All About Fears And Phobias

What's a phobia?

Basically a phobia is an exaggerated fear, it means that you are really, really afraid of something you think it is going to hurt you, you think you would not be able to handle it if you were confronted with it and it involves a lot of fear and anxiety.

What's the hardest phobia to overcome?

The hardest phobias to overcome are those ones that you can't do often. So for the fear of vomiting. You can't just make yourself get sick all the time and you wouldn't want to. So it's hare to because you're not getting a lot of practice with it to learn that you can handle it. Also the fear of flying is like that. You don't necessarily get to fly everyday so that fear lingers because you are not getting a lot of experience confronting it.

What's the worst phobia?

The worst phobia I would say is the fear of vomiting, because it's something that is so uncomfortable to people to have to feel nauseous and feel sick, and it's really difficult to get practice with it because you don't necessarily get sick all the time, so that one can be a difficult one to deal with.

What's the difference between a 'fear' and a 'phobia'?

A fear is your natural biological reaction. Let's say that you were walking through the forest and a lion came at you, you're going to have this rush of adrenalin and you're going to be afraid. Whereas a phobia is something that develops over time and you might even be afraid of it when you're not even in the situation. So let's say that someone is afraid of heights they might be thinking about that fear of heights when they're not even up somewhere high. Also with a phobia the situation is not necessarily dangerous it might be something that you think is dangerous but isn't actually.

Is fear mental or physical?

Fear is a biological response, it's that adrenaline rush that goes through you, that's a physical response. Anxiety can develop over time which is actually a mental response to fear, you're kind of afraid of being afraid, that's what anxiety is.

Are some fears and phobias impossible to overcome?

I have never had the experience of a client not being able to overcome a fear or a phobia if they were able to get themselves to confront it and do the things I have asked them to do to which means to confront that fear over and over again. I have never had anybody not overcome a fear.

How long does it take to overcome a fear or a phobia?

It really depends how intense your fear is to answer how long it would take you. If you have a really intense fear, a clinical level of fear and you get treatment, let's say you get cognative, behavioral therapy, the average length of treatment is about 14 sessions, so, 14, 45 minute sessions. If you have a mild fear and you start to confront it on your own you might be able to do something just one time, and in fact, I've even had clients that have a really intense fear, do just one session to overcome their fears. So, it can be pretty fast, actually.

How much does it cost to get therapy for phobias?

The cost of therapy really depends on where you are. The best thing is to get help with an expert in anxiety disorders and cognitive behavioral therapy. So you want to look into your local resources and see. But average it's about 150 a session or something like that.

Is group therapy as good as individual therapy for phobias?

Group therapy can be great for phobias if everybody has the same phobia in the group. It's very unlikely that that's going to happen because it would take a long time to get together a group like that. If you've got people with all different phobias then the group therapy is not going to be quite customized enough and it might take a little bit longer, whereas individually you might just need a couple of sessions on your own to confront your fears.

Are people who have fears and phobias just weak?

Fears and phobias are by no means weak whatsoever, it's a biological reaction, it's a learning dissociation, it's something that anybody could develop. Now there are some people who are more prone to having anxiety, and that's a genetic propensity, it has nothing to do with weakness, that's just the way that their body is made up.

Is a panic attack a sign of some sort of phobia?

People can have panic attacks when they're confronted with the things that they're afraid of and that would actually be part of the phobia because they're getting so nervous that their body is releasing adrenaline, their heart's racing, they're getting sweaty. And that can certainly happen if you're confronted with something that you're really scared of.