irrational fear about a particular thing, situation, or activity that brings about extreme stress and anxiety is known as a phobia. From spiders to heights, here are the most common phobias people experience – and ways to overcome them.
Arachnophobia
Arachnophobia is the intense fear of spiders. Seeing a spider or simply imagining a spider can induce anxiety and panic. This phobia likely comes from the fact that some spiders can be dangerous to humans (though, in reality, few species are). The most effective treatment for overcoming arachnophobia is therapy, which may include a mix of talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and exposure therapy, which allows the individual to slowly be exposed to their fear.
Acrophobia
Someone with acrophobia has an intense fear of heights and will likely avoid tall buildings, bridges, towers, and roller coasters. They may experience panic attacks if they cannot escape a situation involving heights. Acrophobia can stem from a past traumatic experience that involved falling from a tall location, but it can also be completely unrelated to a past event. Exposure therapy can help with acrophobia: By slowly exposing someone to taller and taller heights, the hope is they will start to feel safer and more secure – regardless of how high up they are.
Aerophobia
Aerophobia, the fear of flying, is a common phobia that affects roughly 20 million Americans. Those with aerophobia experience intense anxiety on airplanes and tend to avoid flying at all costs. This can be detrimental because it limits one’s ability to take vacations or travel to see loved ones. People often credit their fear of flying to the fact they don’t feel they have control over their situation. Again, exposure therapy can help overcome this phobia. CBT can also help by allowing a person to examine their irrational thought patterns about flying.
Social Phobia
Social phobia, or social anxiety disorder, is an intense fear of social situations that may cause an individual to experience major anxiety symptoms in public areas or social settings. This can cause them to avoid social gatherings, events, and public places. Society anxiety can be extremely debilitating and isolating – and it can get worse the longer someone isolates themself. Exposure therapy is a great way to ease social anxiety. For example, if someone fears going out in public entirely, they may start by walking around a park and build their interaction with more people.
Mysophobia
Mysophobia (germophobia) involves the intense fear of germs. This can lead to OCD-like tendencies like excessive cleaning, washing hands, and avoiding places and situations that could be dirty or contain germs. Similar to the other phobias discussed in this article, exposure therapy, CBT, and similar forms of treatment can be used to help a person overcome this phobia.
Have you been able to overcome a phobia? Share your experience with us in the comments below!