What is a phobia
Páginas: 3 (656 palabras)
Publicado: 29 de noviembre de 2010
What is a phobia?
A phobia is a mainly irrational fear of something. It is not an illness. It is not a mental disorder. Nor is it a lack of will-power, or 'moral fibre', or determination.
Aphobia can make one's life miserable, cause embarrassment, and undermine self confidence and self esteem.
The types of phobias
Simple Phobias: fear of a single stimulus such as fear of heights,ladders, frogs, enclosed places, etc.
Complex Phobias: a fear of a number of stimuli. In fear of flying, for example, the person may be afraid of crashing, being enclosed in the plane, losing selfcontrol etc.
Social Phobias: simply put, this means you are afraid of what might occur when in the company of other people, for example, fear of blushing, losing self control, forgetting what you areabout to say, fear of trembling, etc.
Panic attacks: a panic attack can be a quite terrifying ordeal unless you understand what is going on and why it is going on. Panics are very common and appear tomainly affect people who normally give the impression of being confident, reliable and dependable.
Agoraphobia: Literally 'fear of the market place' and, up to a decade or so ago, the term wasused to describe people who were afraid of open spaces. 'Agoraphobia' is now used to describe those who experience increasing nervousness the further they travel from their own home. In severe cases theymay not venture from home at all.
(This way of classifying phobias is pragmatic rather than medically or psychologically accurate. For example agoraphobia and panic attacks are often categorisedas 'social phobias'. However both of these conditions are so common and they so seriously restrict personal freedom that I prefer to give them their own category.)
The difference between a fear anda phobia
The distinction generally made is to say that a fear is rational and when fear becomes irrational it is a phobia.
In reality the difference is mainly one of degree and the handiest way...
A phobia is a mainly irrational fear of something. It is not an illness. It is not a mental disorder. Nor is it a lack of will-power, or 'moral fibre', or determination.
Aphobia can make one's life miserable, cause embarrassment, and undermine self confidence and self esteem.
The types of phobias
Simple Phobias: fear of a single stimulus such as fear of heights,ladders, frogs, enclosed places, etc.
Complex Phobias: a fear of a number of stimuli. In fear of flying, for example, the person may be afraid of crashing, being enclosed in the plane, losing selfcontrol etc.
Social Phobias: simply put, this means you are afraid of what might occur when in the company of other people, for example, fear of blushing, losing self control, forgetting what you areabout to say, fear of trembling, etc.
Panic attacks: a panic attack can be a quite terrifying ordeal unless you understand what is going on and why it is going on. Panics are very common and appear tomainly affect people who normally give the impression of being confident, reliable and dependable.
Agoraphobia: Literally 'fear of the market place' and, up to a decade or so ago, the term wasused to describe people who were afraid of open spaces. 'Agoraphobia' is now used to describe those who experience increasing nervousness the further they travel from their own home. In severe cases theymay not venture from home at all.
(This way of classifying phobias is pragmatic rather than medically or psychologically accurate. For example agoraphobia and panic attacks are often categorisedas 'social phobias'. However both of these conditions are so common and they so seriously restrict personal freedom that I prefer to give them their own category.)
The difference between a fear anda phobia
The distinction generally made is to say that a fear is rational and when fear becomes irrational it is a phobia.
In reality the difference is mainly one of degree and the handiest way...
Leer documento completo
Regístrate para leer el documento completo.