Where do phobias come from?

Throughout childhood development we are highly impressionable and the most susceptible to the adoption of behaviors exhibited by those around us and our experiences.

However, with the progressions of our developing tendencies and understanding of the world comes some element of apprehension or fear associated with certain specific events, places, things, or memories that induce psychological trauma.

Phobias in particular, are intense fears formed directly or indirectly from a number of factors and can also be learned, as conclusively determined by research.

Tendentious behaviors which may indicate a phobia include the subconscious avoidance of a place or thing at all costs.

There are situations in which the avoidance of a phobia is not possible which can lead to many problems.

The avoidance of specific common fears learned during childhood such as dogs or spiders, can delineate psychological patterns of “modelling”, or learning how to share widely expressed fears of something.

The modeling of a phobic condition can be introduced from factors such as a frequent verbal prohibiting of contact with something labeled or generally perceived as “dangerous”, which may provoke a general perception of something as dangerous.

So in context, since spiders are ubiquitously feared and portrayed as something that should be feared, such as in media and pop culture, a child can conclude that they should also fear spiders despite not having a rational reason as to why they should to begin with. There are also more direct ways in which personal experiences can influence phobic tendencies and behaviors.

Having a truly frightening experience such as being attacked by an animal or person, or facing a life or death situation can have significant effects that can last a lifetime especially when experienced in adolescence.

However, fortunately this phobia source is not experienced by all children and studies have shown a correlation between genetics and personality, or temperament as referred to by doctors.

The silver lining is that ultimately phobias can be avoided as long as there is full support system from friends and family to help the child overcome their fear or cope with a traumatic experience.

Some research also suggests that optimism can help reduce the development of fears and anxiety. Facing a fear can also lead to the most positive results, and striding in small steps to overcome that fear may be the best port of action in order to purge a fear associated with a past distant memory.

IMAGE COURTESY OF MEDICAL NEWS TODAY