Xenophobia - Fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers

Fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers is termed as Xenophobia. Those with Xenophobia finds it difficult to go for shopping, to office or even to travel in a public transport service. Though Adults with this phobia understands that the fear is irrational, even thinking about such a situation makes them panic.

Symptoms
Dry mouth
Clammy hands
Sadness
Fear
Anger
Anxiety
Guilt, Hurt
Nausea
Increased rate of breathing and heart beat
Sweating
Some may even avoid social gatherings

causes
Negative experiences in the past is considered as the most common cause of Xenophobia. Thos ewith a tendency to fear and anxiety, those who are high strung, oe with adrenal insufficiency is likely to be Xenophobic. An embarassing moment in the past or certain characteristics like abnormal shyness, self esteem, ignorence, prejudice, lack of self confidence are all reasons to cause anxiety and there by trigger phobia.

Treatment
Most important of all treatments is behaviour therapy. This helps to gain confidence, make your mind calm and to regain happiness. It also helps to overcome fear, sadness, guilt, anger etc. By this negative sources causing fear is identified and replaced by positive thoughts. Counselling, talk therapy areall very effective in treating Xenophobia. Anti anxiety medications can help to reduce anxiety associated with this phobia. Hypnotherapy helps to change your mindset which cause panic on facing a situation where foreigners are involved. But some are not at ease with hypnotherapy even though it is safe and fast. Neuro Linguistic Programming is another method by which the reason of phobia is re constructed and thus eliminated or minimized. Energy psychology is the most effective method which is rapid, safe, cost effective and long lasting. It can be called emotional acupuncture as treatment is done with out needle. In this method pressure is applied on our energy points. This method changes behaviour and thought patterns quickly and develops skills useful in all situations.

Links
http://www.ofear.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=4473
http://www.ehow.com/how_2060112_cope-xenophobia.html
http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/xenophobia-treatment.html
http://business.iafrica.com/news/221710.htm
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/x/xenophobia/intro.htm
http://www.changethatsrightnow.com/problem_detail.asp?SDID=726:1926
www.tac.org.za/community/xenophobia

Carcinophobia - extreme fear of contracting cancer

Carcinophobia is the extreme fear of contracting cancer. This is a very rare form of phobia and those affected will always get worried any sort of negative bodily symptoms. Those with Carcinophobia believe that cancer is contagious. This can deteriorate the quality of life and patient gets isolated from society and relatives.

Symptoms
Headache
Washing hands frequently after meeting a cancer patient
Feeling of dread
Anxiety
Rapid breathing or difficulty to breath
Sweating
Queasiness
Panic attack

Cause
Some people are apprehensive about ill effects of cancer and when they see a cancer patient they feel that the whole environment is cancerous. Self Neuro Linguistic Programmes are very effective as they change patients mental structure for a healthy life. With self NLP patient feels that cancer is not death and this helps to think positively also. Patient must have a strong wish to get rid of phobia. Behaviour therapy is also effective. Anti anxiety medications can be given along with therapies to supress symptoms of phobia. Hypnotherapy is one of hte most effective forms of treatment. In hypnotherapy patients mind set is changed. It is very effective and needs only short period of time. This method is safe and less expensive also. More over hypnotherapy is non-invasive. In thia method fear dissociation along with anxiety relief techniques are used. Erickson hypnotherapy is a method in which indirect suggestions are given to patients who are anxious about what they have said during hypnosis. This method can be used to treat multiple phobia aslo. Medications for anxiety and depression are likely to cause side effects.

Links
http://10-most-common-phobias.com/anxiety/history-treatments-for-anxiety?d340e070
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/69621_top-10-most-common-phobias
http://www.iampanicked.com/anxiety-articles/list-of-phobias.htm
http://www.biomedexperts.com/Abstract.bme/11360416/Vulvar_syringoma_causing_pruritus_and_carcinophobia_treatment_by_argon_laser
http://common-phobias.com/Carcino/phobia.htm
http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowPDF&ArtikelNr=131103&Ausgabe=237344&ProduktNr=224177&filename=131103.pdf
http://www.neuro-vision.us/Articles/carcinophobia-treatment-with-hypnosis.html
http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/carcinophobia
http://10-most-common-phobias.com/fear-of-cancer

Claustrophobia - Fear of enclosed places

Claustrophobia is the fear of enclosed places. This anxiety may be due to any other general phobias or because the person is claustrophobic. In a Claustrophobic anxiety is developed under certain situations and hence it is a situational phobia. A person with this phobia might find it difficult to be in a car, elevator or in a closed room. In some cases even seeing a closed door can cause panic and anxiety. Person will be isolated from society and this can cause depression.

Symptoms

Those suffering with Claustrophobia might experience nausea, lightheadedness, hyperventilation, fainting, increased heart beat, sweating, fainting, shaking, fear of physical harm etc. while enclosed in a room or even in an elevator.

Causes

For persons with bitter childhood experience this phobia may occur. Those who were stuck in an enclosed place and had some unpleasent experience may get affected by this phobia. such experiences can even cause panic attack. Those with general tendency towards anxiety and fear, those having high strung character and those suferring from adrenal insufficiency and likely to be affected by this phobia.

Treatment

Though there is no specific treatment for this phobia symptoms can be cured and thus brought under control. Psychiatrists will be of great help in this. Behaviour therapy, exposure therapy etc. are found helpful. In behaviour therapy the particular reason for anxiety is detected and by way of positive thinking and visualization feeling of danger with particular situation. Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a more effective therapy in which patients preconceived view of danger is destroyed. Flooding and Counter-conditioning are exposure therapies and in Counter-conditioning behaviour therapy and relaxation techniques are used. Psychoeducation, Virtual reality exposure, Breathing exercises, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Relapse prevention, Modelling etc are als ofound effective in treating Claustrophobia. MR Imagining is another method in which midazolam spray is administered intranasal. Among medicines Anti depressents and beta blockers are used to prevent panic attacks. Tranquillisers, anti depressants and beta blockers, benzodiazepines,xanax, Valium are also given to patients. But all these medicines are likely to cause side effects. Above all support from relatives and friends is very necessary for those with phobias.

Alternative Medicines

Hypnotherapy, Homeopathy and Natural herbal medicines are also useful to treat phobias. In Hypnotherapy your subconcious programmes that causes fear is minimized and this helps to bring anxiety under control. Natural herbs like Passiflora incarnata, Scutellaria laterifolia (Scullcap) and Valerian helps tp release from fear while Hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) balances the serotonin level and reduces the anxiety. Natural herbs usually promote sense of well being and soothes uneasy nerves. Most attractive part is that these medicines does not have any side effects. Meditation, Yoga, breathing techniques, muscle relaxation etc are also very effective. Energy psychology is yet another emerging method which is fast, effective, safe and long lasting. It can be called as emotional acupuncture as it concentrates on relaxing pressure points.

Links

http://www.disease-condition.com/symptom-treatment/claustrophobia.htm

http://www.nativeremedies.com/ailment/dealing-with-claustrophobia-info.html

http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/what-are-the-symptoms-of-claustrophobia.html

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/c/claustrophobia/treatments.htm#latest

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Claustrophobia?OpenDocument

Agoraphobia - Fear to be alone

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is a condition in which person tries to avoid places where chance of help are less, or places causing anxiety to him. This phobia usually starts at the age of 20 to 25. Those suffering from agarophobia are afraid of panicking situations. They will start avoiding such occassions and might become house bound. They are in need of a companion at all times. Agarophobia may lead to some other specific phobias or panic disorders. They might get isolated from society and might affect interpersonal relations or job perfomance. They will have rigid thinking also.

Symptoms

Fear to be alone
Feel of helplessness
Need of companion
Fear to lose control in public places
Geting dettached from others
Becoming housebound
Avoiding places where help is difficult
Feeling oneself that their body or environment is unreal
Anxiety attack
Agitation with trembling
Fainting
Chest pain
Nausea
Choking
Numbness
Dizziness
Skin flushing
Sweating excessively and High blood pressure
Fear of death

Causes

This is a condition that arise from facing panic creating situations repeatedly or anxiety causing places. Some might be feeling fear or discomfort rather than panic. Those with a family history of phobias may have these symptoms. Women are affected more and this is a condition that accompanies other panic disorders. It happens to those with a general tendency to fear and anxiety, those characterized high strung or to those with adrenal insufficiency.

Treatment

Systematic desensitization or method to get relaxed and imagining anxiety causing things might help.Exposure to such situations is another method. To get rid of symptoms one may use anti depressive or anti anxiety medicines. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) like Paxil, Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) like venlafaxine (Effexor)are given to patients. paxil is the primary choice and Effexor is used in severe cases. Benzodiazepines are prescribed when anti depressents does'nt help. Along with drugs certain behavioural therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Pleasant mental imagery, Relaxation techniques are also fond useful. Councelling also helps to deviate from the thoughts that lead to anxiety or panic. Changing the life style with exercise, enough rest and sleep along with good nutrition is also effective.

Alternative medicines

Medication and Yoga are another methods helpful with medicines. This helps to regain confidence and to get relief. Homeopathy refers to certain medicines like pure calm is useful in cases of panic attack. Hypnosis by an expert hypnotherapist will help to understand the root cause of phobia and it is easy to treat when you know the cause. But in all cases this is not useful as every one cannot be hypnotised.


Links

http://www.iampanicked.com/anxiety-articles/agoraphobia-treatment.htm

http://www.panic-and-agoraphobia.com/

http://www.changethatsrightnow.com/agoraphobia.asp

http://ezinearticles.com/?Different-Kinds-Of-Agoraphobia-Treatment&id=791167

http://pages.infinit.net/drnayman/agorapho.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000923.htm

http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/agoraphobia?utm_medium=ask&utm_source=smart&utm_campaign=article&utm_term=Agoraphobia&ask_return=Agoraphobia

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000931.htm#Definition