by Edward Moses

Created on: December 21, 2009   Last Updated: December 22, 2009

LIFE WITH PHOBIA

“My mind is on a constant roller coaster ride. I can never quiet my thoughts. These thoughts are so repulsive to me that I go through intense feelings of anxiety and panic. When these thoughts begin, I feel like the world is closing in around me. My body begins to shake and my nerves become raw. I get instantly dizzy and feel like I could faint at any moment”

                  These words expressed by a patient at 4.00am shortly after awaking from a deep sleep, underlies the intense urgency and fear experienced at the time. The patient was describing an Acute Phobic Reaction, often called a Panic Attack, one of the most common forms of anxiety disorders.

                     The word “Phobia” is a term used to describe a persistent, irrational fear that causes a person to feel intense anxieties. It affects people of all ages and all intellectual, income and social levels. It has no respect of geographic or racial differences. They are the most common psychiatric illness among women of all ages and the second commonest among adult men.

                  Although they may be associated with global triggers, they are most often identified with a single one or group which appears to be consistently present. Sometimes the trigger may be easily identified such as heights, enclosed spaces, darkness or specific insects or animals, but most of the time it is not easily identified because of intense emotional involvement.  In fact these triggers may arise from any aspect of human behavior or association and more than 100 have been identified and named.

                 The response may vary widely from a mild symptom, easily managed and not causing significant inconvenience, to a full blown panic attack with severe manifestations such as restlessness, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeats, profuse sweating and uncontrollable shaking. In extreme cases these symptoms can immobilize the patient to such an extent that they become prisoners in their homes.

            A variety of theories have been offered

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