Most people have a tiny fear of something, whether it be spiders, cramped quarters, or even the ocean. Most of the time, these worries don’t interfere with a person’s daily activities much, if at all. They may even be regarded as “reasonable” or rational.
However, if your fear is so strong that it keeps you from doing things you normally would (even if the threat is small), this is typically seen as an unreasonable fear or phobia. Irrational concerns can be crippling, and even though you are probably aware that the dread is unfounded, you may find it difficult to control your emotions and face your fears.
It can be exhausting to experience an illogical fear or phobia, and it can negatively impact your mental health and quality of life. Keep reading to learn more about phobias and how to manage them if you’re battling with an illogical fear and want to find out how to get rid of it.
Recognizing Unfounded Fears
Fear comes in two major flavors: irrational and logical. Realistic outcomes of a certain circumstance are what rational concerns are concerned about. This can include a fear of heights due to the possibility of danger or a phobia of snakes due to the possibility that they are venomous and could harm you if they bite you.
These are common phobias that, while irrational at the time, are built into us for rudimentary survival. They are related to the fight-or-flight response that practically everyone experiences, although most individuals aren’t disturbed by them unless they are directly faced by the stimulus.
To avoid these situations, a person typically wouldn’t alter their routines or behaviors; for instance, they might not avoid boarding an airplane because they are afraid of heights.
However, irrational worries aren’t always sensible and can seriously interfere with a person’s day-to-day activities. They are excessive and frequently unjustified because the threat is negligible or nonexistent, but the individual who has the phobia may go to great efforts to avoid the object of their fear.
Traumatic experiences during childhood frequently lead to the development of irrational anxieties. If a dog bit you as a child, for instance, it makes sense that you might be wary or even afraid of dogs for the rest of your life. However, if you actively avoid going outside for fear of seeing a dog out walking, this might be deemed unreasonable given that most dogs don’t directly endanger your safety or well-being.
The fear of heights is another unreasonable phobia. Although having a fear of heights is common, it would be regarded as a phobia if it were to be so severe that it prevented you from accepting a position in an office on the fourth floor.
Irrational phobias can also include more obscure things like a dread of cotton wool, sleeping, or microscopic holes. Whatever the fear, the trait that makes it irrational is that it interferes with a person’s life more than is reasonable.
Disorders of anxiety and fear
Because phobias and irrational fears are a sort of anxiety disorder, having a particular phobia may cause you to feel extremely nervous and manifest in any or all of the related symptoms.
It’s crucial to distinguish between phobias and other sorts of anxiety disorders. For instance, rather than having an illogical fear, you can have a social anxiety disorder if you discover that you worry excessively about being in social situations or being judged in commonplace circumstances, like going to the store.
Separation anxiety is another instance of an anxiety disorder that could be mistaken for an irrational fear. While it’s normal for young children to panic when their parents disappear, it would be less normal for an adult to experience the same emotion. This could indicate higher levels of anxiety that could disrupt a person’s daily life. This is separation anxiety rather than a phobia.
Despite the fact that there are numerous varieties of fear and anxiety disorders, many of them exhibit the same signs and symptoms, including shortness of breath, trembling or fidgeting, heart palpitations, and hot or cold flashes.
Fear and anxiety disorders have a variety of causes, including genetics (those with a family history of anxiety disorders may be predisposed to developing one), issues with the brain’s fear circuits, environmental factors, and difficult life experiences.
An anxiety or fear problem can be diagnosed by a doctor, but it’s crucial to try and be honest about how you’re feeling and whether it’s interfering with your daily life. This will aid in locating the best course of treatment.
Symptoms of Irrational Fear
If you have an irrational fear or phobia, you might suffer a few typical symptoms, some of which may be physical and others of which may be more emotional. The more a person thinks about or is exposed to the source of their fear, the more symptoms of their phobias or anxieties they experience.
The following are some of the most typical bodily signs of an unreasonable fear or phobia:
- Shivering (often excessively)
- Shaking
- chest discomfort or tightness in the chest
- higher heart rate
- breathing difficulties or problems
- bursts of heat and/or cold
- dizziness or a feeling of being lightheaded
You may suffer some emotional symptoms in addition to physical ones, such as:
- feeling the need to leave a situation immediately or urgently
- being paralyzed by anxiety
- experiencing a loss of control
When a person has an illogical fear, they may suffer a variety of symptoms, and the fear itself may also have an effect. For instance, it’s well known that people with phobias of blood, injection, and damage may actually pass out when they see blood or a needle, in contrast to someone with an unreasonable fear of the ocean who is probably not going to pass out at the sight of water.
Treatment for Irrational Fear and Phobia
There are various treatments you might try if you have an illogical phobia. Each patient’s treatment is unique, but exposure therapy is a wonderful place to start. In order to do this, you must face your phobia head-on in a secure setting. For instance, exposure therapy will push you to confront a spider if you have an unreasonable fear of them, albeit there may be some measures taken beforehand through cognitive behavioral therapy.
You might start by learning more about spiders because this sort of therapy aims to alter the way you think. After that, you might be asked to examine images of them before eventually getting to hold one. Because avoidance of the source of your fear frequently makes it worse, exposure therapy is regarded as one of the greatest methods for treating phobias. The final result is that you won’t exaggerate the dread or allow it to interfere with your regular life by changing the way you perceive the cause of your anxiety through this.
Getting Support for an Irrational Fear
It might be difficult to deal with an illogical fear, but you’re not alone and there are treatments available to help you get over your phobia and recover control. Get in contact with SOZO Centers right away if you’re having trouble with an illogical phobia. Our team is completely equipped and trained to assist you in learning more about irrational fears, Telehealth for anxiety, their causes, and what you can do to reduce them.
