A specific phobia is any kind of anxiety disorder that amounts to an unreasonable or irrational fear related to exposure to specific objects or situations. As a result, the affected person tends to avoid contact with the objects or situations and, in severe cases, any mention or depiction of them. The fear can, in fact, be disabling to their daily lives. The fear or anxiety may be triggered both by the presence and the anticipation of the specific object or situation. A person who encounters that of which they are phobic will often show signs of fear or express discomfort. In some cases, it can result in a panic attack. In most adults, the person may logically know the fear is unreasonable but still find it difficult to control the anxiety. Thus, this condition may significantly impair the person's functioning and even physical health. Specific phobia affects up to 12% of people at some point in their life.
Marked and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable, cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation.
Exposure to the phobic stimulus almost invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally predisposed panic attack. In children, the anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums, freezing, or clinging.
The person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable. In children, this feature may be absent.
The phobic situation is avoided or else is endured with intense anxiety or distress.
Fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation
The phobic object or situation almost always provokes immediate fear or anxiety
The phobic object or situation is avoided or endured with intense fear or anxiety
The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the specific object or situation and to the sociocultural context
The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting for 6 months or more
The fear, anxiety, or avoidance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
The disturbance is not better explained by symptoms of another mental disorder, including fear, anxiety, and avoidance of situations associated with panic-like symptoms or other incapacitating symptoms; objects or situations related to obsessions; reminders of traumatic events; separation from home or attachment figures; or social situations
The following are two therapies normally used in treating specific phobia: Cognitive behavioral therapy, a short term, skills-focused therapy that aims to help people diffuse unhelpful emotional responses by helping people consider them differently or change their behavior, is effective in treating specific phobias. Exposure therapy is a particularly effective form of CBT for specific phobias. Medications to aid CBT have not been as encouraging with the exception of adjunctive D-clycoserine. In general anxiolytic medication is not seen as helpful in specific phobia but benzodiazepines are sometimes used to help resolve acute episodes; as 2007 data were sparse for efficacy of any drug.
Epidemiology
Specific phobias have a one-year prevalence of 8.7% in the USA with 21.9% of the cases being severe, 30.0% moderate and 48.1% mild. The usual age of onset is childhood to adolescence. Women are twice as likely to suffer from specific phobias than men.
