We know that anxiety has many forms of manifesting itself and one of them is phobic disorder or specific phobias. Well-known phobias and rare phobias that affect more and more people and that have several treatment possibilities. And it is that overcoming a phobia is necessary for many people who see how their irrational fear makes it impossible for them to carry out their activities normally. We tell you everything about phobias.
The most common phobias
There are some phobias that we all know, if not for having suffered them, for hearing about them continuously. One of the most common phobias is social phobia, which is so frequent that we will dedicate a separate chapter to it. Social phobia aside, these are the most frequent phobias:
– Agoraphobia. It is the fear of open spaces. Terror and insecurity can seclude the person who suffers from it at home.
– Claustrophobia. The complete opposite of agoraphobia, claustrophobia is the fear of enclosed spaces, such as elevators, tunnels, or even the subway. The sensation of suffocation is one of its main symptoms.
–Arachnophobia. although it may seem like a more cinematographic phobia, the truth is that it is a very real and frequent disorder. The fear of spiders can be a real adaptation problem for many people.
–Acrophobia. it is the fear of heights. We are not talking about vertigo, but about a disorder that generates a picture of severe anxiety and that leads the person who suffers from it to avoid the situation.
– Brontophobia. Storms and meteorological phenomena are the triggers for this irrational fear that makes many people alter their activities depending on the weather.
– Aerophobia. The fear of flying, that is, of getting on a plane, is a very common phobia that can affect the personal and work life of those who suffer from it.
The rarest phobias
Faced with these more common phobias, we find others less known but with the same effects, that is, to alter the life of the person suffering from the disorder. This is how we find strange phobias:
– Somniphobia. It is the fear of sleeping, for fear of having nightmares or dying during sleep. It is a disorder that is closely linked to nocturnal anxiety.
– Iatrophobia. Fear of doctors can be quite common, but when we talk about completely avoiding going to a doctor’s office, we are already facing a phobic disorder.
– Xanthophobia. It is about the fear of the color yellow. From the yellow of the sun to the impossibility of pronouncing the word.
– Ritiphobia. The rejection of wrinkles is more than usual. However, when the obsession with wrinkles turns into terror every time one is observed, we are facing a phobic disorder.
– Tocophobia. For many women, having a child is the best experience in the world. However, there are 3% of women who are terrified at the idea of pregnancy and childbirth.
Treatment for phobias
Because phobias are one of the manifestations of anxiety disorders, because they are one of the types of anxiety, they respond very well to psychological therapy. Specifically, cognitive behavioral therapy provides the necessary tools to gain security and confidence when a person is faced with a situation of irrational terror.
In addition, exposure therapy and shock treatments are presented as the ideal methods to overcome phobias by exposing the person who suffers from the situation that frightens him under supervision. These are therapies in which fear is faced gradually.
