It is a natural part of human nature to feel fear; some of us have a fear of needles while some of us hate to use elevators for fear that they may suddenly stop or drop! Some of these fears are minor and do not interrupt our day-to-day lives but at times, these fears are so severe that they can cause a tremendous amount of anxiety and can interfere with our normal lives; and when fear becomes so extreme and intense it turns into a phobia.
Phobias belong to a large group of mental problems known as “anxiety disorders.” They are defined as an irrational fear that produces a conscious avoidance of the feared subject, activity or situation. Phobic reactions could disrupt a person’s ability to function in everyday life.
It’s possible to develop a phobia to almost any situation or thing, but the most common phobias include a fear of heights (acrophobia), the fear of water (hydrophobia), the fear of spiders (arachnophobia), the fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), the fear of open spaces (agoraphobia) and the fear of public speaking or other social situations (social phobia).

Signs and symptoms
People with phobias experience many anxiety-related symptoms when they’re exposed to the object or situation that they fear. The symptoms are both emotional and physical. Typically, the phobic reactions are accompanied with symptoms like palpitations, hyperventilation, tremors, numbness, dizziness, and feeling faint. As people come closer to the feared situation, the intensity of their panic increases. For example, someone who is afraid of flying may begin have episodes of a pounding heart and sweating palms at the mere thought of getting on a plane.
While there is no one specific known cause for phobias, it is thought that phobias are genetic and are influenced by culture and how one is parented; they can also be triggered by life events. Research suggests that the tendency to develop phobias may be a complex interaction between heredity and environment. Some hypersensitive people have unique chemical reactions in the brain that cause them to respond much more strongly to stress compared to others. For example, if someone who is predisposed to phobias experiences severe turbulence during a flight, he or she might go on to develop a phobia about flying.
If left untreated, a phobia may worsen to the point where the person’s life is seriously affected, both by the phobia itself and/or by attempts to avoid or desperately conceal it.

The cure
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is considered to be the most effective form of therapy for treating phobias. It teaches patients how to change their thoughts, behaviour and attitudes, while providing techniques to lessen anxiety, such as deep breathing, muscle relaxation, and refocusing.
Similarly, systematic desensitisation also known as “exposure therapy” is a technique in which people are gradually exposed to the frightening object or event until they become used to it and their physical symptoms of fear decrease.
In addition, healthy lifestyle changes like starting some form of physical exercise, cutting down the consumption of alcohol and caffeine, eating a balanced diet with proper rest and sleep often help in decreasing the anxiety symptoms associated with phobias.

The writer is a senior
consultant psychiatrist in New Delhi.