Specific phobias have the earliest average age-of-onset of all anxiety disorders. Specific phobias involve a very strong anxiety response to a particular cue that is excessive to the danger involved. Common examples include fear of spiders or cockroaches, paruresis (anxiety-related difficulty with urination), fear of driving, emetophobia (fear of vomit), or fear of blood or needles. Most people in treatment have had these fears for many years, often since early childhood, and only seek treatment when the fear begins to impair their daily lives. Common precipitants of treatment are living in environments with feared objects like roaches, or the necessity of medical or dental work for physical health. Fortunately for those with a specific phobia, treatment has one of the highest efficacy rates in all of clinical psychology when fully completed.
Interested in treatment for a phobia? Read more about our clinical services or our phobia treatment model.