Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two; for years for most people, these fears are minor. But, when fears become so severe they cause tremendous anxiety and literally stop you from doing something with your normal life, they are called phobias.
A phobia is defined as an anxiety disorder characterised by an abnormally intense or irrational fear of a situation, animal or object. Common phobias: social phobia – fear of interacting with other people; agoraphobia – fear of open public spaces; emetophobia – fear of vomiting; erythrophobia – fear of blushing; driving phobia – fear of driving; hypochondria – fear of illness; arachnophobia – fear of spiders; zoophobia – fear of animals; claustrophobia – fear of confined spaces.
It’s not exactly known how phobias come about but specific phobia’s are thought to generate from childhood, between the ages of four and eight and some, such as social phobia tend to start later but these theories don’t help. Like many other phobia sufferers, people may try to cope by avoiding the trigger of the phobia. Not only is this tiring and demoralising, it is often impractical and can impact on other people’s lives as well as your own, or may out your health at risk if you’re avoiding medical checks involving injections or taking blood.
For everyone whose life is affected by a phobia, acknowledging the problem and seeking help is the key to recovering control of your life.
It’s important to know that phobia’s are common. The National Institute of Mental Health quotes around 10% of adults are affected by phobias.
You should consider treatment for your phobia if it causes intense and disabling fear, anxiety and panic; your avoidance interferes with your normal routine or causes significant distress to your family.
At Marlborough House new regularly help clients overcome their phobias and fears in just a few sessions. We offer free 30 minute consultation to discuss how we can help you. Please do not hesitate to call us on 01823 272227 or email contact@mh-tc.com