Complete Guide: How To Beat A Phobia

Phobias are complex things, and it is virtually impossible to trace the absolute cause of one at first glance. Many people will categorise a phobia under the umbrella of mental illness, and although it may not be strictly accurate in all cases, it does have some resonance with sufferers of a serious phobia who have also dealt with mental illness. Just as depression can never totally be traced to a specific experience, but rather a collection of factors, phobias tend to be derived from all over the place – meaning that treating them with absolute rigor needs to be approached from more than one angle.

It is accepted in most cases that phobias are caused by some mix, in greater or lesser quantities, of genetics, brain activity, environment and influence from outside. These four factors are quite varied, although they will overlap in places. Getting to the bottom of a phobia and treating it successfully involves working out just how much of the individual’s condition derives from each of these factors. It may be a fairly equal split between them all, and it many be that one of the factors is more dominant. This is often something that can only be decided by a psychologist.

Some phobias which are heavily prompted by the genetic and chemical side of things will be best treated by medication. This is something that must be decided by a doctor, as there can be powerful side effects from the use of medication. The prescription of medication is intended to alter the levels of certain brain chemicals and make the sufferer less prone to attacks from their phobia. Side effects may include lethargy, anhedonia (where the sufferer feels unable to be happy), and affected appetite. For these reasons, medication should not be doled out freely.

Very often, the only way to truly get on top of a phobia is exposure therapy. This is something that, not unlike medication, needs to be approached with care. The idea of exposure therapy, as the name suggests, is that the sufferer is exposed to that which they fear. For example, someone who is afraid of spiders will be exposed – in a gradual way – to spiders. This will usually be something which is approached from a very basic, secure level before building up into more challenging stages.

Taking the example of arachnophobia, it will be necessary to see at what level the sufferer’s phobia stands. For someone with a crippling fear that can be triggered by the mere mention of spiders, they may be required to speak with a therapist about spiders first. Then they may be required to look at photographs of spiders, read books about them, observe one in a glass case and observe one in a more open setting. This may go all the way to asking the sufferer to handle a spider.

In many ways, the treatment of a phobia is about learning to deal with the fear rather than banish it. It is perfectly logical to have a fear of something that might harm you, but illogical to change your lifestyle to avoid something that is still essentially unlikely to hurt you. Exposure therapy is very instructive in giving people the ability to see the difference.