Anxiety and Phobias
A person with a phobia has very strong symptoms of anxiety or panic and they have to quickly get out of the situation that they are in at that time. They only arise in particular situations that scare them and other times they feel fine with no anxiety at all because that threat of whatever phobia they are suffering from is not around. These phobias will lead the person to avoid those situations at all costs because they know the anxiety levels that they cause, but unfortunately this causes the phobia to become worse as time goes on. Phobias also interfere with the person’s life because they will allow the phobias to dominate their lives by avoiding the situation because of fear. The phobia sufferers know that these fears are silly and there is no real danger but they are not able to control them. If you develop a phobia after a trauma or distressing event, it will most likely disappear after giving yourself time to heal mentally and physically.
At least one out of every ten people will have troubles with anxiety or phobias at one point in their lives but most will never seek treatment but everyone will experience anxiety, fear, or a phobia sometime in their lives. These experiences and dealing with anxieties are necessary in children in order to handle the unsettling experiences and unsettling challenging situations in their life, but it is when the children aren’t taught to cope with them that they escalate into an anxiety disorder. This is when there is a serious cause for concern that arises in the child’s physical, social and mental life and mental health professionals need to be consulted.
Children, as well, as adults, have to learn how to rate a fear and visualize if the fear is truly as intense as they feel it is and this will enable them to face these with more confidence. These with anxieties need to learn coping techniques. One good technique is to approach the feared subject and venture out to it and then return to your comfort zone as soon as the phobia starts stirring emotions inside. Then repeat this venture while visualizing peaceful and less stressful things that you enjoy plus practicing deep breathing techniques also.
These phobias and anxiety disorders are very hard to tolerate not only for the one suffering from them but also for those around them; especially if the fear is hard to avoid like thunderstorms, etc. As with a child, much reassuring, understanding, and other measure, you can help the child resolve the fear, phobia, or anxiety without much hindrance of daily activities and they child will not need professional help. It is very important to help your child build self-confidence and therefore be there for them so you can help them resolve these matters before they can get way out of hand and thence produce anxiety attacks.
