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
Youtube Video: Phobias? Why Do We Have Them?
Amazon or Library Book: The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook
Click the book to link or order from Amazon.
Support Group: Facebook-phobiassupportgroup; 609-713-2963 (Phobia Anxiety Support Group)
4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED
The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis
Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.
- Voices of the Past: A Case Report on the Interaction Between Childhood Trauma, Social Phobia, and Psychotic Symptoms in a Transgender Maleby Tiago Pereira on January 21, 2025
This case report explores the interplay between childhood trauma, social phobia, psychotic symptoms, and minority stress in a 27-year-old transgender male. L presented with psychotic symptoms, including auditory verbal hallucinations and self-referential phenomena, which were accompanied by a history of childhood sexual and emotional abuse, as well as social phobia. These challenges were further compounded by experiences of stigma, rejection, and stress related to his gender identity. We explore...
- Relationship between social anxiety and separation anxiety symptoms with insistence on sameness with the mediating role of sensory hypersensitivityby Shima Keshavarz on January 21, 2025
CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, the mediated association of sensory hypersensitivity with the relationship between social anxiety, separation anxiety, and insistence on sameness was observed. The article discusses the theoretical explanations and implications of the results, as well as various manifestations of anxiety symptoms in children with ASD.
- Examining the Psychometric Network Structure of Social Anxiety: A Scoping Reviewby Shota Noda on January 19, 2025
The network approach offers a novel perspective for conceptualizing the psychopathology of social anxiety disorder (SAD). This scoping review aimed to map the existing literature on the psychometric network structures of social anxiety symptoms and identify future research directions. A total of 61 studies were identified through searches in PubMed, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov and the Open Science Framework databases, employing the keywords ('social anxiety...
- Using Virtual Reality to Promote Self-Identity Reconstruction as the Main Focus of Therapyby Alejandro Garcia-Gutierrez on January 18, 2025
Based on the repertory grid technique, we developed Explore Your Meanings (EYME), a digital platform that helps patients explore identity values and internal conflicts using virtual reality (VR). EYME was part of a research project treating depression in young adults, including 10 weekly, 1-h sessions aimed at changing personal constructs-cognitive schemas that shape how individuals interpret reality. We present the case of Mary, a 21-year-old woman diagnosed with persistent major depressive...