What Is Specific Phobia?

Specific phobia is a fear of a particular object, animal, or situation. The fear is great enough that you feel the need to avoid the situation or go through it only with considerable anxiety.

Phobias are very, very common. In a recent survey, 60% of the people interviewed reported that they feared some situation or thing. The most common fears were fears of bugs, mice, snakes, dogs, bats, heights, water, public transportation, storms, closed spaces, tunnels, and bridges. Many people reported that they feared several things and that they consciously avoided them. In fact, over 11% of the people indicated that their fears qualified as specific phobias. That is, their fears were persistent and associated with intense anxiety.

Phobias become a problem the fear of the situation becomes so great that it starts to restrict daily life due to avoidance of many situations and activities.

Treatment

Cognitive-behavioural therapy has been shown to be effective in phobias with high success-rates! It can conveniently be combined with hypnosis if desired