Thantophobia – The Fear of Death

Thantophobia is a strong fear of death that happens when there is actually no danger at all. While it is normal for most people to experience fear of death now and then, the fear in Thantophobia is somewhat unreasonable. And as the Thantophobic is aware of this, he or she may try to avoid situations that trigger the fear.

Symptoms

Fear of death that causes breathlessness, extreme sweating, dryness of mouth, sickness, trembling, heart palpitations, confused state of mind, a feeling of disconnection from reality, a fear of losing control, or a total panic attack.

Diagnosis

As Thanatophobia is a very complex issue that may have various possible sources, it is important to get it diagnosed by an experienced mental health doctor. This diagnosis may involve the questioning of the sufferer to find out the causes of the problem. Once the symptoms are clearly examined, the patient will be prescribed an appropriate treatment course.

Treatment

Apart from the symptoms, the treatment also depends on the subject and his/her purpose of going for the therapy. Depending on these factors, various treatments can be used. This includes talk therapy solutions that range from psychoanalytic to cognitive behavioral. Also, the subject can be given auxiliary religious counseling and other therapeutic alternatives in parallel to the main treatment.

Sociophobia - Causes and Treatment

Sociophobia is the frequent and strong fear of taking part in social situations that require the facing of people. Often such fear is accompanied by certain signs of anxiety like sweating and trembling. Sometimes the phobia may be so strong that it can lead to a full-blown panic attack. And as the subject comprehends that the fear is disproportionate, he/she tries to avoid social situations altogether.

What Causes Sociophobia

Sociophobia is not a disease that hits people all of a sudden. Actually it is a deliberate interpersonal action that is derived from the overprotection of the self from seeming social threats. Or in simple words, Sociophobics have a fear of people that is totally uncalled for. Sociophobia can cause great distress when the subject feels that their social objectives of emphasizing their desires or getting the appreciation of others is highly impossible. As a result, the sociophobic may find it too difficult to participate in daily social activities.

How to Treat Sociophobia

There are various behavioral and cognitive treatments available for effective changing the behaviors of sociophobics. The treatments may include learning new ways of controlling the fear and to reduce the awkward bodily responses and anxiety, or teaching social skills to give confidence in social situations. Another common method is psychodynamic therapy or other talk therapy that addresses the root causes of the social anxiety.

What is Acrophobia?

Acrophobia refers to fear of heights. People suffering from Acrophobia experience a panic attack when in high places. They will get very nervous and agitated to climb down for safety. Acrophobia causes a spinning sensation when the sufferer looks down from heights this may even cause them dizziness. Although at the beginning the patient may fear only abnormal heights, at latter stages Acrophobia might even become worse to the level of being afraid to climb ladders or even on a chair!

Causes of Acrophobia are similar to that of other phobias i.e. conditioning of mind from childhood. The past traumatic experiences that involved heights have its effects embedded in the subconscious and get revealed at later stages. The other aspect of Acrophobia according to the newer nonassociation theory is that the fear is in born and cannot be reversed with the help of treatments. Nonassociation theorists also argue that Acrophobia is a basic instinct found in almost all mammals. However, researches are still on and physicians and psychiatrists hope that Acrophobia is like any other phobia and can be cured if treated wisely. Parental care and parent’s knowledge of Acrophobia can very much prevent this condition from occurring to their children. This is why most- common-phobias.blogspot.com tries to educate its visitors on most common phobias that could be easily prevented.

What is Achluophobia?

Achluophobia is the fear of darkness and is commonly found among children as well as timid adults. The major reason for Achluophobia is their childhood fears that were registered in their minds. Parents often frighten their children for many reasons, and darkness comes handy for them as children can’t see the actual reality and only start imagining the descriptions of their guardians. The common terms used to grow Achluophobia include monsters of the darkness, insects, and other nocturnal supernatural beings. This kind of fear gradually registers itself in the subconscious and becomes a phobia with tremendous effects on the personality of the child. When these children grow up in to adults Achluophobia only gets strengthened and leads to bad dreams, nightmares and the like. People suffering from Achluophobia will often have symptoms like anxiety, nervousness, insomnia and profuse sweating. This can be treated if the patients with Achluophobia give their full cooperation. It is wise on the part of parents not to instigate such fears to prevent their children from acquiring Achluophobia.

Most Common Phobias & the Causes of Phobias

Who discovered phobia is an age old question with no clear answers till now. Although phobias started to exist along with the evolution of humankind, no one really knows who exactly discovered it or what the causes of phobias are. However there are traces of its mention even in the age old writings of Plutarch. Many scholars have tried to explain the causes of phobias without much success. It was during the 20th century that the great psychologist Sigmund Freud suggested that phobias were the result of the excessive exploitation of oppression and displacement defense mechanisms.

This explanation of Sigmund Freud is being widely accepted by the world even though there isn’t enough proof! Most of the explanations on phobias still remain a hypothesis. Modern psychoanalysts prefer to go with Freud and Jung when it comes to psychological explanation or the causes of phobias. When it comes to exploring the causes of phobias, there are several factors that induce phobias. The two main reasons I deduced include instigation of the fear of men and that of God for mere subjugation of subordinates.

Common causes of phobias with examples include punishment of children for disobedience and punishment of after life in case of adults that ignore religious laws! In short, most common phobias are nothing but the result of psychological conditioning of subordinates to keep them under control.

In the spiritual realm, it is widely believed that the supernatural power that controls the earth uses phobias as an instrument to subjugate the strong willed humankind. Most religions even the most benevolent ones like Christianity instigate the fear of Hell to make its followers abide by the God given laws! The conclusion is that most common phobias do not occur naturally but are created and administered by the humankind itself.