2. The word phobia is derived from the Greek word “phobos”,
meaning extreme fear and flight.
The ancient Greek god, Phobos, was believed to be able to
reduce the enemies of the Greeks to a state of abject terror,
making victory in battle more likely.
Phobia is defined as an irrational fear of a specific object,
situation or activity, often leading to persistent
avoidance of the feared object, situation or activity.
3. Fear cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or
situation, exposure to which almost invariably provokes an
immediate anxiety response or panic attack even though the
subject recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable.
The phobic stimulus is avoided or endured with marked distress.
(Shahrokh & Hales, 2003)
4. In this group of disorders, anxiety is evoked only, or
predominantly, by certain well-defined situations or objects
(external to the individual) which are not currently dangerous. As
a result, these situations or objects are characteristically avoided
or endured with dread. Phobic anxiety is indistinguishable
subjectively, physiologically, and behaviorally from other types
of anxiety and may vary in severity from mild unease to terror.
The individual's concern may focus on individual symptoms
such as palpitations or feeling faint and is often associated with
secondary fears of dying, losing control, or going mad.
(ICD-10)
5. Marked fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation (e.g.,
flying, heights, animals, receiving an injection, seeing blood).
The phobic object or situation almost always provokes
immediate fear or anxiety. The phobic object or situation is
actively avoided or endured with intense fear or anxiety. The
fear, anxiety, or avoidance causes clinically significant distress or
impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of
functioning. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent,
typically lasting for 6 months or more.
(DSM-5)
6. Marks has defined phobia on the following four
criteria:
1. The fear is out of proportion to the demands of the
situation.
2. It cannot be explained or reasoned away.
3. It is beyond voluntary control.
4. The fear leads to an avoidance of the feared
situation.
7. Epidemiology
Phobias are the most common of all anxiety disorders.
Social phobia is the most common of all phobias
Lifetime prevalence rates of agoraphobia have been reported from
a number of studies.
Social phobia in males -11.1% and females -15.5% and a total of
13.3%.
Specific phobia occurs in 2.4 to 9.2 percent of children and
adolescents, with usual onset between 5 and 13 years of age.
Women receive diagnoses of specific phobia more often than men.
9. Agoraphobia is an example of
irrational fear of situations. It is the
commonest type of phobia
encountered in clinical practice.
Women far out-number men in
suffering from agoraphobia in the
Western countries.
It is characterized by an irrational
fear of being in places away from
the familiar setting of home.
Although it was earlier thought to
be a fear of open spaces only, now
it includes fear of open spaces,
public places, crowded places, and
any other place from where there is
no easy escape to a safe place.
10. This is an example of irrational fear of
activities or social interaction, characterized
by an irrational fear of performing activities
in the presence of other people or
interacting with others. The patient is afraid
of his own actions being viewed by others
critically, resulting in embarrassment or
humiliation. There is marked distress and
disturbance in routine daily functioning.
Some of the examples include fear of
blushing ( erythrophobia), eating in
company of others, public speaking, public
performance (e.g. on stage), participating in
groups, writing in public (e.g. signing a
check), speaking to strangers (e.g. for
asking for directions), dating, speaking to
authority figures, and urinating in a public
lavatory (shy bladder).
11. In contrast to agoraphobia and social
phobia where the stimuli are generalized,
in specific phobia the stimulus is usually
well circum scribed. This is an example of
irrational fear of objects or situations.
Specific phobia is characterized by an
irrational fear of a specified object or
situation. Anticipatory anxiety leads to
persistent avoidant behaviour, while
confrontation with the avoided object or
situation leads to panic attacks.
Gradually, the phobia usually spreads to
other objects and situations. The disorder
is diagnosed only if there is marked
distress and/or disturbance in daily
functioning, in addition to fear and
avoidance of the specified object or
situation. Some of the examples of simple
phobia include acrophobia (fear of high
places), zoophobia (fear of animals),
12. Different forms of Phobias
Achluophobia Fear of darkness
Acrophobia Fear of heights
Aerophobia Fear of flying
Algophobia Fear of pain
Alektorophobia Fear of chickens
Agoraphobia Fear of public spaces
Aichmophobia Fear of needles
Amaxophobia Fear of riding in a car
Androphobia Fear of men
Anginophobia Fear of angina or choking
Anthophobia Fear of flowers
Anthropophobia Fear of people or society
Aphenphosmphobia Fear of being touched
Arachnophobia Fear of spiders
Arithmophobia Fear of numbers
Bacteriophobia Fear of bacteria
Barophobia Fear of gravity
Bathmophobia Fear of stairs or steep slopes
Batrachophobia Fear of amphibians
Belonephobia Fear of pins and needles
Bibliophobia Fear of books
Botanophobia Fear of plants
Cacophobia Fear of ugliness
Catagelophobia Fear of being ridiculed
Catoptrophobia Fear of mirrors
Chionophobia Fear of snow
Chromophobia Fear of colors
Chronomentrophobia Fear of clocks
Claustrophobia Fear of confined spaces
