Signs Of A Phobia

Everyone feels nervous. Oftentimes, someone will experience an episode of anxiety. However, while some of the fear that exists to promote these nervous or anxious feelings may be considered irrational, they are generally quite explainable. For example, someone might be nervous or anxious about giving a speech. The unconscious reasoning for that fear may be due to a worry that they might mess up while speaking and face ridicule or embarrassment by their peers. While that result may not occur, it is still a rational fear to be had.

This is where phobias and nerves or anxiety differ. Phobias revolve around irrational fears of an object or something. There are numerous phobias out there, but it can be difficult to differentiate the symptoms of a response to a phobia than that of nerves. To help, here are symptoms regularly attributed to phobias.

Difficulty Breathing

Considering phobias cause a person to experience many of the same symptoms as a panic attack, many individuals will realize that those symptoms are incredibly similar when responding to a trigger for that phobia. In this regard, difficulty breathing is a common symptom those that are in the grips of an episode of fear from their phobia experiences. Their heart rate is usually quite escalated, and as a result, their lungs have to work overtime to deal with all of the excess blood and adrenaline rushing through their body. They may find it difficult to keep up with the body's demands, and as a result, the person in question feels as though they cannot breathe. For those who have a phobia of strangulation or just not being able to breathe in general, this could exacerbate the issue and cause difficulty for the person to calm down from the episode.

Next, discover another common phobia sign that an individual can experience.

Rapid Heartbeat

When fear sparks in the brain, the 'fight or flight' response is activated. Adrenaline fills the body, muscles contract, and the entire system is poised to either fight the source of the fear or to run from it. This is a survival instinct shared among most animals. The body requires a great deal of energy to burn for this response, and as a result, the heart is working a great deal to keep the body poised to fight or retreat. In fact, a rapid heartbeat is often the first sign of a phobia. If a person examines something that causes them great fear, their heart starts to pound in response to it, and that survival instinct is switched on. Because of how the mind works, when it detects a rapid heartbeat and the response of the body, in turn, you can become very aware of the condition of your body. This may only further increase the rate of your heart and cause the problem to worsen. So, if you ever look at or experience something and your heart suddenly starts to increase its pulse, you may be experiencing an episode from a phobia.

Continue reading to learn how fear can affect your everyday life.