Phobia News and Research

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Fears are a common part of an individual’s life. However, a phobia is more than a simple fear. It starts and develops into something massive when the affected person begins to organise their life around avoiding the feared object – be it an animal, insect, place, situation or just about anything.

Study finds most psychiatric patients have more than one diagnosis

A new study by Rhode Island Hospital researchers reports that the majority of 2,300 psychiatry outpatients had more than one disorder when seeking treatment, and more than one-third had at least three disorders.

15 Jan 2008

Anxiety raises heart attack risk

We all know that people with a Type A personality and an off-the-charts hostility level may be courting a heart attack.

8 Jan 2008

Link between asthma and depressive disorders found

Young people with asthma are about twice as likely to suffer from depressive and anxiety disorders than are children without asthma, according to a study by a research team in Seattle.

6 Nov 2007

Antibiotic that appears to control phobias may also be useful in treating addiction

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory provide further evidence that a drug known as D-cycloserine could play a role in helping to extinguish the craving behaviors associated with drug addiction.

6 Nov 2007

One sniff may clear away that awful phobia!

Scientists from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, have found that a simple nasal spray may help people deal with irrational fears.

23 Oct 2007

Mental disorders are disorders of the brain

Depression, anxiety disorders such as panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorders, alcohol and drug dependence, dementia and Parkinson's disease are just a few examples of "disorders of the brain".

17 Oct 2007

What's wrong with being shy?

What's wrong with being shy, and just when and how did bashfulness and other ordinary human behaviors in children and adults become psychiatric disorders treatable with powerful, potentially dangerous drugs?, asks a Northwestern University scholar in a new book that already is creating waves in the mental health community

12 Oct 2007

Panic attacks may increase risk of heart attack or stroke in older women

Older women who experience at least one full-blown panic attack may have an increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke and an increased risk of death in the next five years, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

2 Oct 2007

Fear protein found

A University of Iowa study shows that loss or chemical inhibition of a protein, known as acid sensing ion channel protein (ASIC1a), reduces innate fear behavior in lab animals, making normally timid mice relatively fearless.

2 Aug 2007

Discovery of molecular mechanism behind fear

Researchers from MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have uncovered a molecular mechanism that governs the formation of fears stemming from traumatic events.

16 Jul 2007

Emotional memories can be suppressed with practice

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows people have the ability to suppress emotional memories with practice, which has implications for those suffering from conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression.

13 Jul 2007

Zimulti (rimonabant) gets the thumbs down from FDA advisory panel

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. have unanimously voted that the federal agency should refuse approval for a new weight loss drug.

14 Jun 2007

Research reveals that a greater volume of grey encephalic matter exists in the brain areas of the right parahippocampus

A study undertaken by researchers of the Universitat Jaume I of Castellon (UJI), the Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona (UAB) and the company Eresa reveals the existence of a different anatomy in small areas of the brain which could help explain why one same stimulus triggers anxiety in some people and not in others.

9 May 2007

Pregnant U.S. women commonly smoke

While pregnancy may be considered an effective motivator for smoking cessation, results of a new study by researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health indicate that pregnant U.S. women commonly smoke, placing themselves and their unborn children at risk for health and developmental complications.

25 Apr 2007

Substantial need for mental health services in the general population

First large-scale assessment of the general population shows nearly 30 percent need mental health care and about one-third of them get it.

3 Apr 2007

Mood changes in response to psychosocial stress in healthy young women: effects of pretreatment with Cortisol

German researchers have found additional evidence that the stress hormone cortisol can have positive effects in certain situations.

12 Feb 2007

Anxiety disorders linked to thyroid disease, respiratory disease, arthritis and migraine headaches

Anxiety disorders appear to be independently associated with several physical conditions, including thyroid disease, respiratory disease, arthritis and migraine headaches, according to a report in the October 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. This co-occurrence of disorders may significantly increase the risk of disability and negatively affect quality of life.

23 Oct 2006