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Thursday, April 28, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Phobias can disrupt life but desensitization helps Psychologists help eliminate fears
By Mary Neubauer Special to the Kansan
The most important thing to remember about phobias is that they are treatable, a Lawrence psychologist said recently.
Joyce Everhart, the psychologist,
said counseling for phobias was worth the time it took because many require only short-term therapy.
"A person may have suffered from a phobia for 20 years when he could have been cured," she said.
Everhart said that a phobia was defined as a specific and irrational fear that interfered with a person's ability to perform an object an activity or a situation.
"The individual recognizes that it it's irrational but still feels real fear," she said.
Phobias are grouped into three categories, Everhart said.
Agoraphobia, the fear of open places, is the most common and the most severe, she said. Stemming from an unpleasant experience, agoraphobia usually appears in the late teens to early 20s. Some examples are the fear of being alone and the fear of being in a public place where no help will be available, Everhart said. Some of these fears cause attacks of panic, depression or anxiety.
"Many people suffering from agoraphobia decide not to go to an event ahead of time." Everhart said. "This causes problems with their social lives and can escalate to the point where they could be afraid to go out of the house."
Everhard said treatment for agoraphobia involved practice. Someone talks the patient through the situation and then walks through the actual scene with him. Encouragement from friends helps the patient during therapy.
The second category, socialphobia is the fear of being in a social situation. The phobia stems from childhood anxiety caused by a poor sense of self. Everhart said. Signs of it may appear in the form of fear of public speaking or performing, fear of restrooms or fear of eating in
public.
"Many have this to a minimal degree and don't seek treatment." Everhart said. "The first time you give a speech or the first time you go out with someone you've met, you'll probably slight socialphobia. Someone who would need treatment is one who has to give a speech and gets so upset he can't."
Practice helps most people in treatment of socialphobia. Self-relaxation techniques such as taking 10 deep breaths or relaxing every part of the body also help. Everhart said.
"If these techniques don't work, you should seek help," she said. "A specific example of a treatment would be when a person's phobia stems from one bad speech. She can be led to remember the good aspects of her other speeches. This is called systematic desensitization."
The third category, simplephobia, refers to the fear of specific things or objects, such as the fear of insects, fear of heights or the fear of snakes. The onset varies, Everhart said, because it usually stems from a specific unpleasant experience. Self-reflexation and systematic desensitization help treatment of this phobia, she said.
Stanley Smallwood, Kansas City, Kan., senior, experiences fear of death, a form of simplephobia.
"Death is unknown, and no one can tell you about it; they can only speculate." he said. "We don't know why death or spirit that goes on after death.
"I was 4 or 5 years old when my grandfather had a heart attack. We were in the kitchen eating breakfast, and because I was a little kid, we didn't wash his chest, I grabbed his chest, fell to the table and didn't move when we touched him."
Smallwood said funerals made him wonder where the spirit or soul went after death. He wants to know if the spirit is still in the room, if death is painful, if he will go quickly.
"I try to rationalize fear through questions." Smallwood said. "This leads me on a continual search that helps me become more aware of
fear.
"One time I took two Motrin 600 tablets, and I felt myself go numb all over. I couldn't talk, and I couldn't make myself come out of the effect of the tablets. It was like a simulation of death."
Laura Elliott, Kansas City, Mo. freshman, experiences fear of insects, another form of simplephobia...
"When my family was on vacation in Texas, there were nets near a swimming pool that bit me and left scars," she said. "I know my fear is irrational, but at the time I see a bug, it makes me wonder."
Elliott said that nothing helped her deal with her fear, and that she just had others kill the bugs for her.
"I'm getting to the point that I can kill the very tiny ones, like gnats, myself," Elliott said. "But spiders, I have too many legs for me." They have too many legs for me."
have to treat them.
All three types of phobias are treatable, Everhart said, and for most people there is a cure.
"The extent of the cure depends of the severity of the trauma," she said. "The more severe the trauma, the more long-term the recovery."
Everhard said an individual should check with a physician before seeking therapy to see if there was a physical reason for the reactions.
"Someone in a mall experiencing shortness of breath and numbness could be having a heart attack instead of a reaction to a phobia," she said.
Students on a limited budget can seek treatment. Everhart said.
"On campus, they can visit the Sight Clinic, the University Counseling Center or Watkins Hospital," she said. "The Community Mental Health has a sliding scale based on the ability to pay. Insurance covers students going to any of these places as well as private practitioners."
Everhart added that a minimal amount of anxiety symptoms were normal as long as they didn't interfere with one's life.
here with one of them. "Symptoms tell us it's healthy to know we're coping with life's phobias," she said.
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