Some people may scoff at the idea of phobia treatment. After all, phobias are consistently played for laughs in media as something to mock. The fact is that the fear a person feels from a phobia is real and valid. Phobias are more common than one may think, with an estimated 12.5% of U.S. adults experiencing a specific phobia at least once in their lives. Most people know what common phobias are but not why they occur or how they are treated.
The fear phobias cause can be crippling and require specialized phobia treatment to help them recover enough to live a normal life. Driftwood Recovery offers phobia treatment as a way to ease mental health conditions such as anxiety, panic disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Those recovering from addiction may also benefit from phobia treatment, as sometimes they may develop a phobia as a response to their experiences.
It’s vital to understand that phobias, though serious, can be treated with great amounts of success. Countless people are struggling with a phobia but assume that it’s a normal part of life or are ashamed to seek help. Understanding the nature of phobias not only de-stigmatizes the condition but encourages those struggling to seek the phobia treatment they need.
What Are Phobias?
Simply put, a phobia is a persistent, unrealistic, and excessive fear of a person, animal, object, activity, or situation. Phobias force the person with the phobia to constantly worry about encountering the source of their fear. A person with a phobia will take great pains to avoid the source of their fear, often to the detriment of their lives and mental health. Encountering the source is enough to cause great distress and anguish.
It’s a serious enough condition to be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). As a result, phobias are considered a sub-type of anxiety disorder and classified into three distinct categories. These categories are:
- Specific phobias: These are fears of particular objects, living beings, or situations that cause distress and avoidance behaviors. Phobias in this category can be further broken down into animals, natural environment, medical treatment or issues, specific situations, and others. Some common examples include disease (pathophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), burglary (scelerophobia), and the ocean (thalassophobia).
- Agoraphobia: Defined as the fear of leaving your home or familiar “safe” area, which panic attacks may follow. This phobia is often associated with or caused by other conditions, such as OCD due to phobia of germs/contamination or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to traumatic events.
- Social anxiety disorder: Also known as social phobia, this is the fear and avoidance of social situations. Those struggling with this phobia excessively worry about being judged or mocked when participating in social activities.
Phobias are often caused by negative experiences, trauma, genetics, or through informational transmission. It’s normal for a person to fear potentially dangerous things. However, when someone completely rearranges their life or stops engaging in life to avoid said fear, it becomes a serious problem.
What Happens in Phobia Treatment?
A client begins phobia treatment by speaking with a treatment provider. Then, a treatment provider can create a treatment plan to most effectively treat their client. Usually, this is a mix of various therapies and sometimes medications to treat the extreme symptoms of anxiety. Clients may receive specialized therapies in their treatment plan to treat underlying mental health conditions, such as OCD. If the source of the phobia stems from trauma, clients will receive trauma treatment as well.
Exposure therapy is one part of phobia treatment, but it’s a slow and gradual process. This is when a client is exposed to the source of their fear in a safe environment. For example, a person with a phobia of spiders may start by listening to facts about spiders. They then progress to looking at drawings of spiders, photographs, and video footage. The goal is for the client to be able to exist in the same space as a spider without panicking or experiencing symptoms of distress.
Psychotherapy is also useful in phobia treatment. It guides clients into discovering the source of their phobia, be it trauma or a taught fear. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is especially helpful in teaching clients how to change harmful thoughts and behavioral patterns. Group therapy may also be used, especially for more common fears. This therapy allows clients to interact with others experiencing struggles similar to their own. Sometimes, it’s humbling and encouraging to know that someone understands what you are going through.
Overall, a client can expect phobia treatment to be a judgment-free and encouraging process, especially at Driftwood Recovery. All staff members and treatment providers take phobias seriously, as they know how debilitating they can be. Phobia treatment is set to a challenging pace but will not overwhelm or rush the client. Driftwood Recovery takes comfort and safety seriously, allowing clients to recover in a private and secure environment.
Why Phobia Treatment Is Effective
Phobia treatments are effective because they don’t just treat the cause of the phobia. It also relieves and reduces the physical and mental symptoms of a phobia. Many times, a person struggles with their phobia because all attempts to address it result in increased stress and fear. Phobia treatment is specifically designed to prevent a client from being re-traumatized or triggering a panic attack. By addressing all aspects of a client’s needs, phobia treatment provides comprehensive care. This can include utilizing medication, engaging in wellness activities, and providing caring support.
Anyone can recover from a phobia, but it requires one being willing to admit that they have a problem and seek help for it. Reaching out for help is one fear that can be conquered. Once you can do that, you may find that your other fears are conquerable too.
Fear is an instinct that keeps us safe and tells us to avoid things and situations that can harm us. Phobias, however, occur when this fear is so strong and constant that it causes someone to avoid living life. This is no way to live, and nobody deserves to be in a consistent state of fear. At Driftwood Recovery in Driftwood and Austin, Texas, clients struggling with phobias receive compassionate and non-judgemental treatment. No matter how “silly” the phobia may be, the fear a person experiences from them is real and valid. If you or a loved one is struggling with a phobia, don’t wait. Take back your life from fear today by calling (512) 759-8330.