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Things to work on: include links to treatment, refer to the dsm IV for page numbers, include more treatments, include more phobias in the list because it seems too random right now
A specific phobia is a generic term for any kind of anxiety disorder that amounts to an unreasonable or irrational fear related to exposure to specific objects or situations. As a result, the affected persons tend to actively avoid direct contact with the objects or situations and, in severe cases, any mention or depiction of them. So it is disabling to their daily lives.[1]
The fear or anxiety may be triggered both by the presence and the anticipation of the specific object or situation. A person who encounters that of which they are phobic will often show signs of fear or express discomfort. In some cases it can result in a panic attack. In most adults this kind of phobia is consciously recognized by the person. Still, anxiety and avoidance are difficult to control and may significantly impair the person's functioning and even physical health.
Epidemiology[edit]
Specific phobias have a one-year prevalence of 8.7% in the USA with 21.9% of the cases being severe, 30.0% moderate and 48.1% mild. [2]
[3] The usual age of onset is childhood to adolescence. Women are twice as likely to suffer from specific phobias as men.[4]
Evolutionary theory argues that infants or children develop specific phobias that could possible harm them, so their phobias alert them to this sense of danger. The most common co-occurring disorder for children with a specific phobia is another anxiety disorder. Although comorbidity is frequent for children with specific phobias, it tends to be lower than for other anxiety disorders. Onset is typically between 7-9 years of age. Specific phobias can occur at any age but seem to peak between 10 and 13 years of age.
Categories of specific phobias[edit]
According to the fourth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, phobias can be classified under the following general categories:
- Animal type – Fear of dogs, cats, rats and/or mice, pigs, cows, birds, spiders, or snakes.
- Natural environment type – Fear of heights (acrophobia), lightning and thunderstorms (astraphobia), or aging (gerascophobia).
- Situational type – Fear of small confined spaces (claustrophobia), or the dark (nyctophobia).
- Blood/injection/injury type – this includes fear of medical procedures, including needles and injections, (Trypanophobia), fear of blood,(Hemophobia and fear of getting injured [5] .
- Other – Fear of contracting an illness; children's fears of loud sounds or costumed characters.[6]
Diagnosis[edit]
Main Features of Diagnostic Criteria for Specific Phobia in the DSM-IV-TR:
- Marked and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable, cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation (e.g., flying, heights, animals, receiving an injection, seeing blood).
- Exposure to the phobic stimulus almost invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally predisposed panic attack.
Note: In children, the anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums, freezing, or clinging.
- The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable.
Note: In children, this feature may be absent.
- The phobic situation(s) is avoided or else is endured with intense anxiety or distress.
Treatment[edit]
Different types of exposure therapy, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy, are usually used. This includes systematic desensitization, imaginal exposure therapy, in vivo, virtual reality, and interoceptive exposure. While many kinds of therapies can be used, different subgroups respond better to certain treatments. Overall, in vivo therapy, despite its high dropout rates, displays the greatest effectiveness; yet there are some exceptions. According to new studies, cognitive therapy looks like a successful solution to claustrophobia and virtual reality demonstrates equal effectiveness for fear of heights and flying. Blood-injury also responds well to applied tension but most medications have not been encouraging except for adjunctive D-clycoserine. [7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Phobias: Specific Phobias Types and Symptoms." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/specific-phobias
- ^ Kessler, PhD, Ronald; Chiu, AM, Wai Tat; Demler, Olga; Walters, Ellen (2005). "Prevalence, Severity and Comorbidity of 12-Month DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication". Archives of general psychiatry. 62.6: 617–709.
- ^ Narrow; et al. (2002). "Revised prevalence estimates of mental disorders in the United States". Archives of General Psychiatry. 59 (2): 115–123. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.59.2.115. PMID 11825131.
- ^ Cameron, Alasdair (2004). Crash Course Psychiatry. Elsevier Ltd. ISBN 0-7234-3340-2.
- ^ ^ a b c d e "Oxford Textbook of Psychopathology" by Theodore Millon, Paul H. Blaney, Roger D. Davis (1999) ISBN 0-19-510307-6, p. 82
- ^ DSM-IV-TR 300.29, p. 445.
- ^ Choy, MD, Yujuan; Fyer, Abby J.; Lipsitz, Josh D. (2007). "Treatment of specific phobia in adults". Clinical Psychology Review. 27: 266–286.
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