Phobia-Phobic Disorders
A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are present for more than six months.
Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: PW166
Diagnosis: Phobia-Phobic Disorders
US Patients: 8.7%-18.1% suffer-may not be patients;
World Patients: Specific-6-8% in Western world; 2-4% Asia, Africa & Latin America; Social-7% US; 0.5-2.5% elsewhere; agoraphobia-1.7%
Sex Ratio: M;W2, Phobias are the most common mental illness-challenge among women.
Age Onset: Ages 10-17; During or after the event lasting 6-months to permanently; 75% of those with phobias have multiple phobias.
Brain Area: Insula involved with the autonomic functions; anterior cingulate cortex, ventromedial prefrontal & medial prefrontal cortexes
Symptoms: an anxiety disorder with persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias can be specific, social or agoraphobia-places
Progression: Range from mild concern to panic attacks-lose control over themselves physically.
Causes: Fear conditioning; traumatizing event; observing others who fear; the basolateral amygdala keeps a memory with the hippocampus
Medications: Social phobias-antidepressants, benzodiazepines or beta blockers//EMDR-Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing
Therapies: Specific phobias (such as, spiders, snakes, heights)use-exposure therapy; social phobias-systematic desensitization, relaxation
4 CURRENT ARTICLES
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PubMed article’s summary-abstract.
- Do media portrayals and social consensus information impact anti-fat attitudes and support for anti-weight discrimination laws and policies?by Suman Ambwani on October 16, 2021
Although weight stigma and discrimination are associated with increased body dissatisfaction and eating disorder risk, reduced opportunities, and poorer well-being, there are few legal protections for such discrimination in the U.S. We addressed one barrier to enacting protective legislation - public attitudes toward anti-weight discrimination laws - by assessing the impact of media representations of fatness and information about peer attitudes. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, participants...
- Let Others Buy First: Identity Fusion Buffers the Effect of COVID-19 Phobia on Panic Buying Behavior From an Economic Perspectiveby Yi-Tai Seih on October 14, 2021
The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused hundreds of millions of cases and millions of deaths, resulting in the development of COVID-19 phobia. To prevent getting COVID-19, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in many countries encourage people to protect themselves via several strategies, such as wearing face masks or using sanitizers when washing hands. However, at times, such supplies for preventing COVID-19 are limited. In this study, we examine the relationship...
- Internet- and mobile-based interventions for the treatment of specific phobia: A systematic review and preliminary meta-analysisby Sonia Mor on October 14, 2021
Internet- and mobile-based interventions (IMIs) are being developed for a wide range of psychological disorders and they showed their effectiveness in multiple studies. Specific phobia (SP) is one of the most common anxiety disorders, and research about IMIs for their treatment has also been conducted in recent years. The aim of this paper was to conduct a systematic review and preliminary meta-analysis exploring IMIs for the treatment of SP. A comprehensive search conducted in five different...
- Stress symptoms and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a comparative study between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and typically developing children and adolescentsby Martina Giallonardo on October 14, 2021
CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the COVID-19 experience significantly impacted children and adolescents with ADHD to a great extent, similarly to typically developing subjects. ADHD showed more anxious-phobic responses, while typically developing subjects demonstrate more depressive attitudes. Differences in stress symptoms profiles between ADHD and T typically developing subjects warrant to develop distinct strategies of therapeutic interviews.