Do you think phobias are a product of our environment?

I don’t know. I used to play with bugs when I was a kid, now I have a near crippling phobia of them. And insects and arachnids for those who wish to be pedantic.

I can’t remember a particular time when I changed from one to the other.

Phobias, regardless of etiology, are very easily treated in a six-to-eight-week course of focused cognitive-behavioral therapy, called sensitization therapy. It is very successful. (greater than 90% cure rate if you are motivated to complete the course.)

I think people have more time now to think about all sorts of things which can lead to all sorts of phobias. In days gone by, survival and food on the table was the greatest concern of most so there simply was not enough time. My grandfather was a farmer before tractors, I think he worked all day and was so tired at night he didn’t even dream.

But then you have to ask whose stress level is greater, the guy who is struggling to survive or the one who is worried about the reception on the plasma telly?

I’m getting stressed just thinking about the whole thing!

@pdworkin – those are impressive statistics.

A lot has been learned about phobias in the last 20–30 years. Just about any current well-trained CBT therapist can help.

All the phobias I’ve ever had have pretty much worked themselves out. A few years ago, my friend got trapped in an elevator during a fire, and after hearing her story I was elevator-phobic for about 5 years. Now I’m fine and even got stuck in an elevator last month and I actually enjoyed it because it meant missing part of a boring presentation I didn’t want to see.

I have a phobia of my food touching. Yes I actually freak out if there is too much food on my plate and not a divided plate in sight just thinking about it is making me anxious I’ve had this phobia since I was a child but in the past three years it has become much more severe. I talked to my psychology teacher about this and when she started asking me questions about it I discovered that it got worse because I had an ex that would try to rid me of this fear by throwing all of my food on a plate and ignore my anxieties about it.

She said that by him doing that it made my phobia worse because To make sure I didn’t feel that anxiety.I became more obsessed with making sure my food never touched because I felt a lot better when I have control over it. I know this is a silly phobia to have and many people make fun of it but it’s out of my control.

So because of my ex I always make my own plate Oh yeah and have a divided plate at hand

So at first is was a product of my upbringing my mother has an issue with itas well not to my extent though and was made worse by a incident being my asshole ex :)

I think that for the most part they are, but there are some phobias that I just don’t understand. I don’t really get where arachnophobia comes from. Most people I know who are afraid of spiders admit that they’re afraid of them because they look scary, but what does that even mean? I think they look scary and repulsive as well, but I don’t really know why or why that should make me afraid of them.

I have a bit of nosocomephobia (fear of hospitals) and I do essentially know where it came from. I had a traumatic experience in a hospital when I was 5 and ever since then I was afraid of them. I still am to some degree; it’s not like it’s a super strong fear, but I still don’t like being in them.

@sjmc1989… I have that same ailment myself, as well as anybody drinking from my cup or picking from my plate.. Yeah I’m all kinds of crazy when it comes to my food and/or drink..

I have some phobias, but the 2 that are the worst is my fear of dentists, and a fear of spiders. Both are from things that happened in my childhood. A dentist smacked me once for screaming and I have been bitten by a spider to the point I couldn’t even get up off the floor. I was bitten on the hand and my entire arm swelled up and hurt so bad and I was extremely sick.

I have a phobia of general anesthesia and, so far, I haven’t been able to lick it. I KNOW it stems from the time I got my tonsils out and they gave me ether. The nurse and my mother held me down during the process. I couldn’t sleep for days afterwards.

@DominicX I had a pretty severe case of arachnaphobia, but am now cured of it. I cured myself through accepting the knowledge of a spider expert, and from realizing that of the 30,000 species of spiders in North America, only about four are dangerous. I often pick up small spiders or let them crawl on me, because I know they aren’t going to hurt me, and it is extremely rare for spiders to bite people, despite the anecdotal evidence to the contrary. Follow the link if you don’t believe me.

My major phobia is large dogs, especially those that bark at me. I had to quit a driving job due to the anxiety of having to deliver to a couple of places with large dogs that acted aggressive towards me. that’s okay though, as my boss was a horrid prick anyway. There are no dogs at my new job.

@evelyns_pet_zebra

lol…I believe you, but that’s not what scares me about them. I know they’re not dangerous, it’s just the creepy way they look that freaks me out.

@DominicX you have to get past that. I had a tiny little black spider on my hand the other day, and I looked at it not as creepy, but as cute. It was about this big.—-> # I carried it away from near the front door and put it somewhere safe, like on a nearby hosta. You are just going to have to retrain yourself to see them as fascinating and not freaky.

@evelyns_pet_zebra

Well, what made it worse was when I saw the biggest spider I had ever seen. It was 3 inches in diameter and dark black and was crawling on the wall of a room at my vacation home at Tahoe (a place with many freaky spiders) and I was literally frozen in my tracks; I just about had a heart attack. It was so big my dad had trouble getting rid of it. After that, I’ve been much more afraid of them than I ever was before.

Phobias are created. Active, intense minds with stress and some precipitating trauma, probably not apparent to the phobia sufferer are the culprit. We are weak,imperfect entities, and sometimes these fears can conquer reason. They are honest reflections of a deeper dilemma. And are interesting to dissect, once done, can lead to a true discovery of what makes your mind tick.

@DominicX more than likely it was a common black house spider, but I am not familiar with the spiders that are common in that area. What you could do is research what spiders are found in that locale, and once you learn that it is probably harmless, then you no longer need to fear it.

Spiders rarely bite people. Even large tarantulas do not bite humans in general.

@evelyns_pet_zebra

I still don’t see how the harmless/harmful factor has anything to do with my fear of spiders. I’m more afraid of germs harming me than spiders; I know it’s most likely harmless. One time my mom found a spider with its babies, not harming anyone. It didn’t change the fact that it still scared me because of its size.

One doesn’t have to defend one’s phobias. Some people are devastated by the mere thought of crossing a bridge – other can cross bridges without a second thought, but can’t tolerate the sight of a wasp or a bee. The thing to remember is that all phobic reactions are quite amenable to cure, if they cause you sufficient distress.

@evelyns_pet_zebra DominicX is right though when he says that it’s not about knowing whether the thing you’re afraid of is scary or not. I mean, I used to suffer from a serious case of lepidopterophobia. For those who don’t know what that means, it simply means that I was scared of butterflies and moths (yes folks, butterflies and moths). Moment I saw one flying towards me, I’d freak out and run away.

It didn’t help that I knew that they were supposed to be dainty creatures which were oh so picturesque.

As for the question itself, I think that it’s not just a product of our environment, but also one of our personalities and character. It’s a mixture of both which will lead to the end result of a phobia.

@DominicX I am not asking you to justify your fear of spiders. I was simply trying to be helpful. Sorry if I came across otherwise.

My fear of dogs confuses some people I know, and they have tried to help me cure it as well. All to no avail, so I know where you are coming from. =)

@evelyns_pet_zebra

I used to be afraid of dogs when I was little. Even small ones. Now, I’m still not super comfortable around bigger ones, but I have no problem with small ones and I’m not afraid of them. In that case, I’m pretty sure it was because I thought they were going to bite me and tackle me and what not, even though that had never actually happened before.

@pdworkin, “The thing to remember is that all phobic reactions are quite amenable to cure”

Not true with a phobia of general anesthesia.

I don’t know what would make that one phobia different. They are all based around anxiety, and they are all resolved in generally the same way. Why would that one and only that one be an exception?

Because part of therapy with the others is eventual exposure to the phobia object. Can’t be done with anesthesia (or, if it can, it would be hard to do and would require hospital resources and an anesthesiologist). I don’t know if that’s the only exception. But I KNOW it’s an exception.

Flight phobias are generally dealt with by the use of simulations. Why couldn’t there be a simulation of the preparation for an anesthesia event?

Even flight phobias involve actual flights with the therapist on board. It isn’t the prep that one fears. It’s going under. There’s really no way to simulate that.

I hope you never get appendicitis.

Let me tell you. The phobia HAS impacted on voluntary surgery I should have but won’t.

I still think you should investigate CBT. If someone really can’t treat you, they should be able to tell you that over the phone.