Do you have an intense fear of spiders? Or is your irrational fear linked to being in a public space? There are hundreds of irrational fears, which are also called phobias. If you suffer from a phobia, you know how much it can impact your daily life. In addition to intense fear, it can lead to anxiety and trouble participating in activities.
At Carolina Wellness Psychiatry, our team helps you understand why you have these fears, and gives you the tools to overcome them. Our practice features three expert psychiatrists — Elizabeth Bullard, MD; Brian Moore, MD, MPH; and Allison Foroobar, MD. Our doctors give you specialized and compassionate treatment for your phobia or anxiety disorder.
Irrational fears are usually a type of anxiety disorder known as phobias. These fears can prohibit you from living a productive life, because they’re absolutely debilitating. Phobias typically involve an unrealistic fear of an activity, animal, object, or situation.
There are a wide variety of phobias that can affect your life. From coulrophobia, or fear of clowns, to claustrophobia, or fear of confined spaces, these irrational fears can basically take over your world.
When you have a phobia, you know in your mind that the fear is completely irrational, but you’re not able to break the cycle. Even the thought of triggering the fear may leave you in a full blown panic. Although phobias are related to anxiety disorders, their cause is very specific, where general anxiety can be brought on by many things.
However, if you have an anxiety disorder, you’re at a higher risk of developing a phobia. Genetics also plays a role, along with traumatic events. If your house burned down from a fire, you could end up with pyrophobia, or fear of fire.
Some phobias are more well-known than others. For example, arachnophobia is the fear of spiders, and it’s recognized widely throughout the country. However, there are some lesser-known phobias too, such as alektorophobia, which is an intense fear of chickens.
When you have a debilitating fear of something in your life, it can cause you issues at home, work, and school. You know it’s a phobia if it’s specific and interferes with your daily life. Here are some common phobias you could be dealing with:
There’s even a phobia of phobias, which is known as phobophobia. As you can see, many different irrational fears affect people’s lives, and nothing is too small to be a phobia. Knowing that your fear is completely out of control is the first step to overcoming it.
The skilled team at Carolina Wellness Psychiatry can definitely help you overcome your phobia with time and several types of therapy. Our doctors take the time to listen to the way your fear affects your life, so they can formulate a specialized treatment plan for you.
Treating your phobia may involve psychotherapy or medications to help with your symptoms. Sometimes, a combination of both is what you need to overcome your fear.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often used to help treat phobias. One of the ways our team helps you overcome your fear is through exposure therapy. With this type of therapy, the team helps with desensitization, exposing you in small but ever-increasing doses to the feared substance or event. This may take some time, but with exposure therapy, you can greatly improve your quality of life.
Our team may prescribe you anti-anxiety medications to help you through exposure therapy. While these medications don’t “treat” phobias, they can help you stay calm and reduce your fear during CBT.
You may also be prescribed benzodiazepines to help with symptoms of panic when they strike. When you’re exposed to the trigger of your fear, it often causes panic and intense feelings that put you into a spiral. These medications help to ease your feelings, allowing you to get through the attack.
If you have anxiety and suffer from irrational fears, call us today at 919-446-3232 to get effective treatment, or request a consultation using our online booking tool.
