A phobia is an *unreasonable* fear of an object or situation. The key here is *unreasonable*. Everyone would feel fear in a cage with a hungry tiger. Fear, in and of itself, is a healthy emotion. It allows you to recognize and respond to danger. The problem comes in when the fear is far greater than the threat. Let's look at what a true phobia looks like, and some ways you might recognize one.

Phobias generally cause extreme reactions. An object or situation, such as a spider or a tight space, would provoke a serious amount of anxiety and fear. This would likely be experienced as a panic attack, a feeling of tightness in the chest, nausea, spinning, being "unable to think", the sensation of tunnel vision, sudden anger, and a need to escape. Objects or situations that cause phobic reactions tend to do so regularly for the person afflicted. For example, a person with a spider phobia would be afraid of spiders every time, not just once or twice or on occasion.

Phobias vary widely in severity. Take for example, a person with a spider phobia. This spider phobia could range to only being afraid of certain types of spiders, such as Black Widows, to feeling anxiety and panic symptoms whenever they saw or read about spiders in magazines, movies, etc.

Simple phobias, while part of the anxiety disorder spectrum, are not generally considered a mental illness. However, agoraphobia, a subtype of panic disorder, may be severe enough to be considered disabling.

How would you know if you had a true phobia? Well, one way might be to use the criteria a therapist would use. Simply put, is your fear getting in the way of your relationships, work, or school? Or is the fear a big part of what you spend your day thinking about? Are you changing what you do, where you go, or limit your activities because of your fear? If any or all of these are true, your phobia or anxiety is probably something you should take action about.

Therapy for most phobias is exposure therapy. Basically, creating a hierarchy of scary situations and progressively working up through them until they aren't anxiety provoking. For example, in a spider phobia one would start by looking at a spider in a book, going to a museum and observing a spider in a cage, seeing an uncaged spider across the room, and so on until they actually held one. Specific coping and behavioral skills are taught so the person has alternatives to fear and feels confident in handling the anxiety.

While fear is normal, feelings of unmanageable anxiety or terror aren't. Phobias are situations or things that make you so afraid you don't do the things you want or have difficulty in relationships because of the fear they provoke. Treatment is well-defined, effective, and usually short. Treatment can be with a professional counselor or by using one of the many books on the market about overcoming anxiety, fears, and phobias. One need not become a prisoner to their fears.

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