PHOBIC ANXIETY DISORDER Anxiety is a normal phenomenon, which is characterized by a state of apprehension or uneasiness arising out of anticipation of danger. Normal anxiety becomes pathological when it causes significant subject distress and impairment of functioning of the individual. Anxiety disorders are abnormal states in which the most striking features are mental and physical symptoms of anxiety, which are not caused by organic brain disease or any other psychiatric disorder. A phobia is an unreasonable fear of a specific object, activity or situation. Thisirrational fear is characterized by the following features: • It is disproportionate to the circumstances that precipitate it. • It cannot be dealt with by reasoning or controlled through will power. • The individual avoids the feared object or situation. In phobic anxiety disorders, the individual experiences intermittent anxiety which arises in particular circumstances, i.e. in response to the phobic object or situation. Types of Phobia • Simple phobia • Social phobia • Agoraphobia Simple phobia (Specific phobia) Simple phobia is an irrational fear of a specific object or stimulus. Simple phobias are common in childhood. By early teenage most of these fears are lost, but a few persist till adult life. Sometimes they may reappear after a symptom-free period. Exposure to the phobic object often results in panic attacks. Examples of some specific phobias: • Acrophobia-fear of heights • Hematophobia-fear of the sight of blood • Claustrophobia-fear of closed spaces • Gamophobia-fear of marriage • Insectophobia-fear of insects • AIDS phobia-fear of AIDS Social phobia Social phobia is an irrational fear of performing activities in the presence of other people or interacting with others. The patient is afraid of his own actions being viewed by others critically, resulting in embarrassment or humiliation. Agoraphobia It is characterized by an irrational fear of being in places away from the familiar setting of home, in crowds, or in situations that the patient cannot leave easily. As the agoraphobia increases in severity, there is a gradual restriction in normal day-to-day activities. The activity may become so severely restricted that the person becomes self-imprisoned at home.

1. • F40 Phobic anxiety disorders
• F40.0 Agoraphobia
• .00 Without panic disorder
• .01 With panic disorder
• F40.1 Social phobias
• F40.2 Specific (isolated) phobias
• F40.8 Other phobic anxiety disorders
• F40.9 Phobic anxiety disorder, unspecified
•

2. PHOBIC ANXIETY DISORDER
• Anxiety is a normal phenomenon, which is characterized by a state of
apprehension or uneasiness arising out of anticipation of danger.
• Normal anxiety becomes pathological when it causes significant
subject distress and impairment of functioning of the individual.
• Anxiety disorders are abnormal states in which the most striking
features are mental and physical symptoms of anxiety, which are not
caused by organic brain disease or any other psychiatric disorder.

3. • A phobia is an unreasonable fear of a specific object, activity or
situation. This irrational fear is characterized by the following features:
• It is disproportionate to the circumstances that precipitate it.
• It cannot be dealt with by reasoning or controlled through will power.
• The individual avoids the feared object or situation. In phobic anxiety
disorders, the individual experiences intermittent anxiety which arises
in particular circumstances, i.e. in response to the phobic object or
situation.

4. F40.0 Agoraphobia
• It is characterized by an irrational fear of being in places away
from the familiar setting of home, in crowds, or in situations that
the patient cannot leave easily.
• As the agoraphobia increases in severity, there is a gradual
restriction in normal day-to-day activities. The activity may
become so severely restricted that the person becomes self-
imprisoned at home.

5. • The lack of an immediately available exit is one of the key
features of many of these agoraphobic situations. Most sufferers
are women and the onset is usually early in adult life. Depressive
and obsessional symptoms and social phobias may also be present
but do not dominate the clinical picture. In the absence of effective
treatment, agoraphobia often becomes chronic, though usually
fluctuating.
F40.0 Agoraphobia

6. F40.1 Social phobias
• Social phobias often start in adolescence and are centered around a
fear of scrutiny by other people in comparatively small groups (as
opposed to crowds), usually leading to avoidance of social
situations. Unlike most other phobias, social phobias are equally
common in men and women.
• They may be discrete (i.e. restricted to eating in public, to public
speaking, or to encounters with the opposite sex) or diffuse,
involving almost all social situations outside the family circle

7. • Direct eye-to-eye confrontation may be particularly stressful in some cultures.
• Social phobias are usually associated with low self-esteem and fear of criticism.
They may present as a complaint of blushing, hand tremor, nausea, or urgency of
micturition, the individual sometimes being convinced that one of these secondary
manifestations of anxiety is the primary problem; symptoms may progress to
panic attacks.
• Avoidance is often marked, and in extreme cases may result in almost complete
social isolation.
F40.1 Social phobias

8. F40.2 Specific (isolated) phobias
• Simple/Specific phobia is an irrational fear of a specific object or
stimulus. Simple phobias are common in childhood. By early
teenage most of these fears are lost, but a few persist till adult life.
Sometimes they may reappear after a symptom-free period.
Exposure to the phobic object often results in panic attacks.

9. Examples of some specific phobias:
• Acrophobia-fear of heights
• Hematophobia-fear of the sight of blood
• Claustrophobia-fear of closed spaces
• Gamophobia-fear of marriage
• Insectophobia-fear of insects
• AIDS phobia-fear of AIDS