WHAT CAUSES PTSD AND PHOBIA?
The same process causes all fears, phobias and PTSD. Phobias and PTSD used to be thought of as different. The process that creates these problems is the same and so is the treatment. ANXIETY AND EVEN FEAR IS A NORMAL RESPONSE. The purpose is to alert us to possible danger.. These signals cause physiological changes in the body. Sometimes the part of the brain in which associations are made become hypersensitive to particular cues., If the original fear was sufficiently intense it can become as if your brain is stuck on SCARED TO DEATH. You can experience an event once (like having a spider, jump on you as a child) and if the emotion of fear is strong enough that is all it takes to create a phobia. The same as PTSD you only have to be involved in one scary car crash to be traumatized by it for life (getting flashbacks etc). People can develop a phobia anything at all, from spiders to belly buttons. This process works by generalizing, linking a highly emotional event with stimuli present
