Fears and Phobias

What causes a fear or phobia?

Fears and phobias are based on our ancient "fight or flight" response, designed to protect us from anything perceived as a threat to our survival. In the days of primitive man, this response was particularly necessary when man would hunt. In the case of being faced with a predator, the fight or flight response would be triggered, causing an increase in adrenaline, which would gear the hunter up for either fighting or fleeing.

The response is still useful today as, without it, we would be likely to engage in reckless behaviour, such as standing too close to the edge of a clifftop, or not looking both ways when we cross the road.

However, occasionally, if we have had a bad experience, perhaps during childhood, our subconscious flags that situation as dangerous and if it were to encounter it again in the future, it produce the panic response to make sure we get out of that situation and fast! We might now know logically that the feared thing or situation won't actually cause us any harm, but whenever logic comes up against the subconscious, the subonscious will win hands down.

Sometimes, we cannot recall which event might have started the fear or phobia - it may have even been a learned response from a parent perhaps. For example, if a child learns that their mother is scared of dogs and is taught that dogs are dangerous, the child will take on this behaviour.

In modern society, we are often faced with situations where we cannot flee nor "fight". When this occurs, a panic attack can start. As the body has started producing lots of adrenaline in preparation for fighting or fleeing, the heart starts pumping faster and carbon dioxide levels in the blood also increase which affects the blood pH balance. As a result,tingling, numbness, light-headedness and crippling feelings of panic can all occur.

Is there a difference between a fear and a phobia?

Yes, in fact there is quite a big difference. Most of us might have a fear of poisonous snakes, for example, but this would be a rational fear as touching one is a direct threat to our survival.

One way to determine whether you have a fear or phobia is by asking yourself, "If someone were to give me a million pounds in cash with no strings attached, would I (fly in a plane/touch a spider/stand at the top of a very tall building, etc.)?"

If the answer is no, then it is very likely that you have a phobia.

Top 10 Most Common Phobias

1. Arachnophobia - fear of spiders

2. Sociophobia - fear of people and social situations

3. Aerophobia - fear of flying

4. Agoraphobia - fear of open spaces

5. Claustraphobia - fear of closed spaces

6. Emetophobia - fear of vomiting

7. Acrophobia - fear of heights

8. Cancerphobia - fear of cancer

9. Brotophobia - fear of thunderstorms

10. Necrophobia - fear of dying