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Specific phobia

Phobia specifica · Specifická fobie

What it is

Intense, out-of-proportion fear of one thing — animals, heights, blood, injections, flying — that drives avoidance; about 1 in 10 people have one, and it is among the most treatable conditions in psychiatry.

Symptoms & signs

  • Immediate fear on exposure or even the thought of it
  • avoidance
  • panic-like attacks
  • fainting in blood-injection phobia
  • knowing the fear is excessive

🚩 Get help if…

  • see a doctor soon Fear stops you getting needed care — injections, scans, dentist, flights
  • see a doctor soon Fainting at the sight of blood or needles
  • see a doctor soon Panic attacks outside the feared situation
  • see a doctor soon Drinking or taking pills to face the fear

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Exposure therapy — a single three-hour session helps most trials support
  • CBT
  • applied tension for blood-injection phobia (prevents fainting)
  • Benzodiazepines before flights — relief, but may blunt learning from exposure mixed evidence

Natural & lifestyle

  • Gradual self-exposure
  • slow breathing and relaxation

Emerging & experimental

  • Virtual-reality exposure
  • D-cycloserine to boost exposure — trials disagree mixed evidence
  • propranolol to weaken fear memories

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Hypnotherapy — small trials mixed evidence
  • Bach flower remedies — no better than placebo in anxiety trials not confirmed in trials
  • Eye-movement desensitisation (EMDR) — small studies early / small studies

ICD codes