Understanding Fears And Phobias

Everyone feels afraid sometimes. Uncomfortable as it is, fear is an unavoidable part of life. In fact, a little fear can help you stay safe and avoid danger.

However, fear can become so intense, or trouble you so often, that it leads to serious problems. When specific objects, animals, or situations cause intense feelings of fear that are out of proportion to the actual danger, psychologists call it a ‘phobia’. Research indicates that between 3% and 15% of people will develop a phobia at some point in their lives. The good news is that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective psychological treatment for overcoming fears and phobias.

This guide will help you to understand:

• What fears and phobias are.
• Why they don’t get better by themselves.
• Treatments for addressing fears and phobias.

Our ‘Understanding…’ series is designed to support your clients:

• Scaffold knowledge. The guides are perfect during early stages of therapy to help your clients understand how their symptoms fit together and make sense.
• Reassure and encourage optimism. Many clients find it hugely reassuring to know there is a name for what they are experiencing, and that there are evidence-based psychological models and treatments specifically designed to help.
• De-mystify the therapy process. To increase your client’s knowledge of the therapy process and the ingredients that it is likely to involve. If you can help your clients to understand why an intervention is important (think exposure!) it can help encourage them to engage.
• Signposting. If you’re just seeing a client briefly for assessment, or you have a curious client who wants to know more, these resources can be a helpful part of guiding them to the right service.
• Waiting time not wasted time. When you’ve assessed someone

• Eaton, W. W., Bienvenu, O. J., & Miloyan, B. (2018). Specific phobias. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5, 678-686. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30169-X.
• Bandelow, B., & Michaelis, S. (2015). Epidemiology of anxiety disorders in the 21st century. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 17, 327–335. DOI: 10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/bbandelow.
• Seligman, M. E. P (1971). Phobias and preparedness. Behavior Therapy, 2, 307-320. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(71)80064-3.
• Öst, L. G. (1991). Acquisition of blood and injection phobia and anxiety response patterns in clinical patients. Behaviour research and therapy, 29, 323-332. DOI: 10.1016/0005-7967(91)90067-D.
• Menzies, R. G., & Clarke, J. C. (1995). The etiology of acrophobia and its relationship to severity and individual response patterns. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 795-803. DOI: 10.1016/0005-7967(95)00023-Q.
• Olsson, A., & Phelps, E. A. (2007). Social learning of fear. Nature Neuroscience, 10, 1095-1102. DOI: 10.1038/nn1968.
• Öst, L. G., & Hugdahl, K. (1981). Acquisition of phobias and anxiety response patterns in clinical patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 19, 439-447. DOI: 10.1016/0005-7967(81)90134-0.
• Ashton, M. C., Lee, K., Visser,