HOW DID WE GET THIS PHOBIA?


QUESTION: I am sorry if this has been asked before but I really would like to know why and how we develop phobias? I know it sounds a silly question but I would just like to know why some people are deeply affected by things and others not. I mean, I really hate spiders but my fear of them is nothing compared to the way I feel about v*!


ANSWER: It is different with everyone, to a degree. What we have in common is that phobias are the result of a "perfect storm" of things coming together. Every psychologist out there who study anxiety disorders agrees that there is no one single cause. Whatever "trauma" we had in childhood with vomiting (such as having food poisoning, or someone getting sick on/near you) does not cause emetophobia in every child. That is because there are other factors at play.


Things like the family's stress level, and how our families handle stress is very influential. Grief and loss, abuse, trauma and anxious parents (particularly mothers) are factors as well. Heredity could play a part, but it's not everything. No gene has ever been found for anxiety/phobia


No matter what led to our phobias, the "cure" is the same...good, solid therapy over a long term which usually involvesgradual exposure to the stimulus ina safe environment and avoids re-traumatization (such as saying that the client has to vomit himself to get over it). If it's very very serious then medication might be helpful as well. In any case, there's no need to spend a lot of energy worrying about the cause. Spend your energy on your treatment instead.Edited by: sage