There are some reactions to the dangers from outside. Emotional reactions to these dangers are called “fear”. Phobias can also be considered as a type of fear. When the fear that starts to affect a person’s daily life is called “phobia”. Phobias are considered an anxiety disorder.

Almost every creature may instinctively want to avoid the situation when they perceive that they feel the danger that may threaten their existence. Human consciousness avoiding such threatening situations is associated with a feeling of fear. The feeling of fear can be thought of as a “pre-stimulation” mechanism. The inability of the person to avoid or experience emotional relief despite avoiding the points that he/she sees as dangerous and may threaten his life brings along the uncontrollable fear. As a result of the person’s inability to relax emotionally, an increasing sense of anxiety is reflected. It is inevitable that anxiety disorder is seen in such situations. When this point is reached, the fear turns into a phobia. Fears and phobias in the person may not always show attachment to an entity or situation.

Phobias are not seen as a disease in society. It can be thought of as a personality trait or habit. For this reason, it is seen that the number of people who want to get professional support by applying to health institutions for treatment is quite low.

Symptoms of Phobias

When the person encounters an event, human-animal, or situation that he/she is afraid of, it is usually witnessed that the symptoms of anxiety disorder are seen. It is a fact that most of the symptoms, which are likely to be seen in panic attacks, are also seen in phobia situations. There are studies showing that advanced phobias cause cardiac and even death.

Phobias also have certain symptoms. These symptoms include palpitations, facial flushing, facial itching and burning sensations in the body, shivering and sweating, blurred vision, shortness of breath, feeling dry in the mouth, difficulty swallowing, nausea and inability to eat, loss of consciousness, sudden blood pressure drop. We can give examples such as fainting, feeling depressed, and having a nervous breakdown and getting out of control in the nervous state, being shocked.

Treatment of Phobias

Phobias are not mostly seen as a disease in societies. For this reason, the frequency of applying for treatment is very rare compared to other ailments. However, there are various treatment methods for phobias. Generally, medication and psychotherapies are used in phobia treatments. Drug treatment alone may not be sufficient. Therefore, in general, these two treatment methods can be applied at the same time. Antidepressant drugs are used for drug therapy. One of the most frequently used methods in phobia treatment methods is to make the person confront the “feeling of fear”. In this confrontation and treatment method, situations that create fear or become a phobia and affect the person’s life are addressed. The way he experiences anxiety is determined. In fact, by providing information on how to deal with these situations, it is helped to see how to behave in these situations.