Almost everyone has some notable places, people, or situations where they find themselves discomforted. Life experiences, a lack of understanding, and terrifying anecdotal evidence provided by friends and family members can all influence the feelings we have about finding ourselves in a place that causes a little bit of anxiety and worry.
However, discomfort and dread are different, as are fear and true phobia. Specific phobias are irrational fears that feel uncontrollable and are tied to specific people, places, animals, situations or objects.
For those who are living with a phobia, life can become complicated quickly. For example, for those with a fear of heights, getting promoted from the already worrisome third floor of a business to a corner office on the 6th floor might result in an awkward and embarrassing conversation at best, or possibly a refusal of the promotion. Even discussing why the new space is problematic might in itself induce fear, anxiety, and physical symptoms of stress and panic.
For these kinds of reasons, people who struggle with phobias often find themselves feeling isolated from others, describe feeling out of control, and can even develop other conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as a result.
At Texas Online Counseling PLLC, we work with people through our online counseling services to provide professional support and therapy in the comfort of their own home. Today, we will be exploring what a phobia-related disorder is, who can suffer from them, and how online counseling services can provide hope, help, and strategies for identifying and managing triggers and panic attacks.
What Is A Phobia Related Disorder?
As stated above, a phobia is a type of anxiety disorder that causes someone to experience intense, irrational fear and panic about a situation, person, animal, place, or object. Most of the time, people realize that their fear is irrational, yet cannot control or prevent it, despite their best efforts, which can cause a sense of being out of control.
People with a specific phobia disorder can also experience physical symptoms associated with their anxiety, including but not limited to: shortness of breath, chest pains, cold sweats, and trembling.
Common phobia disorders include those of airplanes, cars, heights, cramped or small spaces, social situations, crowded areas, dental or medical procedures, germs, insects, thunder, animals, and elevators, although a person can experience a phobia of virtually anything, including the sun.
Who Can Suffer From A Phobia-Related Disorder?
No one is impervious to developing a phobia, and the fact that as many as 19 million adults in the U.S. have a specific phobia — that’s just shy of 9% of the adult population, is proof of that. With that being said, as with other anxiety disorders, women are twice as likely to be as affected by a specific phobia as men are.
Phobia commonly begins developing in childhood, with the average age of onset being around seven years old. However, they can worsen over time or even seem to appear out of nowhere late in life.
How Do Online Counseling Services Benefit Me?
Phobias are treatable and they can improve with the help of a professional counselor or therapist. Seeking treatment can be hard for people with phobias who are particularly likely to experience interruptions to their daily routines and, in some cases, experience a reduced desire or confidence to spend more time out of the house than is necessary. In all of these situations, although especially the latter, online counseling is a great option for those seeking help because it offers:
- Complete Accessibility - While there can be many factors that determine your access to professional therapy services in your area, online counseling services avoid these barriers and are an option as long as you have access to a phone or the internet.
- No Waiting - Waiting rooms have an uncanny ability to produce tension and stress along with an undesired sense of wary anticipation for many people. This is another unpleasant aspect of therapy that an online counseling service avoids.
- Affordability - Oftentimes, online counseling services are more affordable than in-person therapy because the counselors don’t have to factor lease or rent into the cost of their services.
- Comfort - For many people with a specific phobia, getting out of the house to make a therapy session might mean risking an encounter with their phobia or another stressful situation. Online counseling services provide help in the environment that you are most at home in — your house.
- Consistency - Missing appointments due to travel, weather, car trouble, or other mishaps can be frustrating, especially when things are coming along well. Online counseling appointments are easy to keep, no matter what else is going on.
Can Online Counseling Really Work?
The answer is: yes, it can, and yes, it does. The success of your therapy is dependent upon the training, skill, and dedication of you and your counselor, not whether you are in the same room or not. At Texas Online Counseling PLLC, we have compassionate, caring, and capable counselors who are trained to help you address your specific phobia.
Schedule An Online Counseling Appointment Anywhere In Texas Today
At Texas Online Counseling PLLC, we can work with anyone in the state of Texas, and we are here for you when you are ready. When that time comes, request an appointment to get started.