A Phobia presents itself in a number of categories and is a source of fear and anxiety for a person.

A phobia is an anxiety disorder involving fear of a situation or object. Image: Phobia Stock Photos

Phobia of the Day: Thanatophobia

A phobia is an anxiety disorder involving fear of a situation or object. Exposure to the source of the fear triggers an irrational response.

by Arnold Charles

12-06-2023 08:59

in Offbeat

A phobia is an anxiety disorder involving fear of a situation or object. Image: Phobia Stock Photos

A phobia is an anxiety disorder involving excessive and persistent fear of a situation or object. Exposure to the source of the fear triggers an immediate anxiety response.

Most specific phobias fall into one of four major categories:

Fears of the natural environment
Fears related to animals
Fear related to medical treatments or issues
Fears related to specific situations

Phobia of the Day: Thanatophobia refers to the fear of death. Even talking about death can be hard.

Thanatophobia is not a mental health diagnosis on its own. Rather, someone who has a fear of death or a fear of dying would receive a diagnosis of a specific phobia from a mental health professional with the understanding that thanatophobia was the issue of concern. The symptoms of specific phobias like thanatophobia include extreme fear and active avoidance. Some of the most common symptoms of thanatophobia include:

Notable fear or anxiety about a certain situation, object, or item related to death and dying. For some, it could be going to hospitals, hearing about another’s illness, or reading the obituary section in the newspaper.
Thoughts of death create this powerful reaction immediately and consistently
The person goes to great lengths to avoid death, thoughts of death, knowledge of other people dying, and seeing death on TV
The fear of death is not proportional to the actual situation with the person having strong reactions to minor stressors