Mental health articles
OF mental health care and mentally ill
Specific (isolated) phobias and diagnosis
These are circumscribed fears of specific objects or situations. Some community samples have shown an annual prevalence as high as 9% in the general population. Most phobias start in childhood, but situational phobias have a second peak of onset among people in their middle 20s. Particular types of phobias seem to aggregate in families, with some evidence of biological predisposition. Other predisposing factors include traumatic events that affected the patient or were observed in others, and repeated warnings from others about situations. Phobias that persist into adult life usually have a chronic course.
Specific (isolated) phobias and diagnosis
Extreme, persistent and unreasonable fear
Cued by appearance or anticipation of specific object or situation
Specific objects include Animals (spiders, snakes)
Natural environment (heights, water, storms)
Blood, injections, injury (may provoke particularly strong vasovagal response with fainting)
Specific situations (driving, flying, tunnels, lifts, bridges, rivers, enclosed spaces)
Avoidance of situation often with secondary fear of the phobia itself (phobophobia)
Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.
Leave a Reply