Synonym in a broader sense
“isolated phobia”, archnophobia, fear of certain situations, fear of spiders, fear of injections, animal phobia, fear of flying
Definition
Specific anxiety (specific phobia, also known as isolated phobia) refers to the pronounced and long-lasting anxiety reaction that is related to specific objects (e.g. fear of a spider, med. arachnophobia) or specific situations (e.g. fear of being in elevators. med.
claustrophobia). The fear of the affected person refers either to the actual presence of such a stimulus/ situation, or the expectation to see, for example, a spider. As soon as the person is no longer in the anxiety-inducing situation or no longer has contact with the objects that trigger the fear, the person no longer feels fear.
The confrontation (encounter) with the specific stimulus or situation almost always results in a strong fear reaction. This reaction can be similar to the reactions that can occur during a panic attack (e.g. heart palpitations, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, etc.). The specific situations or objects are largely avoided by the affected persons.
If this is not possible, they are only survived with clearly pronounced fear or a feeling of discomfort. The experienced and reported fear and the resulting reactions are strongly exaggerated and not appropriate for the specific situation. At some point during the course of the disease, the affected person also notices that the fear reactions are inappropriate and exaggerated.
However, the exaggeration and inappropriateness of the behavior in the specific situations can hardly be recognized in the situations by the affected person. The persons are not able to control or reduce the fear reactions on their own. The life of the affected person is clearly restricted.
The affected persons often complain about strong impairments in the social (interpersonal), professional and private (e.g. leisure time) area, which are caused by the experienced fears. If the signs of a specific phobia appear before the age of 18, they must persist for a period of at least six months in order for the diagnosis to be made. Since the above-mentioned characteristics of the phobia (avoidance behavior, feeling of anxiety discomfort, etc.) also apply in part to other diseases, it must be ruled out that another mental illness exists in order to make a reliable diagnosis. Possible other diseases that should be considered alternatively are
- OCD
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Social phobia
- Panic disorder with agoraphobia or
- Agoraphobia
