Phobias

=Phobias =

= =
 * Phobia- ** "an intense, unrealistic fear, which can interfere with the ability to socialize, work, or go about everyday life, that is brought on by an object, event or situation."

** Symptoms- ** parts of a panic attack such as feelings of terror and impending doom, rapid heartbeat and breathing, and sweaty palms.

====** Treatments- ** Medication can lessen the feelings of panic, and can be combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy to be effective in reducing specific phobias. Drugs are used to treat some phobias by controlling the symptoms and to prevent panic attacks. These include anti-anxiety drugs ( benzodiazepines ) such as alprazolam (Xanax) or diazepam (Valium). In all phobias, symptoms may be eased by lifestyle changes, such as: eliminating caffeine, cutting down on alcohol, eating a good diet, and getting exercise. ==== ** Prevention- ** There is no known way to prevent the development of phobias. Medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy can help prevent the recurrence of symptoms. === How Mental Disorders Affect Society- They affect society because some disorders account for a large amount of the populations deaths. Also people with certain mental disorders go for treatment for the disorder which costs them or their family money. ===
 * Causes- ** While experts believe the tendency to develop phobias runs in families and may be hereditary, a specific stressful event usually triggers the development of a specific phobia.

= Examples of Phobias =

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 * 1) =Ablutophobia - Fear of washing or bathing=
 * 2) =Batrachophobia - Fear of amphibians, such as frogs, newts, salamanders.=
 * 3) =Cardiophobia - Fear of the heart.=
 * 4) =Dementophobia - Fear of insanity.=
 * 5) =Ecophobia - Fear of home.=
 * 6) =Francophobia - Fear of France, French culture.=
 * 7) =Genophobia - Fear of sex.=
 * 8) =Haptephobia - Fear of being touched. [[image:http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/2585906680_a0d4accf15.jpg width="250" height="250" align="right" caption="Spider Phobia... 168/366 by YetAnotherLisa."]] =
 * 9) =Ichthyophobia - Fear of fish.=
 * 10) =Judeophobia - Fear of Jews.=
 * 11) =Kathisophobia - Fear of sitting down.=
 * 12) =Logizomechanophobia - Fear of computers.=
 * 13) =Myxophobia - Fear of slime.=
 * 14) =Neophobia - Fear of anything new.=
 * 15) =Ommatophobia - Fear of eyes.=
 * 16) =Peccatophobia - Fear of sinning.=
 * 17) =Ranidaphobia - Fear of frogs. [[image:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2595/3663912650_8c591cf5fa.jpg width="232" height="350" align="right" caption="PHOBIA // © 2009 by  Maryna S.E ©."]] =
 * 18) =Samhainophobia - Fear of Halloween.=
 * 19) =Testaphobia - Fear of taking test.=
 * 20) =Urophobia - Fear of urine or urinating.=
 * 21) =Verbophobia - Fear of words.=
 * 22) =Walloonphobia - Fear of Walloons.=
 * 23) =Xenophobia - Fear of strangers or foreigners.=
 * 24) =Zemmiphobia - Fear of the great mole=

= Citations =

=
Turkington, Carol A. "Phobias." The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Ed. Deirdre S. Blanchfield and Jacqueline L. Longe. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 2581-2584. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.======