Introduction
The term “illogical” may offend certain people. Given that the anxiety appears to be quite real, there could be a legitimate reason for it. However, even a legitimate worry might be unreasonable depending on how it governs your life.
The majority of people have at least one unreasonable fear, such as a regular phobia of dentists or a fear of spiders. The majority of individuals don’t have extremely significant anxiety. But when fears become so severe that they cause unbearable stress and interfere with everyday tasks, they are called Phobias.
A Phobia is an extreme dread of something that is, in reality, very unlikely to be dangerous. Common phobias and anxieties include closed-in areas, heights, highway driving, flying insects, snakes, and needles. However, you could be afraid of almost anything. Phobias can develop in adulthood even though they usually do so in infancy.
If you have a phobia, you most likely know that your fear is unfounded, yet you are unable to control your feelings. Even just thinking about the object or situation you’re frightened of could make you feel uneasy. And when you are truly faced with your fear, the terror is automatic and overpowering. You can go to great efforts to worry yourself, avoid the experience, or even change your way of life because it’s so uncomfortable.
For example, you could turn down a great job offer if it involves taking the elevator to go to the office if you suffer from claustrophobia. If you can’t stand heights, you could drive an extra twenty miles to avoid a high bridge.
What sets it apart from dread in general?
In risky situations, fear is a normal emotion and sometimes even helpful. Fear sets off the body’s natural “fight-or-flight” reaction, which has a defensive purpose. When our bodies and thoughts are alert and ready to go, we can react fast and protect ourselves. But in the case of phobias, the threat is either greatly exaggerated or nonexistent. For example, it makes sense to be afraid of a Doberman that is growling, but it is irrational to feel the same way about a lovely leashed poodle, as you might if you are afraid of dogs.
Many of the common worries that arise in infancy usually do so at specific ages. For example, many young children find it difficult to fall asleep at night and may need a nightlight. That doesn’t mean they have a phobia. As kids become older, they will often overcome this fear.
Until they are two years old, babies are afraid of big objects, loud noises, strangers, and being apart from their parents. As kids grow older, common fears include the dark, ghosts, monsters, sleeping by yourself, and strange noises. Additional practical worries including illness, injury, low academic performance, death, and natural disasters begin to appear throughout early adolescent.
As long as your child’s fear isn’t getting in the way of their daily activities or giving them a great deal of grief, there’s no need to worry too much.
Categories of unfounded fears:
People have many different kinds of unreasonable concerns that are highly detrimental even if they don’t make any sense. Phobias usually belong to one of the following categories:
- Fear of any form of animal, including snakes, rats, mice, cats, and dogs.
- Natural environment kinds include fear of heights, firestorms, water, disease, aging, and other natural phenomena.
- An allergy to blood, needles, and other potentially contaminated items is included in the Blood-Injection-Injury Type.
- Situational phobias include, for example, a fear of confined areas, the dark, visiting the dentist, or other situations.
- Among the Other Type are phobias that are hard to categorize, such those related to the number thirteen, clowns or mimes, loud noises, and so on.
- Acrophobia (the fear of heights), agoraphobia (the dread of public places), claustrophobia (the fear of cramped spaces), hydrophobia (the fear of water), coulrophobia (the fear of clowns), and other common phobias are examples of common phobias.
The causes
Past traumas: It’s likely that some experiences will always have an impact on your feelings. For example, you might develop a fear of flying if, as a small child, you encountered a lot of turbulence on an airplane. Alternatively, you may develop a fear of dogs if they bitten you years ago.
Experiences and reactions in early life Your early upbringing might have had a role in the formation of your phobia. For example, your parents or guardians may be anxious or worried about you. This may affect how you manage anxiety moving forward. You can get the same fears that your parents or older siblings developed. If people respond strongly to what they fear, you may begin to feel the same way.
Genetic influences: Studies have shown that certain individuals are predisposed to the development of phobias more than others. If a child’s close relative has an anxiety disorder, the child is more prone to experience phobias.
Some people avoid situations or objects that give them anxiety. However, this may exacerbate your worry over time. Being in a setting involving your fear, however, may be very difficult, and you may need expert help to make this happen.
Sensations:
The most common and debilitating symptom of a phobia is panic attacks. Among the traits of a panic attack are:
- Fast heart rate
- Breathing problems
- Breathing problems speaking rapidly or nonexistently and with a parched tongue
- Feeling queasy in the stomach nausea
- A high blood pressure reading, tightness or soreness in the chest, lightheadedness or breathlessness, and profuse perspiration
- A sense of impending catastrophe
Management
Irrational fears or phobias are treated with a variety of therapies, such as counseling, medication, and self-help techniques. Below is a list of some of the most popular irrational fear treatment programs:
Exposure therapy: Your doctor aims to modify your child’s response to something your child fear by introducing it to you progressively. These work well for specific types of phobias. If you experience social anxiety, your Child Therapist may suggest increasing exposure to social situations, role-playing, and practice, for example. They will provide you with strategies to reduce your anxiety and urge you to be less judgmental of yourself. At every level, you practice being at ease. When the anxiety fades, you’re ready for real exposure. Relaxation techniques might also be beneficial at this moment.
Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches you new coping mechanisms for your worries in addition to exposure. With CBT, you may learn to control your thoughts and emotions rather of allowing your fear to control you. Methods for help, biofeedback, steady deep breathing, and relaxation. These can help lower your anxiety levels throughout treatment. Many people have found that going to phobia clinics and support groups helps them get over their phobias.
Antidepressants: The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) class of drugs is very useful in treating social anxiety.
Beta-blockers: Many actors, singers, and lecturers find that their stage fright symptoms are lessened after using these drugs. They are often used to treat high blood pressure at higher doses, but they can also inhibit the effects of adrenaline at lower amounts, which prevent the body from reacting to stress. They briefly lessen the physical signs of anxiety without causing excessive sleepiness.
Don’t attempt to run away from dangerous circumstances – Practice remaining as near to scary situations as you can, rather than trying to entirely escapes them. With the help of child therapist, friends, and family, work on this. In order to develop a plan in the event that your symptoms worsen, work with your therapist and apply the techniques you learn throughout therapy. While putting the strategies you learn in therapy into practice, collaborate with your therapist to develop a strategy in case your symptoms go worse.
Conclusion
Fearful feelings are often avoided by humans. But you will be held hostage by the monster if you continue to avoid confronting your own anxieties. This usually means avoiding any stressor that can agitate you and engaging in constant distractions. Regretfully, you are also omitting certain challenges that may foster happiness and advancement. Furthermore, fear is something you can’t always run from.
You can try to suppress it, but it will still come. Furthermore, it usually occurs when you most need to maintain emotional equilibrium. The good news is that fear begins to lose influence over you and will no longer control your judgments and choices if you face it head-on and allow it to exist rather than repressing it in a hidden part of your mind.
Get in contact with a Child Counselor for a referral or evaluation if your child has any signs of an anxiety disorder or indicates that they are having trouble building healthy relationships. Children with this illness benefit from early diagnosis and treatment. If you’re looking for the “Best Psychologist in India,” you may get in contact with TalktoAngel, an online resource that features the most knowledgeable and experienced child therapists.
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