Phobias: Often Bewildering And Problematic

Dear Dr. LeCrone:

I recently joined a support group for people with anxiety and have found that many of the group members have what they call specific phobias. Some of these phobias seem unusual and rather odd to me. Can you please write on this topic?

-A reader in Indiana

Dear Reader:

Specific phobias, sometimes called simple phobias, are types of anxiety experienced by about 10 percent of the population characterized by intense, irrational fears of certain things or situations.

There is no one known cause of specific phobias but the problem is often seen in multiple members of a family. The following list contains some of the more common and also unusual phobias.

• Claustrophobia--fear of confined spaces.

• Acrophobia--fear of heights.

• Ornithophobia--fear of birds.

• Ancraophobia—fear of wind.

• Coulrophobia—fear of clowns.

• Pogonophobia or pognophobia—fear of beards.

• Scriptophobia—fear of writing in public.

• Trypanophobia—fear of injections.

• Brontophobia—fear of thunder or thunderstorms.

• Paraskavedekatriaphobia—fear of Friday the thirteenth.

Professional assistance is often very helpful in treating phobias. Some treatment methods include:

• Behavioral therapies, which include graduated exposure to the feared object or situation, that are coupled with relaxation procedures can be used to diminish the anxiety.

• Cognitive-behavior therapy helps correct distorted and irrational thought patterns contributing to the anxiety.

• Group therapy helps members explore alternatives to anxiety. One of the cornerstones of this approach is helping the patient regain confidence in his or her ability to control the anxiety through self-control and stress m
anagement procedures.

• Psychotherapeutic techniques help phobia sufferers deal with the “anticipatory anxiety” that is found in many forms of phobia. Phobia sufferers readily relate to the need to battle the “fear of the fear.”

• Techniques such as role playing and modeling healthy responses can also help.

• Psychotropic medications can also assist in the process of recovery. These should be prescribed by professionals trained in the treatment of phobias and anxiety disorders.

The Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) offers information and help for people with anxiety disorders and related conditions.

The association can be contacted by writing to Anxiety Disorders Association of America, 8730 Georgia Ave., Suite 600, Silver Springs MD, 20910, or by visiting www.adaa.org online.

Phobias are often very problematic but are also very treatable.