PHOBIA

           

  PHOBIA is type of anxiety disorder defined by a persistant and excessive fear of an object .                                                                                                                                   
object or situation phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear  and are present for more than six months .those affected will go to will go to great lengths to avoid the situation or object ,to a degree greater than the actual danger posed .if the object or situation cannot be avoided ,they experience significant distress . other symptoms can include fainting ,which may occur in blood or injury phobia ,and panic attacks ,which are often found in agoraphobia .around 75% of those with phobias have multiple phobias .

phobias cab be divided into specific phobias ,social phobias ,and agoraphobia .specific phobias include those to certain animals natural environment situations ,blood injury ,and specific situation .the most comman are fear of spiders ,fear of snakes  ,and fear of heights . specific phobias may be caused by a negative experience with the object or situation in early childhood . social phobia is when a person fears a situation due to worries about others judging them . agoraphobia is a fear of a situation due to a difficulty or inability to escape .

it is recommended that specific phobias be treated with exposure therapy ,in which the person is introduced to the situation or object in question  until the fear resolves .medications are not useful for specific phobias . social phobia and agoraphobia are often treated with some combination of counselling and medication .medications used include antidepressants ,benzodiazepines ,or beta -blockers some specific phobias affect about 6-8% of people in the western world and 2-4% of people in Asia,Africa ,and latin america in a given year .social phobia affects about 7% of people in the united states and 0.5-2.5% of people in the rest of the world .agoraphobia affects about 1.7% of people .women  are affected by phobias about twice as often as men .typically ,the onset of a phobia is around the ages of 10-17 ,and rates are lower with increasing age . those with phobias are at a higher risk of suicide .