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Thomas Bestul Kevin Murphy . PHOBIAS. List of PHOBIAS. Agoraphobia- fear of open spaces Acrophobia- fear of heights Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia - Fear of long words (Ironic, eh?) Hemophobia - fear of blood Genuphobia - fear of knees Mysophobia - fear of germs
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Thomas Bestul Kevin Murphy PHOBIAS
List of PHOBIAS • Agoraphobia- fear of open spaces • Acrophobia- fear of heights • Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia- Fear of long words (Ironic, eh?) • Hemophobia- fear of blood • Genuphobia- fear of knees • Mysophobia- fear of germs • Phobophobia- fear of phobias • Xenophobia- fear of strangers • Zoophobia- fear of animals • Pteriphobia- fear of ferns (Cherry, 2010) (Liebgold, 1995)
Prognosis • Phobias are the most easily treatable mental health problem • However, an untreated phobia will usually never go away, and some, like agoraphobia, only get worse over time • Attempts to avoid these phobias usually result in self-destructive behavior, such as smoking, alcoholism, and low self-esteem
Symptoms of a Phobia • Feelings of panic, dread, or terror • Recognition that the fear is abnormal • Rapid heartbeat, trembling, overwhelming desire to get away • Taking extreme measures to avoid the fear • Impaired ability to function at normal tasks due to the fear
DIAGNOSIS • Only trained mental health professional can diagnose phobias • Phobias can appear with other mental disorders • Can be diagnosed under one of the 3 types of phobias ( social phobia, specific phobia, and agoraphobia) • Exact diagnosis varies depending on the phobia • (Fritscher, 2009)
Treatment for Phobias • The most common treatment for phobias is exposure therapy • This allows the patient to face his phobia in a safe environment • After they face their phobia in the controlled environment and believe they are ready, they will face their fear in real life • Each phobia has a specialized treatment depending on the particular phobia • (Melinda, 2001)
Statistics • Phobias are very hard to track statistically, since a phobia usually cannot be medically diagnosed until age 18 • Out of all American adults between ages 18-54, 5.3 million suffer from social phobia, 3.2 million from agoraphobia, and 6.3 million from specific phobia • The three most popular fears are animals, heights, and blood
Comorbidity with other Disorders • Social phobia is comorbid with many other disorders • Some of the disorders are low self-esteem, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, drug addictions, panic disorder, alcoholism, and social anxiety disorder • (“Social phobia: comorbidity”, 2007)
Etiology of Phobia • There are many theories to the origin, or etiology, of the specific phobias a person holds • One theory says that phobias have an organic base. For example, firstborn children have an 80% greater chance of developing phobias than younger siblings • Another theory states that phobias are developed by watching other people during childhood, mainly parents, and observing how they react to their own phobias. • Most experts would agree that traumatic childhood events are also a cause of phobias
Celebrity Phobias • Nicole Kidman- Lepidopterophobia (fear of butterflies) • Carmen Electra- Hydrophobia (fear of water) • Orlando Bloom- Swinophobia (fear of pigs) • Pamela Anderson- Eisoptrophobia (fear of mirrors) • Christina Ricci- Pteriphobia (fear of ferns) • Billy Bob Thornton- Altussessiophobia (fear of antique furniture) • Lyle Lovett- Bovine phobia (fear of cows) • Uma Thurman- Claustrophobia (fear of small spaces) • ( “Fears and phobias”, 2010)
Strange Phobias • Aerophobia- fear of swallowing air • Aulophobia- fear of flutes • Basophobia- fear of walking • Chaetophobia- Fear of hair • Chromatophobia- Fear of colors • Geumaphobia- Fear of taste • Kathisophobia- Fear of sitting down • Nomatophobia- Fear of names • Pogonophobia- Fear of beards (Ke$ha does not have this disorder) • Xanthophobia- Fear of the color yellow (Silva, 2010)
Works Cited • Silva, S. (2010). Weird phobias, strange phobias, funny phobias, unusual phobias. Retrieved from http://www.saviodsilva.net/ph/11.htm • Liebgold, H. (1995, July 17). The phobia list. Retrieved from http://phobialist.com/ • Cherry, K. (2010). Phobia list- an a to z list of phobias. Ask.com part of The New York Times, Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/phobias/a/phobialist.htm • Social phobia: comorbidity. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.psychotherapy.ro/resources/mental-disorders/social-phobia-comorbidity/ • Smith, M. (2001). Phobias and fears. HELPGUIDE, Retrieved from http://helpguide.org/mental/phobia_symptoms_types_treatment • Fears and phobias of 25 big time celebrities. (2010). Netscape Celebrity, Retrieved from http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/celebrity/package.jsp?name=fte/celebrityfears/celebrityfears • Fritscher, L. (2009, February 07). Diagnosing a phobia. Ask.com part of The New York Times, Retrieved from http://phobias.about.com/od/symptomsanddiagnosis/tp/diagnosingphobias.htm