Specific phobia disorders

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1. What is specific phobia?

Specific phobia is a state of fear and anxiety about a particular situation or object. Some common phobias such as: phobia of heights, phobia of needles, phobia of thunder, phobias of animals, phobias of dentists, .... Patients often avoid situations situation or object if possible, but if exposure occurs, anxiety develops rapidly. Anxiety can be as intense as a panic attack, for example: sweating, fast heartbeat, chest discomfort, choking, hot flashes or chills,... Specific phobias often perceive their fears as excessive or irrational.
Specific phobias are the most common anxiety disorders. Specific phobias affect most women, about 13% of women and 4% of men, over a 12-month period. Some specific phobias cause less trouble than when people in cities are afraid of snakes (snake phobia), unless they have to go in an area where snakes live. In addition, there are also specific phobias that interfere with functional activities, such as when people who have to work on high floors of a skyscraper are afraid of heights (acrophobia). Places where space is limited, such as in elevators, basements (phobia of narrow spaces). Fear of blood (blood phobia), injections (injection phobia), needles or other sharp objects (needle phobia), or being injured (injury phobia) occurs to some degree in at least 5% of the population. People with a phobia of blood, needles, or injuries, unlike those with other phobias or anxiety disorders, can actually faint because the vagal syncope reflex causes bradycardia. and orthostatic hypotension.

2. Symptoms of Specific Obsessive Disorder

Symptoms depend on the specific type of phobia :
Fear of heights (Patiphobia) Fear of dust (Fear of dust) Fear of thunder (Fear of thunder) Fear of flying (Fear of the dust) fear of flying) Fear of crossing bridges (Patiphobia of bridges) Fear of injections (Fear of injections),.... Patients often avoid situations or objects that they feel afraid of. if possible, but if exposure occurs then anxiety develops rapidly. For example: about perception, fear of death, fear of going crazy or losing control,.. Physically, sweating, palpitations, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, pain in the area chest,...or even fainting.

3. Diagnosis of specific phobia disorder

Clinical diagnosis of obsessive disorder is based on the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5).
Patient has clear, persistent, persistent anxiety or fear for more than 6 months about a particular object or situation, plus all of the following:
Circumstances or objects nearly always always cause immediate fear or anxiety The patient actively avoids the object or situation The anxiety or fear is excessively normal, inconsistent with actual danger (taking into account cultural norms). Socialization) Anxiety, fear, and avoidance cause significant stress or significantly impair social or occupational functioning. In addition, fear and anxiety are not characteristic of another mental disorder such as social phobia, some stress related disorders, etc.

4. Treatment of specific phobias

To treat specific phobias, doctors usually prescribe 2 methods, which are:
Exposure therapy Drug therapy: a benzodiazepine or a β-blocker, these two drugs are used in a different way. limit.

4.1 Exposure therapy

Exposure therapy - specialized psychotherapy is the treatment of choice for obsessive disorders of doctors.
The doctor is the one who gives the exposure exercise, the patient seeks, confronts and exposes what they fear and avoid until their anxiety is gradually alleviated through a process called acclimatization. Since most patients perceive their fear to be excessive and may feel embarrassed by their fear, they are often willing to engage in this therapy - i.e. confront the subject or fear-inducing situations, avoid avoidance.
Usually, the physician or specialist begins with a moderate exposure therapy (eg, the patient is asked to approach the object of fear). If patients describe having a rapid heart rate or shortness of breath when they encounter an object or situation that causes anxiety, they can be taught to calm themselves with slow breathing, controlled breathing, or other methods of motivating them. promote relaxation. They may be asked by their doctor to record their heart rate to know when increased heart rate and shortness of breath appear and when these responses return to normal. When the patient is comfortable at an exposure level, the exposure therapy will be increased by the physician, the level of exposure will be increased (eg touching the object of fear). Physicians continue to increase exposure until the patient can tolerate normal interaction with the object or situation. Exposure can increase rapidly as the patient matches that exposure, sometimes just a few sessions of therapy participation are enough.
Exposure therapy helps > 90% of patients if they do it honestly and it is considered the only treatment needed for specific phobias.

4.2 Drugs

Use a benzodiazepine (eg, lorazepam 0.5 to 1.0 mg orally) or a β-blocker (propranolol is often preferred-10 to 40 mg orally) for short-term treatment of specific phobias. It is best to take the medication 1 to 2 hours before exposure, which is sometimes useful when exposing an object or situation that cannot be avoided (eg, when a person has a phobia of machines). must be flown for short periods of time) or when therapeutic exposures are undesirable or unsuccessful.
Specific phobic disorder greatly affects the functional activities of people. If you have any anxiety or fear that persists when you are in contact with an object or in a particular situation, see your doctor to get the best treatment for you.
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