University of Virginia, Charlottesville

A specific phobia, formerly known as a simple phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, distressing, and persistent fear or anxiety centered on a specific object or situation. Individuals with a specific phobia often recognize that their level of fear is irrational, yet they may go to great lengths to avoid the phobic stimulus. The anxiety and avoidance behaviors associated with the phobia are typically disruptive to the person's daily life and functioning.

Specific Phobia

No matter what specific phobia you have, it's likely to produce these reactions:

- Immediate feelings of intense fear, anxiety, and panic when exposed to or thinking about the source of fear
- Awareness that the fears are unreasonable/exaggerated but feeling powerless to control them
- Worsening anxiety as the situation or object gets closer in time or physical proximity
- Doing everything possible to avoid the object/situation or enduring it with intense anxiety and fear
- Difficulty functioning normally because of fear
- Physical reactions and sensations, such as sweating, rapid heartbeat, tight chest or difficulty breathing
- Feeling nauseated, dizzy, or fainting around blood/ injuries
- For children, can result in tantrums, clinging, crying, or refusing to leave a loved one's side or approach their fear

Symptoms of Specific Phobias

Listed are five theories of the cause of specific phobias in human behavior:
- The Classical, Vicarious, and Informative Pathways for Fear Acquisition
- The Preparedness Model
- The Nonassociative Theory
- The Fear Module Theory
- Cognitive Models

Theories of Specific Phobia's Origins

Chris Askew, Andy P. Field, Vicarious learning and the development of fears in childhood, Behaviour Research and Therapy,
Volume 45, Issue 11, 2007, Pages 2616-2627, ISSN 0005-7967,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2007.06.008.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000579670700123)

Vicarious learning and the development of fears in childhood, 2007

Specific phobias are a common mental health condition. In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 12.5% of the population will meet the diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia during their lifetime.

Prevalence of Specific Phobias

There are many specific phobias but common ones include a fear of:

- Situations, for example, airplanes or enclosed spaces
- Nature, including thunderstorms or heights
- Animals/ insects, such as dogs or spiders
- Blood, injection or injury, including needles, accidents or medical procedures
- Others, such as choking, vomiting, loud noises or clowns

Common Categories of Specific Phobias

Which of the following scenarios provides the clearest example of a specific phobia?

For instance, someone with an intense fear of air travel might turn down employment that would require them to fly often, harming his professional advancement as a result. This shows how the fear and anxiety triggered by a phobic stimulus commonly interferes with a person's daily life. Course: Introduction to Psychology @ OpenStax Course.

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