Introduction
A phobia can be defined as an uncontrolled and irrational fear of specific items, activities, animals or individuals. People suffering from phobias usually suffer from anxiety attacks when they find themselves in or close to the situations, objects or the individuals they have fear of (Hall 2).
Phobia in children
School Phobia
Some school going children may suffer from anxiety whenever they are within the vicinity of their schools; such children may show symptoms of restlessness, fatigue or isolate themselves from other children. In my view, young children between the ages of 6-8 may experience phobia of their surroundings because they are in a new and different setting, compounded with the fact that they are no longer with their parent and this leads to separation anxiety. Older children above the age of 8 years tend to experience phobia in schools on a more social level and this pertains to issues such as self esteem, being unpopular, academic or even physical performance. In my opinion, this can lead to bullying or nicknaming which is traumatizing for the child and may eventually lead to school phobia.
Home Phobia
In some cases children may actually have a phobia for their own home due to several reasons. Such children will want to stay longer at school or are usually the last ones to go home after all other children have left. In my view, the manifestation of such phobia is a telltale sign that domestic issues are at play; such issues could be abuse from parents or guardian, divorcing parents, domestic violence, alcoholism, among others. The death of a parent or pet or the arrival of a new baby may also cause a child to have anxiety attacks whenever they are at home.
Phobia in adults
Adults are prone to manifest different and complex types of phobias than children since they have the propensity to have a broader memory and experience than children in terms of dangerous and tragic encounters. As I view it, this predisposes adults to more critical types of phobias depending on their experiences. However, most phobias that manifest in adults are either as a result of social problems or trauma and are discussed as below:
Social
The fear of associating with others takes different dimensions in many phobic individuals, but the common denominator is the anxiety experienced when in close contacts with other people. The trigger of such phobias may be due to personal preferences and mentality towards others or could be members of a controlled group. For example, women who are exposed to sexual harassment from their superiors or their colleagues will become anxious whenever they enter the premises. Other individuals may be claustrophobic, having an extreme fear of tight spaces like lifts and whenever they enter one, they experience nausea, dizziness, general weakness and a fast heartbeat.
Trauma
Trauma is primarily responsible for most of the severe phobia cases reported in adults. In my own opinion, individuals who undergo harrowing experiences tend to constantly remember them either consciously or subconsciously through dreams and in such cases victims of traumatic events go through this experience over and over again in their minds. This makes it difficult for them to forget and as such tend to avoid the precursors or modes of the trauma. For example, if a passenger plane crashes in the ocean, survivors are likely to experience both the fear of flying and the fear of large bodies of water. Therefore, even though the air or water means of transport are available, cost effective or faster, a survivor will travel by road instead of air or sea.
Works Cited
Hall, Lynn. “The Definition of phobia.” Phobia Help. 2010. Web.