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Everyone feels anxious or uneasy from time to time. Your first
day on a new job, planning for a long trip, going to the
dentist....your palms sweat, you feel shaky, your heart pounds.
Some anxiety helps to keep you focused on the job at hand. However,
when your anxiety is so serious that it interferes with your work,
leads you to avoid certain situations or keeps you from enjoying
life, you may be suffering from a form of the most common type of
mental disorder, an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are not just a case of "nerves." You can't
overcome an anxiety disorder just through willpower, nor can the
symptoms be ignored or wished away. These disorders cause you to
feel anxious most of the time, making some everyday situations so
uncomfortable that you may avoid them entirely. Or, you may
experience occasional instances of anxiety that are so terrifying
and intense that you may be immobilized with fear.
Although these conditions can be very frightening and disabling,
they are also very treatable. It is important to recognize the
symptoms and seek help.
Specifically, Phobias afflict as many as 12 percent of all
Americans. They are the most common psychiatric illness in women
and the second most common in men over age 25. Phobias are not all
the same.
There are three main groups which
include:
- Specific (simple) phobias, which are the most common and focus
on specific objects,
- Social phobia, which causes extreme anxiety in social or public
situations, and
- Agoraphobia, which is the fear of being alone in public places
from which there is no easy escape.
Agoraphobia causes people to suffer anxiety about being in
places or situations from which it might be difficult or
embarrassing to escape--such as being in a room full of people or
in an elevator. In some cases, panic attacks can become so
debilitating that the person may develop agoraphobia because they
fear another panic attack. In extreme cases, a person with
agoraphobia may be afraid to leave their house.
Specific Or Simple Phobias produce intense fear of a particular
object or situation that is, in fact, relatively safe. People who
suffer from specific phobias are aware that their fear is
irrational, but the thought of facing the object or situation often
brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety.
Specific phobias strike more than 1 in 10 people. No one knows
what causes them, though they seem to run in families and are
slightly more prevelant in women. Specific phobias usually begin in
adolescence or adulthood. They start suddenly and tend to be more
persistent than childhood phobias; only about 20 percent of adult
phobias vanish on their own. When children have specific
phobias--for example, a fear of animals--those fears usually
disappear over time, though they may continue into adulthood. No
one knows why they persist in some people and disappear in
others.
Examples of specific phobias include persistent fear of dogs,
insects, or snakes; driving a car; heights; tunnels or bridges;
thunderstorms; and/or flying.
Social Phobia can produce fear of being humiliated or
embarrassed in front of other people. This problem may also be
related to feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem, and can
drive a person to drop out of school, avoid making friends, and
remain unemployed.
Although this disorder is sometimes thought to be shyness, it is
not the same thing. Shy people do not experience extreme anxiety in
social situations, nor do they necessarily avoid them. In contrast,
people with social phobia can be at ease with people most of the
time, except in particular situations. Often social phobia is
accompanied by depression or substance abuse.
People suffering from social
phobia may:
- view small mistakes as more exaggerated than they really
are
- find blushing as painfully embarrassing
- feel that all eyes are on them
- fear speaking in public, dating, or talking with persons in
authority
- fear using public restrooms or eating out
- fear talking on the phone or writing in front of others
There Is Hope
- No one should have to endure the terror of phobias or the
unrelenting anticipatory anxiety that often accompanies them.
Phobias can be overcome with proper treatment.
- A person suffering from a phobia is suffering from a
diagnosable illness, and mental health professionals take this
illness very seriously.
- A complete medical and psychiatric evaluation should be
conducted by a licensed physician or psychologist to obtain an
accurate diagnosis and ensure that the symptoms are not being
caused by another condition.
- Lastly, it is crucial to comply with treatment, and to work
closely with the therapist in order to achieve success.
- Behavioral therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy are very
effective in treating these disorders.
- Behavioral therapy focuses on changing specific actions and
uses different techniques to stop this behavior. One technique
involves diaphragmatic breathing which is a form of deep-breathing.
Another technique called exposure therapy gradually exposes the
patient to the object or situation which frightens him/her and
helps the patient to develop coping skills.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy teaches the persons new skills in
order to react differently to the situations which trigger the
anxiety or panic attacks. Patients also learn to understand how
their thinking patterns contribute to the symptoms and how to
change their thinking to reduce or stop these symptoms.
For More Information: Contact your local Mental Health
Association , community mental health center, or:
National Mental Health Association
2001 N. Beauregard Street, 12th Floor
Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone 703/684-7722
Fax 703/684-5968
Mental
Health Resource Center
800/969-NMHA
TTY Line 800/433-5959
Anxiety Disorders Association of America
8730 Georgia Ave., Ste. 600
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone 240-485-1001
www.adaa.org
NMHA needs your financial support to continue to improve
awareness and understanding of mental illnesses. Please make checks
payable to NMHA.
This publication is generously supported by a grant from the
William H. Donner Foundation and Eli Lilly and Company. Copyright
1996
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