What are specific phobias and what are the symptoms?
Specific phobias are common – they strike 10% of people. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from this illness. Starting in the teenage and adult years, they may run in families. They begin suddenly and tend to last longer than childhood phobias (like being afraid of the dark). When a person has a specific phobia, they have an intense fear of something that poses little or no real danger. Because there is no or little danger, a person’s fear is not based on reality (called irrational fear). Some of the more common specific phobias involve fear of closed-in places, heights, escalators, lifts, tunnels, motorway driving, bridges, water, flying, dogs, and injuries involving blood. And, a specific phobia often makes no sense. For instance, you may be able to parachute out of planes with ease but not be able to go above the 4th floor of an office building. Most people with these phobias know that they don’t make sense. But, facing their fear, or even thinking about it, can bring on a
