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Symptoms of Phobia
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By Steve Hill
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Once the fear has been triggered the physical reaction can leadto a cycle of distress. The body responds to any naturallystressful situation by tensing up. This helps the person performbetter. However if the reaction is misinterpreted and excessivethis can lead to unnecessarily high levels of tension.
Although a sufferer may realise that the muscular pain andbreathing difficulties they are experiencing are merely aresponse to stress if the bodily reaction is extreme enough itmay give rise to a fear of the symptoms of phobia: a fear of thefear. Anticipation of this discomfort, the fear of chest pain orhyperventilation can produce the stress that triggers thesesymptoms.
Some of the physical symptoms of phobia include:
shaking/trembling
sweating excessively
nausea
dizziness
hyperventilation
chest pain
freezing
As fear levels increase, the mental processes intensify anddistort. A phobic person will overestimate the danger they arein and underestimate their ability to cope. For example someonewith a fear of driving will overestimate the dangers of roadtravel while underestimating their own driving ability. In thisway they may lose all sense of perspective. They expect disasterto be the only outcome. This is called catastrophising.
Some of the common mental processes associated with phobiainclude:
catastrophising
ignoring the positive
exaggerating
over generalizing
looking for disaster
thinking in all or nothing terms.
As for psychological treatment, among the most effective are CBT(Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and CGBT (Cognitive GroupBehavioural Therapy). In supportive environments, social phobicscan learn to address their fears and can steadily overcome them.
With the help of a therapist, they can develop strategies forcoping and find a more constructive way of viewing their fears.The advantage of group therapy is that they can meet andinteract with fellow sufferers, which will help them to realisethat they are not facing their problems alone.
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