Specific Phobia Research Paper
Are certain objects such as spiders or situations such as being in a closed area scary? When one comes in contact with one of these, does it provoke fear or anxiety? If so, the diagnosis is more than likely a type of specific phobia. Phobias affect people on an everyday basis, and there are many different types of Phobias. Specific Phobias are described as “an intense, irrational fear of specific objects, activities, or situations” (Coon). Specific Phobias can be the fear of situations, animals, natural environments, blood-injection-injuries, or other things such as loud noises or clowns. These fears are often recognized as unusual because the fears are blown out of proportion. People with specific phobias feel as though the object or situation
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The two most common ways are therapy and medication. The first type of therapy that we will talk about is Exposure Therapy. It is a treatment used to slowly introduce the fear to the individual. The individual will be exposed to their fear until the fear is no longer a factor for them. For example, people with the fear of spiders. The individual could possibly start with a distant picture of a spider or possibly just talking out loud about spiders, and eventually, the person will be able to be around spiders or maybe even touch a spider by the time the therapy is over. Next, Cognitive Therapy, this treatment is used to help people replace bad or nervous thoughts about their fear to more realistic thoughts and ideas. For example, someone with the fear of clowns, or coulrophobia, is presented with information and other cues to the reason why clowns are completely safe and harmless. On the other hand, medication is another way to help people cope with their phobias. Most medications are used to help people with situational phobias. The reason why medication is used more for situational phobias is because people with those types of phobias tend to have anxiety attacks, or other physical attacks that the medication can keep under control. For example, people with the fear of flying tend to take medication before they fly to help relieve the stress and anxiety they have when they fly (Bhandari & Department of
The two most common ways are therapy and medication. The first type of therapy that we will talk about is Exposure Therapy. It is a treatment used to slowly introduce the fear to the individual. The individual will be exposed to their fear until the fear is no longer a factor for them. For example, people with the fear of spiders. The individual could possibly start with a distant picture of a spider or possibly just talking out loud about spiders, and eventually, the person will be able to be around spiders or maybe even touch a spider by the time the therapy is over. Next, Cognitive Therapy, this treatment is used to help people replace bad or nervous thoughts about their fear to more realistic thoughts and ideas. For example, someone with the fear of clowns, or coulrophobia, is presented with information and other cues to the reason why clowns are completely safe and harmless. On the other hand, medication is another way to help people cope with their phobias. Most medications are used to help people with situational phobias. The reason why medication is used more for situational phobias is because people with those types of phobias tend to have anxiety attacks, or other physical attacks that the medication can keep under control. For example, people with the fear of flying tend to take medication before they fly to help relieve the stress and anxiety they have when they fly (Bhandari & Department of