One of the best-known anxiety disorders is phobia. There are hundreds of different phobias, some of which are so difficult to imagine that it is not always palpable. A phobia is a focused fear. Fear of a particular animal, thing or situation. Avoidance behavior and fear often go hand in hand with a phobia. There are many people who suffer from a phobia, an estimated one in ten Dutch people. With a phobia, people know that the fear is unreal, but fear wins over reason. When someone worries about an animal, thing or situation for more than two hours every day, it is called a phobia.
Social phobias are the most common. It is estimated that 8% of the Dutch population will experience social phobia at some point in their lives. 60% of patients with social phobia are women.
Agoraphobia
This is the best-known form of social phobia. Another name for agoraphobia is street fear or agoraphobia. People who suffer from this have a great fear of public places, often accompanied by panic attacks. There are people whose phobia is so severe that they no longer dare to go out into the street, they no longer want to leave their own familiar and safe environment. Research indicates that more than 3% of the Dutch population will experience some degree of agoraphobia at some point in their lives. Literal meaning: agora is market, phobia is fear.
Several examples of social phobias are Ereuthophobia or fear of blushing, Catagelophobia which means fear of being ridiculed, Doxophobia meaning fear of expressing your opinion or receiving compliments. If this starts to dominate your life, this is also a phobia.
Fear of failure or Atychiphobia or Kakorrhaphiophobia
This is also a very common phobia that everyone knows. Fear of failure, falling short, not living up to expectations. Most people have fear of failure from time to time, but it only takes on the character of a phobia when people start to function below their capabilities. This gives them a negative self-image. Every time you are asked to perform, you block, causing you to fail again. It often makes you despondent. Some people even go so far as to stop preparing for tasks. They’re bound to fail anyway, so why bother trying?
Hypochondria
Hypochondria is also a phobia. When you suffer from hypochondria you have an excessive fear of having a serious physical illness for no apparent physical reason. Any minor pain or discomfort can be a cause for panic.
Nomophobia
This is a new phobia. The English have given this a name and it means no mobile phobia. This is a panic of not being able to use your cell phone. This disease of civilization is a reason for many people to purchase two or even more mobile phones. The symptoms range from increased nervousness to a panicky fear of being unreachable. The opposite of this also exists Telephonophobia. That’s fear of phones.
Other bizarre phobias:
- Xyrophobia – fear of razors
- Wiccaphobia – fear of witches
- Soceraphobia – fear of in-laws
Therapy for phobias
- The most commonly used therapy is behavioral therapy. In a relaxed situation, the patient should try to imagine his fear. Take the fear of dogs as an example. First you imagine the dog without actually seeing it. Then you look at the dog from behind a window. If that goes well, you go one step further and pass someone walking down the street with a dog. Finally (after many small steps) you pet the dog. After the therapy, the fear will still be present, but it will no longer be so prevalent that it controls your life.
- Prescribing anti-anxiety drugs (anxiolytics). This is usually applied in combination with therapy.
- Prescribing tranquilizers such as Diazepam, Valium and Tranxene for a period of four to eight weeks. The latter to prevent dependency.