Can fear develop into a phobia?

[Admin]

There is evidence to suggest that a fear of a particular place, thing or situation can in some circumstances develop into an actual phobia. Your body reacts very differently to phobias and genuine fear with phobias sometimes causing anxiety because in many cases you do not know what you are frightened of.

 

[Craig]

Just a quick post on this as I am currently catching up on some emails.

A phobia is different in regards to anxiety or fear. A phobia is avoiding contact with the given stimulus in question. Whatever that may be.

Anxiety and fear are a different kettle of fish, internal dialogue, thoughts of dread, playing worst case scenarios in our mind. Rather than having a full blown adrenal response and having the protection mechanism kick in to avoid at all costs. A phobic response is learned very quickly. We cannot develop a phobia over a long period of time, yet we can develop a fear or indeed anxiety over a given thought or scenario which can indeed appear to increase over time.

Both can be worked with quickly, effectively and without any negative thoughts on the clients part.

I hope that helps.

Craig.

 

[Mark]

Thanks @Craig I am beginning to understand a little more about fear, anxiety and phobias and the fact they may not be as interconnected as many of us first thought. Even though many people with phobias may suffer anxiety attacks and extreme fear, this does not necessarily mean they are linked. Personally, the first stage of battling any anxiety/phobia issues which may be in the back of my mind from many years ago is to understand each condition in isolation. Even thinking now, the idea of breaking down each condition and tackling them individually is giving me additional strength.

 

[Craig]

Great news Mark.

If you wish to understand a little more, I highly recommend a book called no worries by Gary Turner. It explains fear, stress, anxiety and indeed phobias in a way which gives you tools to help overcome them and with the additional information of how and why these things happen. All in a way which is very easy to understand and it is something I recommend to clients and indeed other therapists also. It is on kindle also.

If you are looking for more knowledge, in my professional opinion, you can do no better than to seek out the book and have a read.

It sounds like you are doing great, keep going.

Craig.