Dr. Rosen is a Board-Certified Psychologist, the Founder and Director of The Center for Treatment of Anxiety and Mood Disorders, and Founder of The Children’s Center for Psychiatry Psychology and Related Services.
Simple and Complex Phobias
What Are Phobias?
Phobias are the most common type of anxiety disorder. Through this disorder, a person experiences extreme or irrational fear of an animal, object, place, or situation. Most people develop subtle fears throughout their lives; they'll ask a spouse to kill a spider rather than doing it themselves or avoid roller coaster rides that take them to unusual heights. Such fears cross the line into phobia when a person begins to organize their life around avoiding the things they fear.
There Are Two Types of Phobias That Can Affect A Person's Life:
Simple phobias can produce a variety of reactions from their victims, ranging from mild anxiety to severe panic attacks. These types of phobias have a particular focus such as:
A specific object
Particular animals, or
Specific activities
Examples may include a fear of dogs, spiders, going to the dentist, being in enclosed spaces, a fear of heights, or flying.
Complex phobias, on the other hand, are a deep-rooted fear about a particular circumstance. A victim of a complex phobia may experience conditions such as:
Agoraphobia — the fear of going out in public, or
Social phobia — the fear of embarrassing oneself or being humiliated in public
Who Is At Risk?
In most cases, simple phobias begin to develop in childhood, usually between the ages of 4 and 8. In the majority of people, these phobias will disappear or lessen as the sufferer moves into adulthood. Complex phobias, on the other hand, usually begin later life, between the teenage years and early adulthood. They often continue for many years, severely affecting the victim's life.
Why Is It So Important To Seek Help?
Sufferers of anxiety disorders, and specifically phobias, are challenged on a day-to-day basis by situations that can be mentally and emotionally crippling, especially if the thing they're afraid of is a regular part of their life. A person with social phobia, for example, might find their job is at risk because the fear that they'll make a mistake and be embarrassed paralyzes them on a regular basis. They might do their best to keep a low profile in the office or even stop showing up completely. If you or someone you know experiences a phobia that affects them to such an extent, it's important to seek help as soon as possible.
What Is The Treatment For Phobias?
Relief for simple and complex phobias is typically found through psychotherapy. A therapist may recommend desensitization or self-exposure therapy, through which the patient is gradually exposed to the animal, object, place, or situation they fear most. For complex phobias, talking therapies or counseling is often most effective. In this type of therapy, people often participate in cognitive behavior therapy, which helps them focus on changing the thought patterns and behaviors that have been promoting their phobia rather than helping to diminish it.
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