What Keeps Fears And Phobias Going?

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’. Common symptoms of a phobia include:

• Feeling extremely scared of something specific.
• Experiencing immediate and intense fear.
• Trying to avoid the thing that scares you, or enduring it with dread.
• Worrying about encountering the scary thing in the future.
• Being much more scared of something than most people are.

Research studies have shown that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective treatments for overcoming phobias and extreme fears (Hofmann & Smits, 2008). CBT therapists work a bit like firefighters: while a fire is burning,

“One interesting way of thinking about extreme fears and phobias is to look at why, for some people, they don’t get better by themselves. This handout shows some of the most common reasons why some people’s fears persist. I wonder if we could look at it together and think about whether it describes what is happening for you?”

• 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.
• Hofmann, S. G., & Smits, J. A. J. (2008). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adult anxiety disorders: A meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69, 621– 632.