People often want to know what the difference between a fear and a phobia is.  After all a phobia is a fear so how do they differ?  The difference is that a phobia is an irrational fear whereas fear itself can have a rational cause when there is a genuine threat.

Fear is an emotion that we experience when we are up against a situation that causes us to doubt our ability to cope.  If we came face to face with a man wielding a knife late at night it would be rational for us to experience fear us we would feel at risk of being attacked.  A phobia of spiders on the other hand is irrational as a tiny little spider can’t possibly harm you.  A fear of spiders has no logical reason.  That’s what makes it a phobia because it’s irrational.

People with phobias know that their fear is irrational but that doesn’t help make their fear any easier to control.  A person with a phobia will experience levels of fear totally out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the source of their fear.

Fear is an important survival instinct as it allows us to recognize when we are in danger so that we can get out of harms way.  But extreme fears and phobias can have a debilitating effect and stop people from living normal lives.  They can undermine a persons self confidence and can cause them embarrassment.  Phobias are not mental disorders or illnesses.  They are just irrational fears.

Phobias fall under several different categories.

Simple phobias are those where just the sight of something such as a spider will trigger fear.

Complex phobias are phobias where there are lots of different fears altogether at the same time.  The fear of flying is a complex phobia as the person might be afraid of several things such as crashing, feeling enclosed and they may fear losing their mind.

There are also social phobias where people are scared of things going wrong whilst in the company of other people.  They may be worried about looking stupid, saying the wrong thing or not having anything to say at all.

Panic attacks can result if a person’s fear is so intense that they start to feel that they are losing control or fear that they are going to die.  If you experience panic attacks then you should be assured that they can’t harm you despite how scary they feel.  Nobody has ever died as the result of a panic attack.

Agoraphobia is a very common phobia.  This is a complex phobia that many people mistakenly believe to be a fear of open spaces.  Agoraphobia is in fact the fear of finding oneself in a situation that is impossible, difficult or embarrassing to escape from.  People who suffer from agoraphobia often have a safe zone in which they can live within without experiencing fear.  Going beyond the limits of their safe zone may cause them to start to feel anxious and panic.  In extreme cases of agoraphobia a person might be too scared to even leave their own home.

The good news if you suffer from fears and phobias is that you can get over them.  They don’t have to control your life.  Some people with phobias believe they need to be able to remember what caused their phobia in order to get over it.  But this is not necessary.  There are some very effective self help programs available for teaching people how to overcome phobias such as  The Linden Method and Panic Away.

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