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In the last post, we looked at PTSD as a crippling condition. And how it requires a month for a diagnosis, its symptoms can affect the best of us in similar situations. We talked about the specific symptoms of flashbacks and nightmares which are also listed below.

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In this post, we want to look at phobias, the types, the clinical features the cause and other details related to this topic.

This is a topic we have covered before when talking about flashbacks. But I want to discuss every bit of it so we can learn together the causes of the complication and the prevention of this condition.
Anxiety disorder increases levels of anxiety and worry. Women and younger individuals are more likely to experience anxiety than the general population.

This is the Medic Vibes blog, where we share information regarding mental health-related topics. I'm pleased you're here and I hope you're having a good day. The host of the blog, @ebingo, is a physician and an illustrator. We have not yet migrated to our main blog because we currently have only one writer and one illustrator on staff. Currently, we maintain a blog for the STEMsocial community. Last month we discussed depression, and this month we will focus on anxiety. According to a Nigerian study, we began last month, anxiety was prevalent in a youth camp at a rate of 50%. Following the study, we began analyzing tweets, just as we did a month ago.

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An examination of a study revealed that fifty percent of campers at a youth camp in Northwestern Nigeria exhibited anxiety symptoms and that more than three percent of the world's population suffers from anxiety. Approximately 1% of the Nigerian population suffers from anxiety.

Before important exams, presentations, or performances, everyone has experienced heart palpitations at some point in their lives. What if, however, I told you that some people experience this feeling daily? Social anxiety disorder sufferers are concerned with what others will think of them. They may have frequent interactions with one of these people, such as their supervisor or coworker. Therefore, individuals will employ avoidance strategies. In one of our previous blog posts, we discussed the phone-related manifestations of social anxiety.

Physical, psychological, and reactive symptoms are all present in anxious individuals.

Chest pain, stomach pain, weakness, rapid respiration, and a rapid heartbeat are physical symptoms. Frequently, the sympathetic discharge of the autonomic nervous system is to blame.

Nightmares, flashbacks, and insomnia are anxiety-related psychological manifestations.

One of the reactive symptoms and signs of social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder is avoidance. This is applicable to both people and locations.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders indicates that the causes of anxiety vary from person to person and last longer than six months. Keeping it in check can be challenging. Children with anxiety frequently suffer from persistent pain, exhaustion, agitation, and sleep disturbances.

Risk Factors
A combination of genetics and the environment play a minor role in determining who can develop anxiety disorders.

An individual's risk for anxiety is increased by shyness, avoidance of social situations, and avoidance of specific locations.

Childhood exposure to traumatic or extremely stressful events increases the likelihood of developing anxiety.

An additional risk factor is having relatives with anxiety disorders.

Several medical conditions, including thyroid problems and heart conditions such as arrhythmias, increase the risk of developing anxiety disorders.

In general, women experience anxiety more frequently than men. Others believe higher testosterone levels may have a calming effect. Some individuals believe that women are less likely than men to seek therapy for anxiety.

Because depression and anxiety are related and because depression increases a person's risk of suicide, it is crucial to be on the lookout for any changes as soon as they appear.

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Phobias

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In phobia disorders, there is a high level of irrational fear of a certain place, object or animal. There are symproms of avoidance in phobias and the avoidance is usually related to the trigger for the fear.

This irrational fear in phobias can be classified into 3 forms according to the American psychiatric association. They include social phobias, agoraphobia and specific phobias.

For specific phobias, particular things cause the problem.

Social phobias are a topic we have discussed but with the name social anxiety. We will discuss more that tomorrow.

Agoraphobia as I remember from medical school is a fear of open spaces. But according to Medical News Today, it can also be a fear of closed confined spaces. I can understand where the fear would come from as in those spaces, there would be difficulty to escape if anything happened.

Agoraphobia along with social phobias are seen as complex phobias as the main difference between them and specific phobias is that the trigger is not easily known. Take the fear of spiders or rats, the fear of a specific phobia is intense, but it is not experienced every day.

Phobia anxiety presents with an irrational fear when exposed to the source, a realization of just how irrational the source is, and an inability to function when exposed to the trigger.

In addition, the physical symptoms of anxiety mentioned above can be seen but in addition to:

Dry mouth, choking, chills and the like.

when compared to specific phobias, complex phobias are more likely to show up daily. Below is a list of phobias.

Claustrophobia: Fear of being in constricted, confined spaces Aerophobia: Fear of flying Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders Driving phobia: Fear of driving a car Emetophobia: Fear of vomiting Erythrophobia: Fear of blushing Hypochondria: Fear of becoming ill Zoophobia: Fear of animals Aquaphobia: Fear of water Acrophobia: Fear of heights Blood, injury, and injection (BII) phobia: Fear of injuries involving blood Escalaphobia: Fear of escalators Tunnel phobia: Fear of tunnels

Source
Learning a phobia can take place and this usually happens a child sees the reaction of a parent to a particular stimulus. Jordan Peterson explained this in his book: 12 rules to life about how when people react to certain triggers and they have a baby in the room the baby may tend to pick up on that and start similarly reacting to that trigger.

The cause of phobias however is largely unknown but it is known to start at a very young age. Hardly do people develop anxiety when they are over 30.

Tips

Many people who have phobias are usually sure of the cause of their phobias, and this knowledge is always helpful for treatment.

Psychologists and psychiatrists may be involved in the treatment of a phobia especially if it is complex, however, if it is a specific phobia, people are ok with avoiding the triggers and usually do not present for treatment.

Treatments may include CBT and medication. Some of the medications prescribed include beta-blocker to manage the sympathetic triggers, antidepressants and anxiolytics.

Exposure therapy can be a very useful form of therapy. First is the thought of the trigger, say driving a car if that is the trigger, the next would be to look at a picture of cars, and then next the person will be escorted into the car. Next, the person will simulate driving a car and finally, the person will try driving a car.

Hive Stories

In this post, @Agmoore discusses the different common specific and complex phobias. You can check out this interesting post here

Questions

• What did you learn about anxiety?
• What did you learn about phobias?
• What is the relationship between them?

Conclusion

Phobias are a form of anxiety. There are 3 main types, social phobias and Aggrophobia which are complex forms and specific phobias which have many triggers. The Cause of anxiety is unknown but it has been found to start from childhood.

I hope that you learned a lot from this post.

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References

Medical News Today
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