Phobias and post-traumatic stress: how to face and understand the discomfort

What are phobias? These make up a type of anxiety disorder, which manifests as an intense and extreme fear of a situation, animal or feeling.

In general this fear is irrational in nature, but its intensity is such that it leads people to avoid facing and interacting with the environment in a safe way as much as possible.

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classifying phobias

There are many types of phobias; however, science has grouped them into two categories to understand their nature.

Simple or specific phobias

They develop in childhood or adolescence. Its origin lies most of the time because the individual faces an extreme situation, understanding his psychic scope, leading him to experience a very uncomfortable situation and triggering psychic defense mechanisms avoidance that lead the individual to assume resistance and radical blockade against the initial stimulus and trigger of Fear, Anxiety or Distress.

Among the examples of simple phobias we find phobias towards animals, environmental ones that refer to all those stimuli that are in the environment such as heights, water, depth, darkness, medical environments, among others. Body phobias are related to that intense, irrational and paralyzing fear of blood, bodily fluids, injections. There is a group of sexual phobias, which manifest high indicators of anxiety specifically about sexual performance.

Finally, we find situational phobias such as flying, public speaking, visiting some hospital-type environments and other places that can be very specific.

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complex phobias

Complex phobias tend to develop in adulthood, causing the same crippling effects associated with extreme anxiety contained within the body. Complex phobias generally tend to have a much more debilitating effect. in the person who suffers from it, generating a significant impact on their quality of life, since it distances the person from some environments permanently, having a profound impact on the mental health of the individual.

The most commons are social phobia (fear of social exposure to a greater or lesser extent) agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces).

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How do I know if I have a phobia?

Whoever suffers from a phobia usually tends to manifest symptoms associated with anxiety such as palpitations, sweating, dizziness, severe dizziness, labored breathing, debilitating muscle tremor, pain abdominal; among other bodily symptoms and psychological symptoms such as blockages. Some people only express symptoms if they are faced with the guarantor stimulus of their phobia, while other people just thinking about that stimulus tends to trigger all the symptoms that underlie anxiety.

The causes of phobias can be very different, they may even be completely unrelated. Clinical cases have been studied that show that at the genetic level there is a predisposition that would facilitate the development of the disease. The environment plays a very important role, since we know that children learn by modeling.

Therefore, there are phobias learned in a social way, generally children exposed to punishing parents and with a tendency to extreme fear, they either develop a type of personality very similar to that of their parents, or in contrast to this it reveals itself and becomes the opposite extreme. It should be noted that genetics and upbringing are also explained in isolation and are related to the environment. Extreme situations that cause trauma can trigger post-traumatic stress and followed by a phobia.

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post traumatic stress

Post-traumatic stress is understood as a triggering consequence that is directly related to a specific situation or trauma experienced by a person or a group of people. The deterioration of mental health is related to the psychic manifestation of each individual and the way in which he manages the perception of the trauma in his life experience and in his reality, leading him or not to make adjustments to reach a calm understanding that facilitates the management of the trauma. Post-traumatic stress is associated with people of all ages, but especially occurs in women.

It manifests itself with the following symptoms:

• Re-experiencing the traumatic event
• Avoidance of trauma-related stimuli
• dulling of mind
• hyperarousal state

All people have experienced fear, since this phenomenon is associated with the subjective perception that the subject has in their own environment; however, in extreme situations where life and integrity are put at risk, a far-reaching impact is generated at the psychic level. People with PTSD often have the same symptoms associated with the triggering event over and over again.

The experience becomes a cycle where the event and the emotions associated with the event occur over and over again and hardly ever stop if the person does not seek help clinic that facilitates managing the psychic universe, from the structure of the unconscious and the consciousness that inhabits it to process the trauma.

Acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder are two different clinical diagnoses., the latter is characterized by a greater precipitation and duration of symptoms around the trauma.

how to treat it

In general, these types of problems require professional help, from a clinical perspective, by a specialist who accompanies you in the management of symptoms, identifying the stimuli that trigger psychological discomfort and preparing the individual to give new meaning to the perception they have of the traumatic event or events.

The symptoms associated with anxiety are generally accompanied by an educational and close therapeutic model, where the perception of trauma is changing and relaxation techniques, conscious breathing, cognitive restructuring are used... Or even more complex processes such as hypnosis, which have been shown to have a very positive impact on the lives of people who suffer from this type of diagnoses.

It is very important to understand that the brain has a neuroplasticity mechanism, which facilitates the learning and relearning processes. The unconscious processes, being timeless, allow new perceptions to be entered around the same situation; that is why it is recommended an accompaniment aimed at repeating the traumatic event, that allows to shape the perception around a situation.

If you believe that you have any of the symptoms described, it is very important that you seek professional help, a person to facilitate the process, and to allow yourself to live a life away from the distorted memory associated with the trauma; No matter how complex the situation may have been, your brain is prepared to generate new ideas, perceptions, emotions and stories associated with well-being.