'Social Phobias' are based on a fear of embarrassment in a public setting and 'Specific Phobias' are fears associated with a particular object or situation. To some phobics, these fears do not seem irrational and to others, although they know it's irrational, they cannot control themselves.
Social Phobia (also known as social anxiety) is based around fears of what might happen in public situations, such as fearing humiliation and embarrassment. Symptoms that may be experienced by people who are socially phobic include:
•Stuttering and stammering
•Blushing and sweating
•Feelings that other people are far more competent (or better) than you are
•Nervousness in public situations
•Fear of public speaking
•Worry about self image and how people 'see you'
•Shyness accompanied by anxiety •Hair pulling (trichotillomania)
This fear and feelings of anxiety are often based on feelings of inferiority and concerns about how the sufferer is seen by others. People suffering from social phobias find that normal life situation are difficult at best, and in the worse cases made unbearable. Common pleasurable activities like eating out, going to the cinema, and even going to work can become torture.
To make matters worse, sufferers may develop symptoms like stutters and stammers or blushing which will compound the existing fears of being judged and being embarrassed and/or humiliated in public. This can lead such a person to withdraw from society and life in general.
Specific phobias are when we experience high levels of anxiety in response to a specific object or situation. One of the most common specific phobias relate to spiders (arachnophobia), and yet in this country at least, spiders are tiny harmless creatures that logically should not cause us any fear at all.
Generalised phobias are phobias that relate to a range of objects or situations. For example:
•Aichmophobia - the fear of needles/ pins/ pointed objects
•Arachnophobia - the fear of spiders
•Acrophobia - the fear of heights
•Aerophobia - the fear of flying
•Agoraphobia - fear of open spaces
•Emetophobia - the fear of vomit/throwing up
•Claustrophobia - the fear of enclosed spaces
•Demophobia - the fear of crowds
•Brontophobia - the fear thunder and lightening
•Hydrophobia - the fear of water •Dentophobia - the fear of going to the dentists
People who suffer from a phobia, or phobias, share feelings of panic and fear. However the degree experienced varies from person to person, depending how strong your phobia is. Some people will have full blown panic attacks and freeze with fear upon being presented with the phobic stimulus (such as a spider), whereas others find their heart races and find it hard to breath.
Phobics also differ in how the stimulus creates the increase in anxiety. For example, some people who are scared of needles may well only be very fearful when they see a needle, whereas others may become highly anxious even if they think about needles.
Feel free to Contact Us so that we can arrange a free consultation with no obligation in order that we can fully understand your phobia or fear.
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