Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
The definition of a phobia is the unrelenting fear of a situation,
activity, or thing that causes one to want to avoid it.
The three classes of
phobias are social phobia (fear of public speaking, meeting new people or other
social situations), agoraphobia (fear of being outside), and specific phobias
(fear of other items or situations).
Although phobias are largely
underreported, the number of people who suffer from phobias is estimated at more
than 6 million people in the United States.
The average age that phobias begin is about 10 years of age.
Women tend to be twice as likely
to suffer from a phobia compared to men.
While there are nearly as many
phobias as there are situations, the most common kinds of phobias include social
phobia, agoraphobia, claustrophobia, coulrophobia, aerophobia, zoophobia,
arachnophobia, dentophobia, aichmophobia, ophidiophobia, acrophobia, mysophobia,
and a fear of blood.
Agoraphobia often coexists with panic disorder.
If left untreated, a phobia may worsen to the point where the person's life is
seriously affected by the phobia and by attempts to avoid or conceal it, leading
to problems with personal health, friends and family, failures in school, and/or lost jobs while
struggling to cope.
Phobias tend to run in families, can be influenced by
culture and parenting style, and can be triggered by life events.
Phobia sufferers have been found
to be more likely to manage stress by avoiding the stressful situation and by
having difficulty minimizing the intensity of the fearful situation.
Assessment of phobias often includes
questions by a trained professional that explore the symptoms being experienced,
a medical interview, and a physical examination.
Phobias are often treated
using desensitization, cognitive behavioral therapy, and/or medications.
The
groups of medications doctors tend to choose from when treating a phobia include
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, beta blockers, and occasionally,
benzodiazepines.
Phobia sufferers sometimes cope with their fears by talking
about it, refraining from avoiding situations they find stressful,
visualization, and making positive self-statements.
Reviewed by Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD on 9/12/2012
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