Why Do Some People Have Phobias?

Introduction

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     Do you have something you're really scared of or makes you want to run away? If so, you might have a phobia. Keep reading to find out more about phobias.

What are Phobias?

     Phobias are your brain's way of warning you of danger or potential danger.

     When fear or anxiety are taken to an extreme level by your brain, it’s considered a phobia.

Triggers

     A trigger is something that causes you to have a phobia. For example, if you have a fear of snakes, seeing a snake would be your trigger. 

     Encountering a trigger causes immediate fear or anxiety. That is called the specific phobia criteria.  

Family Phobias

     If a person that you are related to has a phobia, you are more likely to have that same phobia.

      Some phobias that have a higher rate in family members are animal, situational, and medical phobias. An example of a situational phobia is a fear that is triggered by being on a plane or car.

Learning From People

     People can develop a phobia by learning about a phobia that another person has. Some people have a phobia because of overprotective parents. If you hear your parents repeatedly say, "Stay away from spiders," then you might develop arachnophobia (fear of spiders).

Informational Transmission

     Informational transmission is when you learn, hear, or see things about something  more than once. Over time you may develop a phobia. 

     For example, if you hear people say multiple times that spiders will bite you, then you might develop arachnophobia.

Traumatic Experiences

     One reason that some people have phobias is because of traumatic experiences. These are because of things that happen to you or if you see something happen to someone else. 

     For example, if you see someone fall into a pool and have to be saved, you might develop a fear of water.

Diagnoses

     Diagnostic testing or lab imaging isn't required to diagnose phobias. Specific phobia or agoraphobia can be diagnosed by a mental health provider by asking you questions.

Treatment

     A way to treat phobias is by slowly exposing you to triggers. 

     Psychotherapy is a useful way to change the way you think or adjust the way you think about something you fear.

     Psychotherapy, medications or a mixture of both can treat phobias.

Long Term Effects

     Long term effects can happen if you have very severe effects or encounter triggers a lot. An example of encountering triggers a lot is if you have ophidiophobia and you live in an area where snakes are very common, like a swampy area or a grassland area.

Mental Health

     Specific phobia and agoraphobia raise your risk of having certain mental health conditions. Agoraphobia is a fear of crowded places that cause you to feel trapped or helpless.

Ophidiophobia

     One of the most common phobias in adults is ophidiophobia. Ophidiophobia is an intense fear of snakes. This phobia falls in the category of animal type.

     Venomous snakes posed an actual threat when humans evolved. For this reason, humans having a fear of snakes makes sense, because the fear helped humans stay away from the danger.

Arachnophobia

     An intense fear of spiders is called arachnophobia. Some triggers of arachnophobia are seeing, talking about, or thinking about a spider or spiderweb.

My Inspiration

     My inspiration to write this website mostly comes from my aunt. She has ophidiophobia, an intense fear of snakes, and that is what sparked my interest to write a website about phobias.