MIND & BODY WITH LEANNE HALL
PHOBIAS Around 11% of Australians are affected by a phobia – yet how many of us would actually confront the fear and try to overcome it? Leanne meets an arachnophobe, Eleni, and sends her on the gruesome journey of confronting and accepting, the creepy crawlies. Will her days of crying at the mention of the word ‘spider’ become a thing of the past? And can she be freed of her fear to the point of holding a hairy spider in her hand? Leanne explores the treatments available for Eleni and thousands of phobia sufferers liker her.
FAST FACTS • • • • • • •
Around 11 % of Australians are affected by a phobia. People with phobias are aware their fear is irrational but feel their anxious reaction is automatic and uncontrollable. Phobias can range from the peculiar (fear of balloons) to the common (fear of enclosed spaces). Arachnophobia, fear of spiders, is one of the more common phobias, and is said to affect 5-‐10 % of the population. Despite the number of deadly spiders in Australia, no spider bites have caused death here since 1981. Spiders are less life-‐threatening that snakes, sharks or bees. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the most commonly used therapy for phobias
Sources: http://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-‐facts/anxiety/types-‐of-‐anxiety/specific-‐phobias ; http://museumvictoria.com.au/spiders/fact_fiction.aspx http://www.adavic.org.au/PG-‐articles-‐spiders-‐and-‐you.aspx http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2012/08/australian-‐spiders-‐the-‐10-‐most-‐dangerous/
ABOUT PHOBIAS A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in actuality, poses little or no danger at all. Common phobias include heights, closed-‐in places, needles, dentists, snakes spiders, public speaking and flying. A phobia sufferer will go to great lengths to avoid the fear even if it means inconveniencing themselves greatly. Usually phobias form in childhood but can also develop in adulthood. People with a phobia know they are overreacting yet feel powerless to control the fear. Looking at or even just thinking of the object/situation can induce anxious feelings. When the sufferer is then exposed to the thing they fear, a surge of fear, terror and panic emerges almost instantly. Physical symptoms can include: trembling, nausea, crying, racing pulse, perspiring, difficulty breathing, feeling lightheaded or dizzy. Overcoming the Phobia: The first step is to understand it and how it has developed over time. The phobia usually has started in childhood instigated by an upsetting experience with the object/situation eg. Being bitten by a dog as a toddler might set up a fear of dogs for life. Other times it may have been handed down from a parent. Research reveals that children of moderate to severely depressed parents are up to 3 times more likely to have an anxiety disorder, and a phobia, than children of non-‐depressed parents.* The fear is entrenched in the subconscious, and is a part of a set of beliefs and thought patterns also heavily entrenched in the individual’s mind. When to seek help for a phobia: A lot of people have phobias, and it’s important to seek help if a phobia is impacting daily life. If a phobia is interfering with normal daily activity, keeps a person from doing something they would normally enjoy, then professional help should be sourced. The difference between a fear and a phobia: It is normal for us to feel fear in dangerous situations. Fear can act as a way of protecting ourselves activating the ‘fight or flight’ response in situations. With our minds and bodies on full alert, we can respond quickly to protect ourselves. With phobias however, the danger is exaggerated or non-‐existent. Eg. Fearing a snarling German Shepherd is rational but fearing a playful Cocker Spaniel is irrational. Source: http://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-‐facts/anxiety/types-‐of-‐anxiety/specific-‐phobias
LEANNE’S FEAR OF HEIGHTS While our Mind and Body expert Leanne does not have a phobia, she does have a fear of heights. She took up the challenge of walking out onto a glass-‐viewing platform that sits 268 metres above Sydney city. The Skywalk experience at Sydney Tower is something which anyone can do and daunting enough with or without a fear of heights! Sydney Tower: www.sydneytowereye.com.au Skywalk runs from 10:00am to 8:00pm October – April and 10:00am to 7:00pm May – September and costs $69/adult and $45/children.
ELENI’S ARACHNOPHOBIA Eleni is a stay-‐home mum with two small children, who suffers from a debilitating fear of spiders which has been evident since she was little and grown worse over the years. She can’t recall an incident that sparked off her fear, but over time the strength of her fear has escalated dramatically. Should Eleni sight a spider in a room in the house, she avoids entering that space for days afterwards. The mere sight of a spider overwhelms her with a sense of dread, fear and trembling and sometimes crying. Just the discussion of spiders makes her hair stand on end. Both Eleni and her husband realise that if this fear is not dealt with soon then their children are likely to inherit the same fear and habits. Eleni also fears what could happen one day should she sight a spider in a risky situation such as in the car while driving. To understand the strength of Eleni’s arachnophobia, Leanne arranged to meet her at Melbourne Museum’s Live Bugs Exhibit. Eleni’s fear prevented her from entering the museum. Leanne was determined to find Eleni a professional therapist trained in dealing with phobias who could help and lead her on the path to combating her arachnophobia.
Melbourne Museum http://museumvictoria.com.au/ Adults $12/adult, $10/students & concession, kids 16 years and under free
PHOBIA THERAPIST: DR SIMON CRISP Dr Simon Crisp has been a practicing Clinical Psychologist for 25 years and has advanced qualifications and expertise in child, adolescent and family psychology. This training includes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Family Therapy. Simon has been a lecturer in post-‐graduate Counselling and Ethics & Professional Issues at Monash University and at the School of Business at La Trobe University. Simon is a frequent conference presenter nationally and internationally, and runs courses, professional development and supervision for mental health professionals and teachers. www.neopsychology.com.au
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) involves both cognitive therapy and behavioural therapy. ‘Cognitive’ refers to thought patterns and ‘behavioural’ to actions. In CBT the patient learns new skills and strategies for coping with the feared object or situation. They are taught different beliefs and how to develop control over thoughts and feelings. Patients are expected to be active in their own therapy so they are fully involved in the sessions and practice ‘homework’ tasks. Therefore it is more a ‘doing therapy’ rather than a ‘talking therapy’ and the relationship between patient and therapist is like a partnership. Why is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy so popular? • •
It has been practiced widely for over 30 years and is the most commonly used. therapy for specific phobias. It has been extensively investigated and clinically trialed with empirical support.
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It is structured and goal oriented to help with short term and long term goals. Its strategies can be applied to dealing with other problems. It can be just as effective as medication. It requires active involvement by the patient so the patient is more likely to stick with it.
Exposure Therapy Usually exposure therapy is part of a CBT plan. To overcome the fear, the client must be exposed to it – gradually and repeatedly in a controlled way. A list of situations is made, graded from least frightening to most frightening from 1 to 10. During each stage the patient learns to ride out the anxiety and fear until it passes. Through repetition, the patient tries not to panic nor flee the situation and realizes the worst is not going to occur. They become desensitized and eventually comfortable, the phobia loses its power and the next stage can be dealt with. During the process the patient learns coping mechanisms to handle their fear. This ‘fear ladder’ must be practiced regularly to work effectively and can be done at home. NB: should the patient feel overwhelmed then they need to back off and focus on learning how to deal with such feelings or wait until they can work with a therapist. Source: http://www.anxietyaustralia.com.au/exposure-‐therapy/
OVERCOMING ELENI’S FEAR
Eleni attended a series of sessions with Dr Crisp at his practice in Hawthorn, Melbourne, where she undertook some CBT and exposure therapy. After each session Eleni was assigned homework tasks such as examining a set of spider photos, sticking the photos around the house in various locations and handling a fake rubber spider. It has been hard for Eleni but Dr Crisp’s reports are positive claiming that good progress has been made. But will Eleni manage coming face to face with live spiders inside the same Live Bugs exhibit she could not go near just months ago?
LEANNE’S TAKE HOME INFO
Phobias can be dealt with and overcome. Should a phobia affect daily activity, then it is recommended to seek professional help with a therapist trained in dealing with phobias. Consult your general practitioner but information can also be found on these websites: http://www.australiacounselling.com.au/mental-‐health-‐articles/anxiety/phobias-‐what-‐are-‐you-‐afraid/ http://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-‐facts/anxiety/types-‐of-‐anxiety/specific-‐phobias
When considering treatment, be aware there is a wide range of different therapies available. As well as CBT, other therapies include: hypnotherapy, neuro-‐linguistic programming, eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, energy psychology and virtual reality therapy. Self-‐support techniques include meditation, yoga, strength training and proper nutrition. Medications can be taken but they will treat only the symptoms and not the underlying causes. Also available is an iPhone app, Phobia Free, which was introduced this year. This is a free iPhone app designed by qualified psychiatrists with clinical experience in treating phobias and anxiety. The app applies the ‘systematic desensitization’ process and is designed to help people deal with spiders in real life. There are ten games which have life-‐like encounters with them, starting off with a cartoon-‐like spider called ‘Itsy’ which gradually changes into a more realistic and scary looking spider. Sessions one to three are desensitization sessions before moving up to pictures of a ‘low fear spider’. By session seven the user is faced with an image of a virtual Tarantula which looks and behaves like a real one. Once the final session is reached, the user should be able to take photos of real spiders using their iPhone. http://virtually-‐free.com/about/
WEBLINKS www.neopsychology.com.au http://museumvictoria.com.au www.sydneytowereye.com.au www.thegreenscorpion.com.au http://virtually-‐free.com/about/
