Anxieties & Phobias
Fear refers to a current state - being fearful. Anxieties refer to future situations - being anxious about something yet to happen. Phobias refer an irrational fear of simple things or social situations - seeking to avoid those things or situations.
Anxieties, fears and phobias are natural to some extent, they have a survival origin. It is a good idea to have some fear, or at least a very healthy respect, for spiders, snakes and heights. Phobias become a problem when they interfere with normal living behaviours, or the person ‘feels’ bothered by the phobia. The good news is that most anxieties, fears and phobias can be ‘managed’ or even disappear with appropriate treatment.
Panic attack - Agoraphobia
Panic occurs when there is a sudden and brief episode of intense dread, fear or terror. Such attacks are regarded as ‘panic attacks’ if there are physical and ‘thinking’ symptoms. The attacks are often unexpected and may seem unrelated to any explanatory reason. True panic is more than just ‘reported’ or ‘feeling’ panic because it involves physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, palpitations (rapid and irregular heart beat), sweating, chest pain or discomfort, choking or smothering, trembling and others. There may be psychological symptoms such as fear of ‘going crazy’, fear of losing control, or fear of dying.
Agoraphobia is feeling anxious about, and even avoiding, places or situations from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing, or help might not be available during a panic attack. People may fear leaving home, going to shopping centres, being in a crowd etc.
Social phobia/anxiety
Social anxiety, social phobia and social anxiety disorder seem to be viewed differently by the community and psychologists. In the community, social anxiety could be regarded as suffering a high level of shyness or inhibition that interferes with social opportunities and decisions. Social phobia might be considered as a higher level of anxiety to the extent that social opportunities are avoided because of the associated fear. Finally, when the fear becomes an overwhelming terror that the sufferer cannot tolerate it becomes ‘social anxiety disorder’. And it is a debilitating and real disorder that interferes horridly with quality of life. The good news is that treatment is available. People who suffer this along with some other psychological disorder need the two disorders treated specifically. Cognitive-behavioural Group Therapy has been shown to be more effective than medication or other therapies. The preferred treatment uses cognitive restructuring and graded exposure techniques.
Specific phobia
Phobias are treated by cognitive reframing (seeing things in a different light), homework, imagery, graded desensitisation and actual exposures. Phobias can sometimes be treated very quickly.
General anxiety
After 6 months of persistent and excessive anxiety, it is called ‘Generalised Anxiety Disorder’ unless the anxiety can be explained some other way. This is a stubborn disorder to treat, and treatment programs are improving. Because of its chronic (long suffering) nature, and difficult treatment record, this disorder is best treated by a specialised clinical psychologist and/or psychiatrist.
|