The 7 Differences Between A Phobia And Normal Fear
Everyone has felt fear more than once, and it is normal. It is an emotion that has guaranteed the survival not only of the human species, but of all animals with brains.
Knowing how to identify a situation that may involve danger for the individual is necessary to be able to get away from it and, thus, avoid its harmful consequences. However, sometimes it may be the case that the response given to a stimulus seen as threatening is exaggerated, and this is when we talk about a phobia.
What are the differences between a phobia and normal fear? Let’s find out a few lines below.
Before going into more detail about the main differences between the concepts of fear and phobia, it is necessary to describe both terms briefly.
First of all, It is understood as fear of the emotion that is manifested in the face of a situation that may be threatening to the individual Normally, in the majority of cases in which it appears, it does so almost innately, without the need for prior learning about the threatening situation. Others, however, through experience, learn which situations should be feared, given that they can put the person’s integrity at risk.
Fear, like all the emotions that make up the broad human emotional spectrum, has a very important adaptive function, its purpose being guarantee the survival of the individual
Phobias, on the other hand, are considered unadjusted patterns of behavior. They imply a very high degree of fear, too high in relation to the stimulus that is feared. What causes this phobia can be anything and is usually acquired, either through trauma or vicarious learning.
Many psychologists consider, from the perspective of psychoanalysis, that the origin of phobias occurs during childhood, especially during the phallic stage (from 2 to 5 years). At this stage, the child develops strong anxiety when experiencing an unpleasant event causing it to apply a very strong self-defense mechanism that, eventually, will be the phobic disorder.
Below we will see the fundamental differences between phobia and fear, as well as what factors may be behind them, their importance at a psychopathological level and the associated responses.
1. Degree of control
Fear is not an emotion that facilitates rational thinking, however, it is still a survival mechanism, which allows us to act quickly and decide what to do to ensure that the harmful stimulus is avoided.
Within cases in which there is no psychopathology, the emotions are our responsibility, that is, can learn to control Fear is no exception.
It is possible to have a certain degree of control over this emotion, while still being aware that you are facing something that can be harmful, but keeping in mind that the more clearly you think, the more efficient you will be when dealing with it.
On the other hand, phobias, as psychopathological as they are, They imply enormous difficulty in controlling both their emotional intensity and the ability to think coldly of the person.
Whether one is facing the feared stimulus or just thinking about it, the person completely loses control over their thinking, seeing how truly terrifying ideas invade their mind.
2. Physiological signs
It is normal for some physiological signs to appear when faced with a scare, such as tachycardia, sweating or even tremors. However, The signs shown by people with a phobia of a specific stimulus are very intense
The physiological reaction in these cases can be overwhelming, with gastrointestinal problems such as nausea and dry mouth being very common, as well as excessive sweating, chest pain, dizziness and even headache.
It should be noted that the signs that cause fear occur in the face of the feared situation, while in the case of phobia, simply thinking about the phobic stimulus or talking about it favors the occurrence of all the symptoms described here.
When faced with a real threat, the normal thing is to prepare to flee or prevent the factor that could be harmful to us from getting worse.
For example, if a dog chases us down the street, a clearly feared situation, the most logical option and proportional to the threat is to either escape or attack the animal before it does it to us.
On the other hand, in the case of phobia, the response to the stimulus is totally disproportionate regardless of whether we are really dealing with something that could harm the physical and mental integrity of the person or, on the contrary, something harmless.
The person can scream, cry, completely lose their rationality, attack the people around them… the behaviors carried out by the person with a phobia can be of all kinds and almost none of them can be considered adaptive.
4. Intrusion into daily life
Everyone is afraid of something, but Normally this emotion does not imply a serious degree of affectation in the routine given that in most cases the feared situations are not common.
For example, everyone is afraid of being eaten by a shark, but, really, how many chances are there that we will come across a shark swimming on the beach?
In case there is a possibility of finding themselves in a dangerous situation, most human beings take the necessary precautions to avoid such a situation, and life goes on as normal.
In the case of a phobia, the fear of facing the feared situation is such that the person You can initiate a series of comprehensive changes to your entire routine causing their well-being to be harmed, just to avoid being faced with the phobic stimulus.
For example, a person with arachnophobia may avoid passing through a park on the way to work, despite it being the shortest route, or enjoy hiking with friends simply because they are afraid of encountering a single spider.
Thus, the person develops a wide repertoire of strategies that give them a certain feeling of security, but at the cost of their standard of living and their development as a person.
Normally, everyone is afraid of practically the same stimuli. To give a few examples, it would be being in front of a lion, walking through a marginal neighborhood at night, being in front of people with a violent appearance…
There are many situations in which the vast majority of the human population would not like to find themselves. Instead, In the case of specific phobias there is a greater degree of individual differences There are phobias for everything: cockroaches, snakes, sex, glass…
It is in this type of anxiety disorders where you can see more clearly how there are stimuli that are practically harmless for the majority but a small group of the population has a fear of them that is not at all adaptive or proportionate.
6. Memory of the feared situation
Normally, when a situation or stimulus that generates adaptive fear is remembered, the person is able to remember the memory intact, without distortions or exaggerations, even if it involves a certain degree of emotionality, such as anxiety.
In the case of phobia, however, given that the person feels a high physiological and psychological activation, prefers to avoid evoking the memory Block the part of memory where the feared situation is found.
7. Psychopathology
Last but not least, the fundamental difference between normal fear and phobias must be clarified.
Fear, as we have already indicated throughout this article, implies a response pattern that is within the normal range, and has an adaptive function: guaranteeing the person’s survival in the face of a threat.
Instead, Phobias are considered disorders within the group of anxiety disorders Phobias usually occur in situations that are not very real or that really involve a negligible degree of threat and, therefore, are not adaptive.
As disorders, they involve a series of symptoms at a psychological level that normal fear does not manifest, the main one being distorted thinking regarding the phobic stimulus, in addition to not facing it or thinking rationally about its degree of real danger.
