Book of the Week: The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook
Even when living in absolute safety, certain fears may still haunt our lives -- although we rationally know that they will not cause actual harm. Such irrational fears are phobias, a type of anxiety disorder, and they can often disrupt our lives. In this workbook, psychologist Edmund J. Bourne offers a broad range of practical exercises and worksheets, covering topics from the use of psychological strategies to medication, to help readers alleviate anxious feelings and overcome phobic disorders. If you happen to have one or more phobias, this book may come in handy.
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Neuro-Talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCOg2G797ek
What is a phobia? This video will show you the three types of phobias: specific phobia, fear of specific objects or situation, agoraphobia, fear of “public places,” and social phobia, fear of social situations and interactions. Take a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vZXgApsPCQ
In this TED Talk, Jia Jiang described his experience of deliberately seeking out rejection from other people for 100 days, and how this has radically improved his life. Although not directly related to phobia, the fun and inspiring talk demonstrates the power of desensitization (a behavioral therapy common in phobia treatment), which has allowed Jiang to alleviate the feeling of pain and shame that rejection often brings and discover the endless possibilities of his life.
Neuro-Quest:
Fear and anxiety are evolutionarily developed responses aimed at detecting or anticipating threats to increase chances of survival. However, as in the case of phobias, this fear can be maladaptive as it creates difficulties in our daily lives. This article gives a brief introduction on phobia and touches on the neural basis of fear-learning and fear-distinction: the amygdala, the tiny almond-shaped structure buried deep in our brains, is closely associated with fear-learning and therefore phobia. When we develop fear for certain things, neurons in this area undergo structural and molecular changes. In addition, studies have shown that the brains of spider phobics have greater activation of amygdalae compared with other people when viewing spider pictures.
Phobias have been noted to commonly develop early in people’s lives, and are often rooted in certain experiences or situations that someone goes through. While currently many specific phobias are known to develop in people when they are in ages 4 through 8, complex phobias like social phobia and agoraphobia are still shrouded in mystery. Some scientists have suggested that complex phobias come from more than just pure experience; in fact, they may originate from “a combination of genetics, brain chemistry, and life experiences” and even have evolutionary causes.
How to Recognize, Treat, and Overcome a Phobia
Almost everyone feels nervous or scared sometimes, and these small fears can often be completely irrational. Some irrational fears, however, have such big impacts on livelihood that they are considered phobias. A phobia is a fear of something that incites a strong emotional response but actually doesn’t constitute any major threat. Phobias, which can develop in childhood or adulthood, can often be sorted into categories related to animals, environments, specific situations, and medical situations. It is important, however, to realize when a phobia has become too strong, so strong that it may negatively impact your life decisions. This article discusses symptoms of common phobias and lists the steps you can take to face your fears gradually and rid yourself of a phobia if need be.
