Phobia is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that poses little or no real danger. Phobia is a type of anxiety disorder. Unlike the brief anxiety most people feel when they give a speech or take a test, a phobia is long-lasting, causes intense physical and psychological reactions, and can affect your ability to function normally at work or in social settings.
Phobias are divided into three main categories:
Specific phobias: These include:
- Fear of enclosed spaces – Claustrophobia
- Fear of animals- Zoophobia: Particularly spiders, snakes, cockroaches or mice etc
- Fear of heights – Acrophobia
- Fear of flying – Aviophobia
- Fear of water – Hydrophobia
- There are many other specific phobias like fear of storms, dentists, injections, tunnels, bridges and not being able to get off public transportation quickly enough.
Social phobia: More than just shyness, social phobia involves a combination of excessive self-consciousness, a fear of public scrutiny or humiliation in common social situations, and a fear of negative evaluation by others.
Fear of open spaces (agoraphobia): Most people who have agoraphobia develop it after having one or more panic attacks. Agoraphobia is a fear of a place such as a mall, an elevator or a room full of people with no easy means of escape if a panic attack should occur.
Symptoms
No matter what specific phobia have, it’s likely to produce these types of reactions:
- An immediate feeling of intense fear, anxiety and panic when exposed to or even thinking about the source of your fear.
- Awareness that fears are unreasonable or exaggerated but feeling powerless to control them.
- Worsening anxiety as the situation or object gets closer in time or physical proximity.
- Doing everything possible to avoid the object or situation or enduring it with intense anxiety or fear.
- Difficulty functioning normally because of fear.
- Physical reactions and sensations, including sweating, rapid heartbeat, tight chest or difficulty breathing.
- Feeling nauseated, dizzy or fainting around blood or injuries.
- In children, possibly tantrums, clinging, crying, or refusing to leave a parent’s side or approach their fear.
Causes
Much is still unknown about the actual cause of specific phobias. Causes may include:
- Negative experiences: Many phobias develop as a result of having a negative experience or panic attack related to a specific object or situation.
- Genetics and environment: There may be a link between own specific phobia and the phobia or anxiety of parents. This could be due to genetics or learned behavior.
- Brain function: Changes in brain functioning also may play a role in developing specific phobias.
Homeopathic treatment
Homeopathy is an effective alternative treatment for fear and phobias. Internal homeopathic medicine often proves to be the best natural option to help treat such conditions. These medicines work by treating the whole patient, and not just the symptoms since the human body functions as one unit, and a disorder in one part can affect another. Homeopathic medicines do not cause drug-dependency or any side-effects.
Homeopathic medicines
Homeopathic Medicines for Fear of death (Thanatophobia)
Aconite
Aconite is a homeopathic medicine that is used to treat the fear of death coupled with anxiety. The person may fear death and believe that he or she may die soon, going so far as to predict the day of demise.
Arsenicum Album
Arsenicum Album is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of death accompanied by restlessness. The affected person does not feel the need to take any medication and may change places continuously.
Homeopathic Medicine for Fear of Heights (Acrophobia)
Argentum Nitricum
Argentum Nitricum is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of height and of flying in airplanes. The person fears the projecting corners of buildings; the sight of high buildings makes the person giddy and may cause him or her to stagger. A feeling of having the buildings on both sides of the street closing in and crushing upon the person is prevalent.
Homeopathic Medicines for Fear of Closed Places (Claustrophobia)
Stramonium
Stramonium is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of closed places with a desire to escape. The affected person may get anxiety when going through a tunnel or similar closed space.
Pulsatilla
Pulsatilla is a homeopathic medicine used to treat a fear of closed spaces coupled with the desire to seek open air.
Homeopathic Medicines for Fear of Open Places (Agoraphobia)
Gelsemium
Gelsemium is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of open places, especially stage fright. The affected person has a nervous dread of appearing in public.
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of open places wherein the person fears that something terrible will happen.
Homeopathic Medicines for Fear of Water (Hydrophobia)
Lyssinum
Lyssinum is a homeopathic medicine used to treat fear of water coupled with anxiety, where a person wants to drink water but is unable to do so. Irritability on hearing the sound of water or looking at it is present, and the person gets convulsions on thinking of water or fluids.
Hyoscyamus
Hyoscyamus is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of eating or drinking coupled with delirium. The person develops anxiety on hearing the sound of running water.
Homeopathic Medicines for Fear of failure (Atychiphobia)
Lycopodium
Lycopodium is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of failure with weak memory. The person has a strong aversion to undertaking new challenges and may feel unable to reach a destination.
Aurum Metallicum
Aurum Metallicum is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of failure with marked hopelessness. The person experiences acute mental depression, the future looks bleak, and a feeling of being unfit or undeserving may prevail.
Homeopathic Medicines for Fear of Sex (Intimacy)
Kreosote
Kreosote is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of sex and intimacy in women.
Staphysagria
Staphysagria is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of sex with suppressed sexual desire. The tendency to fear sex may sprout from a feeling of being out of control, or with a history of rape or sexual abuse.
Homeopathic Medicines for Fear of Disease
Kali Arsenicum
Kali Arsenicum is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of contracting a life-threatening disease or anxiety about health, especially on going to bed. This medicine is indicated in cases where there is a fear of having a stroke, heart disease or high blood pressure.
Agaricus
Agaricus is a homeopathic medicine used to treat the fear of disease, especially cancer. The affected person may be pre-occupied with thoughts of death, dying and graveyards.
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