7/26 Lexis Nexis Article

LEXIS NEXIS ARTICLE: PHOBIAS

Canberra Times (Australia)
February 4, 2007 Sunday Final EditionConfronting our worst fears Phobias can have a huge effect on sufferers' lives, ELIZA YOUNG reports.BYLINE: The Canberra TimesSECTION: A; Pg. 23LENGTH: 672 words

TO THE average person, a spider is nothing more than a common nuisance; to a handful of people, however, it induces terror.
The mere thought of a spider can induce sweating and clammy palms, dizziness, breathing difficulty and a racing heartbeat.
It can take up to 30 minutes for the panic attack to subside.
Arachnophobia a dread of spiders is one of the many phobias that can make life a misery for the afflicted.
Canberra-based psychologist Jenny O'Donnell defines a phobia as a marked and persistent fear which fixates on a particular object or situation.
"A phobia can be about any object you can think of, and there are some pretty weird ones out there," Dr O'Donnell said.
"I wouldn't necessarily say a phobia was an irrational fear because sometimes people have a form of logic.
"But it's slightly skewed as is the case for those who are phobic about flying or driving a car."
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, about one in 10 Australians have a phobia.
While the jury is still out whether there is a genetic predisposition to developing phobias, Dr O'Donnell said exposure to other sufferers, particularly family members, can be a trigger.
A phobia can generally be attributed to a situation in a person's past, which they may or may not remember, and may or may not relate directly to the phobia.
"I once treated a woman who was phobic about seeing other people's vomit," Dr O'Donnell said.
"Turns out when she was younger her mother had made her eat a banana when she didn't want to and she'd been sick."
The most common phobias seen by Dr O'Donnell are arachnophobia (spiders), acrophobia (heights), and pteromerhanophobia (flying).
Generally, phobias are upsetting and inhibiting to the sufferer, but the stimulus and its accompanying panic attacks can be avoided with effort.
However, situation-based phobias including social phobia (social situations/groups of people) and agoraphobia (leaving familiar or safe situations, like home) are much more difficult to manage.
Dr O'Donnell said she had heard of many cases where agoraphobics would not leave their home for many years.
"When it's something like being frightened to go outside, this can have a huge effect on your life.
These people need professional help."
The majority of phobia victims also suffer from depression, as well as a secondary phobia of having panic attacks.
Along with the serious side, there are also the quirky, offbeat and downright bizarre phobias.
An internet search produces 531 possible phobic ailments, including:Arachibutyrophobia: a fear of having peanut butter stick to the roof of your mouth; Bogyphobia: a fear of bogeys, or the bogeyman; Electrogeniphobia: a fear of urinating during an electrical storm; and Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: fear of long words.
Treatment is available to help phobia sufferers although there are no specific support groups for phobia sufferers in the ACT.
Instead, there is a range of anxiety-based groups which phobia sufferers can join through the ACT Mental Health Foundation.
Exposure therapy (or flooding) remains a widespread treatment.
With gradual, controlled exposure to the phobic stimulus, a person is able to change the thought processes surrounding it from negative to positive.
Another proven technique is symptom management where the person is coached by a psychologist to combat the physical symptoms of a panic attack learning to control their breathing and keep the anxiety at bay.
Both techniques are practised by Dr O'Donnell.
There is also a technique known as energy psychology, which involves a person using acupuncture on themselves while thinking about their phobic stimulus. The acupuncture allows the release of negative emotions with the onset of a panic attack.
Canberra-based practitioner Angela Cartland, who operates Psycho-Sensory Therapies, has practised energy psychology for two years and swears by it.
"Sometimes it only takes one session and people can go away with the tools to combat a simple phobia," Ms Cartland said.
Contact the Mental Health Foundation ACT on 62826658.

MY RESPONSE:

I enjoyed your article on article on phobias. I find phobias fascinating and mysterious. I recently completed a research paper on phobias and found much of the same information that you provide. I agree that social phobias and agoraphobias are the toughest to cure. I like the fact that you discussed some of the "bizarre" phobias. I also find many of the phobias very odd. But I think those phobias need to be mentioned to show that a person can have a phobia for almost anything. Also, I thought that the acupuncture form of treatment was interesting because I found nothing about it during my research. Overall, I thought that the article was well written and brief, but to the point.