Lots of children suffer from irrational fears and anxieties, which can be difficult for foster parents to cope with. Phobias are intense and irrational fears that can have a profound impact on a child’s daily life. Here are some of the most common childhood phobias, their causes, and how foster carers can support foster children […]
How can a specific phobia impact on a person’s life?
A specific phobia can have a significant impact on a person’s life by causing intense fear and anxiety in response to a specific trigger or situation. This fear and anxiety can interfere with a person’s daily activities and ability to function normally in their environment. For example, a person with a specific phobia of dogs […]
What would cause someone to have a fear of certain animals?
A fear of animals and insects is a common phobia in the population. The development of a phobia to animals and insects occurs as follows…a fearful stimulus is transmitted to a part of the brain called the amygdala. As an example, let’s say you are stung by a bee. Being stung is a noxious stimulus that […]
How are phobias caused biologically?
Phobias (also known as specific phobia) are triggered by a stressful or fearful experience or object. This fearful sensory input is then sent to the amygdala (the fear processing center of the brain), where it ‘remembers’ the fearful stimulus. The activated amygdala also starts the cascade known as the fight or flight response, where the sympathetic […]
How Specific Phobia Evolves- The Negative Cycle of Specific Phobia
Previously, we had discussed how anxiety evolves from the negative cycle of anxiety: triggers lead to thoughts about the situation or event, which lead to anxiety, which lead to avoidant behaviors which maintain the negative cycle of anxiety. When anxiety starts to disrupt your life, then an anxiety disorder may emerge. Anxiety disorders are divided […]