Phobias - Anxiety - Panic Attacks
What is a phobia?
Anxiety Attacks
What
is a Panic Attack
What are Specific Phobias and their symptoms
What are social phobias and what are the symptoms?
Symptoms
What is a phobia?
A phobia is something a person fears to the point that
they begin to change their normal behavioural patterns.
One type of phobia, called specific phobia , can involve
the fear of an object (like an lift) or a situation (sitting
in Church) that poses little or no danger. Phobias can
also involve fear of being looked or stared at, or made
fun of, embarrassed in social or work situations. These
are called social phobias .
Both these phobias are self perpetuating. The fear becomes
extreme and very difficult to control. With each reoccurring
attack going untreated a phobia can last many years.
Possibly ruining a person's career, put extra stress on
relationships, and daily life activities. Both specific
and social phobias are types of anxiety disorders .
It's
important to know that when a person has a specific
or social phobia, it's not her or his fault. And,
it's not something a person can just "snap out
of." No one
knows for certain what causes phobias but they
are often a side effect of grief, stress and depression. |
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What are specific phobias and what are the symptoms?
Specific phobias are common. Women are twice as likely
as men to suffer from this illness. Starting in the teenage
and adult years, they may run in families. They begin
suddenly and tend to last longer than childhood phobias
(like being afraid of the dark). Fear can be passed from
parent to child so fear of spiders, bees, wasps, mice or
even snakes are common forms of phobias.
When a person has a specific phobia, they have an intense
fear of something that poses little or no real danger. Because
there is no or little danger, a person's fear is not based
on reality (called irrational fear ). Some of the more common
specific phobias involve fear of closed-in places, heights,
escalators, lifts, tunnels, motorway driving, bridges, water,
flying, dogs, and injuries involving blood. And, a specific
phobia often makes no sense. For instance, you may be able
to jump out of airplanes with ease but not be able to go
above the 4 th floor of an office building. Most people with
these phobias know that they don't make sense. But, facing
their fear, or even thinking about it, can bring on a panic
attack or severe anxiety.
Specific phobias can be treated, helping a person have
a full and healthy life. But again, fear of dealing with
the very thing that causes fear takes a lot of courage.
Walking into their own nightmare is not what most people
would choose when the object of the fear is easy to avoid.
A person may decide to do nothing rather than get treatment.
Not getting treatment, though, can cause a person to make
decisions that will affect their personal life and limit
their career. It is a shame to restrict ones life to accommodate
something that can be easily cured.
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What are social phobias and what are the symptoms?
Social phobia involves feeling very self-conscious in everyday
social situations. It is more than just being shy or nervous,
and can cause extreme anxiety. A person can feel afraid and
uncomfortable when around other people. It may be hard to
be at work or school, when you have to interact with others.
While many people with these phobias know that their fear
may be extreme, they are unable to control it. They often
worry for days or weeks in advance of a situation they are
dreading. This illness most often starts in childhood or
the teenage years, and may run in families. Women are just
as likely as men to develop social phobia. Other anxiety
disorders or depression often go hand-in-hand with this phobia.
Some people also turn to alcohol or drugs for relief.
Symptoms include:
• Intense fear that you will do or say something
and embarrass yourself in front of other people.
• Always being afraid of making a mistake and
being watched and judged by other people.
• Avoiding doing the things you want to do,
or speaking to people because you fear being embarrassed.
• Feeling
that you are being observed and talked about behind your
back.
• A belief that other people may think your stupid.
• Tremendous feelings of guilt.
• Worrying for days or weeks before you have
to meet new people.
• Blushing, sweating a lot, trembling, nausea,
or feeling like you have to throw up before and during
an event where you are with new people.
• Staying away from social situations such
as school events or places where you may have to talk to
strangers.
People who have social phobias most often know that
their fears don't make sense. But, even if they manage
to face what they fear, they can still feel anxious
and uncomfortable. Social phobias can be treated, helping
a person have a full and healthy life. Not getting
treatment can cause a person to make decisions that
will affect their personal life and continue to cause
them pain, worry and embarrassment needlessly.
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Anxiety / Panic Attack
People with panic disorder have feelings of terror that
strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. They can't
predict when an attack will occur, and many develop intense
anxiety between episodes, worrying when and where the next
one will strike.
If you are having a panic attack, most likely your heart
will pound and you may feel sweaty, weak, faint, or dizzy.
Your hands may tingle or feel numb, and you might feel flushed
or chilled. You may have nausea, chest pain or smothering
sensations, a sense of unreality, or fear of impending doom
or loss of control. You may genuinely believe you're having
a heart attack or losing your mind, or on the verge of death.
Panic attacks can occur at any time, even during sleep.
An attack generally peaks within 10 minutes, but some symptoms
may last much longer.
What is
a Panic Attack
Sometimes the way to beating an attack is to learn
exactly what it is. The attack itself is caused by
a rush of adrenalin through the system this, often
referred to as a flight or fight response (A throwback
reaction to danger ) It offered our ancestors the 'rush'
they needed to run or fight when facing danger.
Panic attacks are caused by an intense surge of nervous
signals, which are meant to warn of us of impending
danger. Once this 'warning signal' is received by the
brain, an organ called the Amygdala in the central
nervous system is activated, this organ controls the
anxious response. This system can become 're-set' allowing
the Amygdala to react with anxiety when it is completely
inappropriate. This causes high anxiety and panic attacks.
When the Amygdala gives the signal to the body to
react with anxiety, a hormone called Adrenalin is released
from the Adrenal Glands, it is this which produces
the classic, heart racing, sweating, stomach and breathing
problems which are characteristic of panic attacks.
Because this reaction is inappropriate, the adrenalin
is not used up fighting or running and the panic attack
is formed.
Unfortunately a lot of panic attacks are actually
brought on by the sufferer themselves. For example,
if a person experiences their first panic attack in
a supermarket then they associate the supermarket with
the panic attack. Next time they go to the supermarket
the fear of the previous attack can be the very trigger
and causality of it reoccurring.
Panic Attack = Fear = Panic Attack, fear of the fear.
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