Phobias are an extreme or irrational fear of an object or situation and can cause a lot of distress. They can restrict day-to-day life and, in severe cases, an individual may organise their life around avoiding the thing they’re afraid of. If the phobia can’t be avoided entirely, intense anxiety will result.
Around ten million people in the UK are affected by phobias. Phobias don’t care about your age, sex or social background. Anyone can be impacted.
Phobias are often developed in early childhood, teenage years, or even as late as early twenties. Within those early years, negative experiences can snowball in a child’s mind and lead to a very specific phobia.
It’s easy to see how a phobia might develop; for example being stuck in a lift for a few hours as a child can later manifest itself as claustrophobia. Similarly, the impact of a parent or sibling’s fear can have a knock on effect too. This is quite often found with phobias of dogs or spiders for example; where the child has watched the behaviours of their family members, and their behaviours go on to mirror that person.