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Back to Subjects - Psychology

Phobias1

Phobias1 Just imagine for a moment that you have a cynophobia or the fear of dogs, would this be how you would feel. Driving down the road the oil light comes on. "I must stop the car to add more oil or I will damage the car engine. This looks like a good place to pull over. I’ll just stop in front of this house. The oil is in the trunk, so I’ll pop the top first, then get the oil out of the trunk. OK, I have the oil, but what if there is a dog at this house. Hurry, I have to hurry. A dog might come running out and bark at me any minute. Just get the oil in the engine. I can’t my hands are shaking. Don’t worry, there is no dog. Just get the oil in the engine. I don’t care if I spill it, just get some in the engine. Take another look around, is there a dog anywhere. OK, the oils in, now hurry get back in the car. I can’t breath. I’m safely back in the car, now just take a minute and breath. When will my hands stop shaking." This is how a person with a phobia of dogs might feel. There is no dog around anywhere in sight, but the thought of a dog running at them barking is enough to cause a panic attack. In "Exploring Psychology" David G. Myers defines phobia as "an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation" (432). This paper will explore the history, causes, effects, and treatment of Phobias. The first area to explore is the history of Phobias. The word phobia was not used in medical literature until the late eighteenth century. Phobia comes from the Greek word phobos, which means "fear, terror, panic, and flight." In Greek mythology, Phobos was a Greek god who caused fear and panic in his enemies during war. Warriors used the power of this fear by carrying into battle shields etched with Phobos’s picture. Judy Monroe states that "Hippocrates lived from about 460 to about 377B.C., and is known as the father of medicine. He recorded detailed descriptions of people with phobias. Over two thousand three-hundred years ago, he wrote of a man named Damocles who could not go near an overhang, or over a bridge, or even near a shallow body of water" (33). During the 1800s, people began to study how the mind works. Phobias were increasingly described in psychiatric studies and writings. For several decades, people wrote about and named many phobias. Many of those names are still used today. Judy Monroe states that "Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) contributed great work on understanding phobias in the late 1800s. He was one of the first people to describe the feelings of anxiety that occur with phobic reactions" (36). During the late 1970s, research on the brain and brain chemistry helped scientists better understand human behavior and emotions. Along with research on mental health, this research led to increased knowledge about phobias. Judy Monroe states that "the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) conducted the first survey of mental health in the United States, the Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) survey. Researchers interviewed nearly twenty thousand people in five cities: Baltimore, Maryland; New Haven, Connecticut; St. Louis, Missouri; Durham, North Carolina; and Los Angeles, California. This survey uncovered a startling fact: Anxiety disorders, including all phobias, are the most common mental health problem in the United States" (37). The second area to explore is the causes of phobias. There are several theories on the causes of phobias. The first is the psychological theory. Judy Monroe states "Some researchers say that phobias arise when people ignore unresolved problems and conflicts. If someone has a stressful home life, for example, and never gets any help, then that person’s anxiety will grow. Over time, that anxiety can change into a phobia. The phobia is the way that person manages the fearful situation. It symbolized the real fear and allows the person to focus all fears onto one situation or thing" (70-71). The next theory is biological or chemical. Judy Monroe states "Other researchers say that certain people develop phobias because of their body chemistry. These people are more likely to be fearful, to have panic attacks, and to develop phobias. Some researchers have found low levels of chemical dopamine in the brains of phobics. In experiments with mice, those with low levels of dopamine react without much aggression. This theory seems to explain why some social phobics and agoraphobics have panic attacks" (73-74). Another theory is the learned theory. Judy Monroe states "some researchers say that people learn fear through direct experience. Specific phobias sometimes develop from a scary situation or real danger. A person who is thrown from a horse may develop an intense fear of horses. If a child sees someone bitten by a snake or is continually warned to be careful of snakes, then the child may learn to fear snakes" (75). Another theory on the cause of phobias is a malfunction in the inner-ear. The cerebellar-vestibular system (CVS), our inner-ear system is comprised of the cerebellum and the vestibular system. The CVS is the processing center of our brain. Harold N. Levinson states "The inner-ear system-your sensory tuner-is like a collection of filters that control the flow of sensory information entering the brain. When this system is impaired there may be holes in one, several, or all of these sensory filters. If the spillage of information through these holes is severs, the brain may be overwhelmed by a flood of sensory information. When the brain is under "sensory siege," it cries out for help: it trips the fight or flight alarm. This results in anxiety, fear, or even total panic" (127). Harold N. Levinson believes that 90% of all phobias and panic attacks can be link to a malfunction in the inner-ear. The third area to explore is the effects of Phobias. Phobias can have a devastating effect on a person. One of these effects is physical. When a person with a phobia is confronted with a situation that frightens them, they become anxious. They start to breath more rapidly and deeply. Their hands start shaking. Their palms start sweating. Their legs feel like rubber and can’t move. These are real physical effects that a person with a phobia can’t control. There is also mental effects for a person with a phobia. They feel helpless and insecure. They feel lonely and out of step with the rest of the world. Phobias can have an effect on a persons lifestyle. The most extreme example would be of a person afraid of open spaces not being able to leave their home. A person afraid of dogs might not be a door to door salesperson or would not want to expose themselves to any situation where a dog might be. Phobias can be devastating for the person who has one. The last area to explore is the treatment of Phobias. David G. Myers states "Instead of trying to alleviate distressing behaviors by resolving a presumed underlying problem, behavior therapy applies well-established learning principles to eliminate the unwanted behavior. To treat phobias or sexual disorders, behavior therapists do not delve deep below the surface looking for inner causes. Rather, they try to replace problem thoughts and maladaptive behaviors with more constructive ways of thinking and acting" (466). Myers defines Counterconditioning as "a behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors; based on classical conditioning. Includes systematic desensitization and aversive conditioning" (467). Systematic desensitization associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimulation. Systematic desensitization is commonly used in the treatment of phobias. The patient gradually replaces fear with pleasure. Myers states that "Systematic desensitization makes no attempt to help you achieve insight into your fear’s underlying cause. If you are afraid of heights, the therapist will not spend much time probing when you first experienced this fear or what may have caused it. Nor do behavior therapist worry that eliminating your fear of heights will leave an underlying problem that may now be expressed as, say, a fear of elevators. On the contrary, they find that overcoming maladaptive behaviors helps people feel better about themselves" (468-469). This paper explored the history, causes, effects, and treatment of Phobias. People have suffered from phobias for centuries, but only in the last few centuries have psychologist studied them and understood more about treating phobias. As we have seen, phobias are the most common form of mental health problems. It is not important how the person developed the phobia, but rather how the person lives with the phobia. Phobias can have a devastating effect on a person life. And for some people with phobias, treatment is necessary for them to lead normal lives. Although, for treatment to be successful, a person with a phobia must want to be helped. I have no desire to seek treatment or overcome my phobia of dogs. I am not afraid of all dogs, I have a dog of my own. I am not afraid of my neighbors dog, Dakota, he does not bark at me. I am afraid of dogs that bark at me, ones that run at me and bark. So, I go through life avoiding situations where there may be a dog. I don’t walk through the neighborhood. I wont go to a strange house. And above all, I wont go to the pound a get a full grown dog to take home. Levinson. Harold N.. "Phobia Free." New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc.. 1986. Monroe, Judy.. "Phobias Everything You Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask." Springfield, New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, Inc. 1996. Myers, David G.. "Exploring Psychology." 4th ed. New York: Worth Publishers. 1999 On Friday, July 28th at 9:00 PM, Fox aired a television show call "Now or Never: Face Your Fears". Jerry Springer hosted the one hour episode where he dared people for $500 to face their fears. The phobias included spiders, the dentist, fire and heights. I thought the show was a put on until I saw the girl afraid of small spaces being buried alive with a camera. You could see her lower lip quivering. Five Hundred dollars is not nearly enough for me to face my fear of dogs. Jerry will have to come up with a lot more for me to face a barking attack dog. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1758

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