Phobia of the Day: Cyberphobia

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: Cyberphobia is an extreme fear of computers. 

Someone with this type of phobia may experience an intense fear of using a computer or being around computers. They may avoid going to places (like an office or school) where there might be computers. 

Symptoms of Cyberphobia may include:

• Depression.
• Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
• Mental illness such as delusional disorder or schizophrenia.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Other phobias or a history of phobias in your family.
• Panic attacks or panic disorder.
• Substance abuse disorder.

SELF-CARE TIPS FOR PHOBIAS THAT BRING ON ANXIETY

• Talk to someone you trust. 
• Learn to manage panic and anxiety. 
• Look into joining a support group. 
• Use self-help resources. 
• Take a course for your specific phobia.

THIS WEEK’S LIST:

Saturday, 17 December – Ataxophobia

Friday, 16 December – Astraphobia

Thursday, 15 December – Anthophobia

Wednesday, 14 December – Bibliophobia

Tuesday, 13 December – Koinoniphobia

Monday, 12 December – Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

RECENT PHOBIA WORD POSTS:

Sunday, 11 December – Chloephobia

Saturday, 10 December – Globophobia

Thursday, 8 December – Chrometophobia

Wednesday, 7 December – Anemophobia

Tuesday, 6 December – Amaxophobia

Monday, 5 December – Zuigerphobia

Do you have a phobia you suffer from that you’d like to share?

If so, send an email to info@thesouthafrican.com or a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211 and we’ll publish the ones that we feel are most interesting!

You can also follow @TheSAnews on Twitter and The South African on Facebook for all the latest phobias.