I was browsing some of my regular news sites and came across an article in CNN.com’s Living section about phobias. (It was actually a syndicated article from a New York Times company, go figure.)
In the piece, which actually gets to some good suggestions at the end, it promulgates a common misrepresentation of what a phobia is:
A “specific” phobia, or an “excessive and unreasonable fear of a specific object, place or situation,” afflicts about 19 million people in the U.S., according to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.
Okay, that’s fine. That’s the shorthand version of what a phobia is. But the real diagnosis includes meeting all 6 criteria, including this very important one (often overlooked in the mainstream media):
The diagnosis is appropriate only if the avoidance, fear, or anxious anticipation of encountering the phobic stimulus interferes significantly with the person’s daily routine, occupational functioning, or social life, or if the person is markedly distressed about having the phobia.
What if the diagnostic criteria had left out that the “person is markedly distressed about having the phobia?” I’d bet the incidence of phobias would be far less. Being afraid of fear is, I’d argue, a normal, natural human reaction. It multiplies our fearful thoughts and feelings, and can happen to anyone — not just someone with a phobia.
Without that catch-all phrase at the end of this criteria, you’re left with a fear of something that would have to cause you significant interference in your daily routine, work, or social life. For most people with a phobia, the phobia simply doesn’t impact their daily lives that much.
The reason you don’t see drug makers lining up to research and market a dozen new medications to treat phobias is that when they do crop up, for most people they are simply more easily avoided than faced and dealt with. For instance, if you live on a farm in Iowa, your fear of heights may have little opportunity to come out. Similarly, if you live in New York City, being afraid of pigs isn’t likely going to significantly interfere with your daily routine.
While specific phobias, such as being afraid of heights or of spiders, may be fairly common (affecting anywhere from 7 to 9% of the U.S. population at any given time), they are also fairly commonly avoided, which also avoids the accompanying fear and panic.
So while avoidance doesn’t do much good with depression or bipolar disorder, it actually appears to be a pretty common and effective coping mechanism used for this common psychiatric malady.
Read the article: The mystery of freaky phobias
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4 Comments to
“Phobias: Not Just Fear”
I’m involved in a 12-Step recovery program. When I was taken through the steps, my sponsor handed me a sheet filled with “fears”. It was part of my fourth step, where one examines resentments and one’s part in them, along with character “defects”, such as fear.
There were at least one hundred potential fears listed, many of which I’d never even thought of. Among them were: guns, snakes, gangs and death. The latter I laughed at, as a Manic Depressive, because I’d wished to die so often, it no longer frightened me.
The list of fears was patently rediculous. After all, I believe that I have a healthy fear of guns. They are lethal and far too often in the hands of those who shouldn’t have them. Snakes don’t feature in my life too often, but I suspect that if a rattler was in my vicinity, I’d not be too happy. Happily for me, gangs are also not a factor in my life.
But, should I be in a situation where they were, I’d most assuredly be afraid. I know that one is supposed to surrender to a Higher Power when in such a program, leaving all of one’s life in care of it. But common sense says that one should be alert and careful of any real life dangers, on principle.
I recall that the government was on this list of fears, to which I acknowledged a fear. Four years into my sobriety, this still holds true. I wish that my fears had been unfounded.
Thanks for the insight. I have a fear of heights and live in the Rockies. Luckily it has not kept me from hiking the steep terrain.
I agree that phobias are just a nusiance unless they affect your usual activities.
What a great point you have there about avoidance. I have a few fears and one of them is of heights but as it doesnt affect me much in my everyday life my fear level is usually low.
On the other hand I also suffer from Social Phobia. Because it affects me more regularly in my everyday living its a Phobia that has become a Disorder for me.
I am a phobic.
I have tried short therapies but I have not been lucky. They have suggested that I should face my fear and after a while, I´d be cure. I am too embarrased to confess what my fear is. But I have been told that I should try a new approach called EMDR. It has to do with reprogramming your brain with eye movement.
Do you have any comments on this? Would you suggest it? I have had this phobia since I can remember and though it doesn´t alter my daily routine, I live with the agonizing fear of bumping into this object.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 7 Oct 2008
