Announcements

The Fear & Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the University of Florida is currently not accepting new patients. If you are interested in seeking assessment or treatment, please visit the UF Clinical & Health Psychology Clinic website for more information

SPECIFIC PHOBIAS

"I'm scared to death of flying, and I never do it anymore. I used to start dreading a plane trip a month before I was due to leave. It was an awful feeling when that airplane door closed and I felt trapped. My heart would pound and I would sweat bullets. When the airplane would start to ascend, it just reinforced the feeling that I couldn't get out. When I think about flying, I picture myself losing control, freaking out, climbing the walls, but of course I never did that. I'm not afraid of crashing or hitting turbulence. It's just that feeling of being trapped. Whenever I've thought about changing jobs, I've had to think. 'Would I be under pressure to fly?' These days I only go places where I can drive or take a train. My friends always point out that I couldn't get off a train traveling at high speeds either, so why don't trains bother me? I just tell them it isn't a rational fear."

A specific phobia is an intense fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. Some of the more common specific phobias are centered around snakes, spiders, closed-in places, heights, escalators, tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, dogs, and injuries involving blood. Such phobias aren't just extreme fear; they are irrational fear of a particular thing. You may be able to ski the world's tallest mountains with ease but be unable to go above the 5th floor of an office building. While adults with phobias realize that these fears are irrational, they often find that facing, or even thinking about facing, the feared object or situation brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety.

If the object of the fear is easy to avoid, people with specific phobias may not feel the need to seek treatment. Sometimes, though, they may make important career or personal decisions to avoid a phobic situation, and if this avoidance is carried to extreme lengths, it can be disabling.

How common is Specific Phobia?

Phobias aren't just extreme fears; they are irrational fears. You may be able to ski the world's tallest mountains with ease but feel panic going above the 5th floor of an office building.

This information has been excerpted from material developed by the National Institute for Mental Health.