Types of Phobia According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) - Part 2

Hello everyone, it is a good time to be here again. In my previous post Types of Phobia According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), I explained a few types of phobia. If you remember in my last post I defined phobia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5/DSM-V), as the fear or anxiety about an object or a particular situation. In this post, I will explain further the types of medical phobia

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Ailurophobia/Gatophobia
You know, a lot of us can be scared of so many things, and animals are one of them. Ailurophobia is regarded as the intense fear of cat. This can be as a result of scratches, and bites that people had previously gotten from cats which could cause fear. Another reason why people could have intense fear for cats may be based on superstitions believes (there are beliefs that witches are those who keep cats and cats are usually associated with witchcraft. Some people might have heard this, maybe you, but I have heard about it). About 9% of Americans are Ailurophobic, and signs and symptoms related with Ailurophobia are intense anxiety or fear (anxiety disorder), chest pain, increased heartbeat, difficulty in breathing, agitation, dizziness, nausea, trembling, and Panic attack. Treatments to Ailurophobia are Exposure therapy, Cognitive behavioral therapy, and the use of medications such as beta-blocker (acebutolol), Benzodiazepines, and D-cycloserine (DCS).

Androphobia
As a lady, I am not scared of being around anyone, either male or female, but there are people who are scared of being around the male gender. Androphobia is the extreme fear for men. People who suffer from this experience extreme anxiety for men, even when there is no threat being posed.

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic, patients with Androphobia would show symptoms such as excessive fear of males, male-related interactions, or thoughts of the masculine gender to trigger panic attacks, sweating, shortness of breath, shaking, and throat tightness

Androphobia could be caused by past negative experience with men which could include rape, physical, mental, and emotional abuse and assault, child abuse by father, or male siblings, bully from male, and could be a neurological disorder. Treatments would be Exposure therapy, Medications (Sedatives and Beta Blocker), and Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Alektorophobia
While a lot of us can own poultry, and some can see chickens and walk pass them, there are people who have intense fear for chicken. With Alektorophobia, the person has extreme fear for roosters and hens. Symptoms would include rapid heart rate, dyspepsia, and experience of fight-or-flight response. Treatment of Alektrophobia involves Exposure therapy, Medicine [beta blocker and anti-anxiety drug such as (Benzodiazepines)], Cognitive behavioral therapy

Aphenphosmphobia
Also known as Haphephobia is the extreme fear, irritation, of being touched. While people can avoid being touched because they feel pained when touched (allodynia), people with Aphenphosmphobia do not feel pains when they are touched, they are irritated, and have extreme fear of touch by people, both by close relatives and friends, as well as strangers. Symptoms includes shock, freezing when touched by people, syncope, aggression, heart palpitations, Nausea and vomiting, and Hyperventilation.

Causes for Aphenphosmphobia includes Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other phobia such as mysophobia, and ochlophobia, and Personal history of negative experience from people who acquired diseases from touch.

Treatment of Aphenphosmphobia includes Hypnotherapy, Cognitive behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), Exposure therapy, and Medications such as benzodiazepines for anxiety and depression.

Bathmophobia
Have you being with someone who is always extremely scared of the stairs or steep plains? This is applicable to both children and adults. People who are Bathmophobic get anxiety when encountering stairs or slopes. This is often attributed to females, gene mutation, and other types of phobia.

Symptoms for Bathmophobia will include anxiety, danger feeling, sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, and increased heart rate. Treatments and managing includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Exposure therapy, Hypnotherapy, Antidepressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (citalopram, escitalopram, and fluoxetine).

Cacomorphobia
You know, our body size is our pride, but there are people who are extremely anxious and have an extreme fear for obese or fat people. This could start from childhood, with fat children bullying others, thereby causing the extreme fear for fat people. People who are Carcomorphobic experience signs and symptoms such as Fast heartbeat, chills, tremor, panic attack, Irritability, and avoidance behavior. Treatment and management of includes Cacomorphobia includes, Sedatives, antidepressants, anxiolytics, hypnotherapy, and desensitization therapies.

Cibophobia
For someone like me, this cannot happen. I love food so much that it is very difficult to tell when I am unwell, because I eat at all times, but there are people who do not like food at all. They have this extreme fear for food. This should not be mistaken for the eating disorder anorexia, but people with Cibophobia could be associated with people who have eating disorders. Cibophobia could be from a prior experience of choking while eating, and vomiting after eating a particular type of food consistently.

Symptoms of Cibophobia would include anxiety when around food, restlessness, fatigue, muscle tension, and pounding or racing heartbeat. Treatment and management of Cibophobia would include; Exposure to trigger foods, Psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy, and hypnotherapy, medications such as beta-blockers, drugs and anti-anxiety drug.

Carcinophobia
A lot of people are scared of having cancer, but you see, there is an extreme fear of cancer, to the extent of not admitting to have one when the person definitely has, that is called Carcinophobia. People with Carcinophobia usually do not accept treatment for cancer because they have extreme fear and anxiety for phobia which usually ends up fatal for these people. One of the major reasons why people develop carcinophobia is the effect from experiences with family members and relatives who had cancer in the past. Treatments and managements of Carciphobia includes Cognitive behavior therapy, anti-depressants, virtual reality therapy,

Conclusion

Phobia is the most common type of mental disorder, and there are many types of phobia which people have. On an average 12.5% of the world population suffer from one type of phobia or the other annually. Other types of phobia I didn't mention in the post are Gerascophobia (fear of getting old), Cynophobia (fear of dogs), Entomophobia (fear of ant), Glossophobia (fear of public speaking), Gynophobia (Fear of women), Hemophobia (Fear of blood), Iatrophobia (fear of doctors), Ichthyophobia (fear of doctors), Katsaridaphobia (fear of cockroaches), Mysophobia (fear of germs), Nosocomephobia (Fear of hospital), and many more.

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https://www.healthline.com/health/ailurophobia

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22083-ailurophobia-fear-of-cats

https://www.healthline.com/health/androphobia

https://ro.co/health-guide/androphobia-fear-of-men/

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21987-androphobia

https://www.healthline.com/health/alektorophobia#treatment

https://www.verywellmind.com/haphephobia-fear-of-touch-2671748

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21964-haphephobia-fear-of-being-touched

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320763

https://www.verywellmind.com/bathmophobia-2671848

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22576-bathmophobia-fear-of-stairs#management-and-treatment

https://psychotreat.com/cacomorphobia-or-fear-of-fat-people/

https://www.verywellhealth.com/fear-of-food-5211181

https://www.fearof.net/fear-of-food-phobia-cibophobia/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5674525/