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ë A phobia is defined as the unrelenting fear of a
situation, activity, or thing that causes one to want to
avoid it.
ë Phobias afflict more than 6 million people in the
United States.
ë Women tend to be twice as likely to suffer from a
phobia compared to men.
[here are several types of phobias:
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 ë Also known as
social
anxiety disorder,
social phobia is an
excessive fear of
embarrassment in
social situations.
ã?xamples include fears of public
speaking, meeting new people, and
other social situations.
ë Agoraphobia is a fear of in a situation from which
one either cannot escape or from which escaping
would be difficult or humiliating.

ë Although agoraphobia, like other mental disorders,

it also tends to run in families and for some people,
may have a clear genetic factor.
ë ›laustrophobia is an
abnormal and persistent
fear of closed spaces, as in
elevators, tunnels, or any
other confined space.

type of fear is
ë [his
excessive and quite
common.
ë oophobia is a term that encompasses fears of
specific types of animals such as spiders
(arachnophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), birds
(ornithophobia), bees (apiphobia), etc.
ë Acrophobia is an
abnormally
excessive and
persistent fear of
heights.
ë Anabnormal and persistent fear of flying is called
aerophobia. [his phobia generally develops after a
person witnesses a plane crash or loses a family
member in a plane crash or accident.
 ë lood-injection-injury
phobias consist of several
specific phobias including
fear of blood
(hemophobia), injury

phobia, and fear of receiving an injection

(trypanophobia or aichmophobia).
 ãcf left untreated, a
phobia may worsen to
the point at which the
person's life is seriously
affected.
ã[here may be periods of spontaneous
improvement, but a phobia does not usually
go away unless the person receives
treatments.
ã Alcoholics can be up to 10 times more
likely to suffer.
 Ñ ct is thought that phobias
run in families, or can be
triggered by life events.
Ñ Phobia sufferers have
been found to be more
likely to manage stress by
avoiding the stressful
situation and by having difficulty minimizing
the intensity of the fearful situation.
ë Symptoms of phobias often involve having a panic
attack as well as physical symptoms like shaking,
sweating, rapid heartbeat, trouble breathing, and
an overwhelming desire to escape the situation.
Ñ any health-care providers may help diagnose
phobias specialists whom you see for a medical
condition, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social
workers.
Ñ you may need to submit to a medical interview and
physical examination.
Ñ A phobia may be associated with a number of other
mental -health conditions, especially other anxiety
disorders.
Ñ Routine laboratory tests are often performed during
the initial evaluation to rule out other possible
causes of the symptoms.
Ñ ?xposing them to
circumstances that are
increasingly close to the one
they are phobic.
Ñ A second method is cognitive
behavioral therapy (›[),
which helps in changing the
way of thinking of the sufferer.
[hree techniques to accomplish this goal:

Ñ Y
 
 [his phase helps to set up
positive expectations for therapy and promote
the phobia sufferer's cooperation.
Ñ › 

 ct helps to identify the
thoughts and assumptions that influence the
person's behavior.
Ñ 
 
 [his employs behavior-
modifying techniques to teach the individual
with a phobia more effective strategies for
dealing with problems.
ëY??Pc A GUP[A
ëVcSHAL ROHcRA
ëH?ANGcNc JAcN
ëPOOJA SHAH
ëA ASH RA[HOY
ëANUJ GURWAYA
ë?SHAN[ JAcN