Are you afraid of small things? Get rid of phobia like this!

The young woman is in her twenties. She may have had minor troubles, but… she seems to have a dream life! A husband who works in software, a cuddly three-year-old daughter, and a city home. But, one day, she suddenly decided to leave this world. The reason… was her fear of ants. Myrmicophobia! Although she was taking counseling to overcome it, she felt that leaving the world was the only permanent way to overcome her fear. She left the people who were in the world. It is natural to feel a variety of emotions after hearing about this incident. It may seem like such a small problem. Even in this day and age, you may feel sad that there is no solution to it. But phobias can happen to anyone. Solving these mind-boggling problems is never easy. Understanding them is essential to identifying them, helping others, and seeking help.

If you are excessively afraid of a situation and try to escape from it, you will end up in even more trouble! It is okay if you experience this once in a while, but if you experience the same state of mind for more than six months, it is definitely a phobia. Symptoms such as heart palpitations, sweating, anxiety, dizziness, difficulty breathing, and chest tightness appear. Phobias are classified into three types.

Specific Phobias: Phobias that occur in a specific situation. Fears that occur when seeing creatures like lizards or cockroaches; when being in an environment like heights or depths; when receiving an injection or being hit; in situations like narrow spaces or flying in the air… are called specific phobias. These usually start in childhood.

Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder): Social phobia is an abnormal fear of social situations, such as speaking in public, eating in front of others, using public toilets. These are not very noticeable in children. However, they start to appear in adolescence when people worry about what others will think of them.

Agoraphobia: Situations that we feel we can’t escape. For example, agoraphobia is the fear of new places, elevators, bridges, and travel. It mostly emerges during adolescence. That’s when we try to survive outside of our home, which we think is safe!

There are reasons!
Phobias don’t just disappear suddenly. There are many reasons behind them.

A bad memory can turn into a phobia. For example, let’s say you were about to fall from a high place and were careful. Even if you forget the incident, it can gradually strengthen into a phobia. Not only that! Events like being chased by dogs and drowning in water can gradually haunt your mind.
Observations from childhood can also lead to phobias. For example, if a family member makes a fuss over a spider, children will slowly follow suit. They will follow the same response without knowing whether it is a danger or whether they should be careful.
It is noteworthy that genes are also a factor in these phobias. It has been found that if there are psychological problems like anxiety in the family, the chances of developing phobias are much higher.
Apart from these, there are also phobias that are inherited from ancestors during the evolutionary process. For example, the fear of snakes and fire is one such example!
Phobias can also be caused by dysfunction in certain parts of the brain. For example, if the amygdala, which controls fear, overreacts, it can lead to phobias such as agoraphobia.
What else to do!
Many times, we dismiss a phobia as a temporary fear. When we see something like a lizard or a cockroach, we scream and run away. But if something is preventing the phobia from growing, we should not ignore it. If it persists for more than six months, such as skipping school, not traveling, or falling behind in social relationships, we should not ignore it. If it continues, then symptoms such as frequent trembling, heart palpitations, loss of appetite, depression, thoughts of suicide, extreme behavior, and addictions to overcome fear may also begin. It should be understood as a time to see a doctor. Fortunately, these can be overcome! Usually, these fears arise from misconceptions and experiences. If you try to correct them, phobias will also disappear. There are many effective treatments available for that.

Exposure therapy: This exposure therapy involves gradually and repeatedly exposing the person to the situation they are afraid of. For example, for people who are afraid of spiders, this therapy, which involves first showing them pictures, then videos, and then a real spider, is said to be 90 percent effective.
Virtual Reality Exposure: Using headsets and 3D screens to provide experiences like heights, flying, and thunder to help alleviate these fears.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: This therapy, which replaces fearful emotions with rational thoughts, is said to have very positive results.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): This therapy is used when you want long-term, lasting results rather than immediate ones.