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.

Treatment options available for GAD

A little worry is normal, but people who constantly worry about daily concerns, even when times are good, may have generalized anxiety disorder.

22 Mar 2010

Hormone vasopressin helps brain differentiate between familiar and new scents

The study, published in the journal Nature, suggests that when the hormone fails to function, animals are unable to recognise other individuals from their scent.

25 Feb 2010

Pain-free sedation dentistry may help reduce fear of the dentist

Fear of the dentist is a huge problem in the United States. While as many as four out of five Americans admit being afraid of the dentist, it is estimated that one in seven Americans never get any dental treatment at all because of dental phobia. Sedation dentistry is a pain-free option.

24 Feb 2010

Anxiety in German psychosomatic units: Long term extensive experience of treatment

A study published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics reports on a long term extensive experience of treatment of psychosomatic symptoms related to anxiety in German psychosomatic units.

24 Feb 2010

Discovery could help improve diagnosis and treatment for anxiety disorders

Draw a map of the brain when fear and anxiety are involved, and the amygdala-the brain's almond-shaped center for panic and fight-or-flight responses-looms large.

27 Jan 2010

EON Reality supports BBU with immersive EON Icube environment for virtual reality therapy project

EON Reality, the world's leading interactive 3D software provider, supports the Babes-Bolyai University (BBU), in Cluj-Napoca, Romania with an immersive EON Icube environment for a virtual reality therapy project.

9 Jan 2010

Study shows prevalence of SED remains high after Hurricane Katrina

A team made up of mental health professionals, emergency response experts, and researchers from several universities, including Virginia Tech, has published the results of a study that shows serious emotional disturbances among children who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

6 Jan 2010

Autism study and gene therapy in vision are top scientific achievements in 2009

A landmark autism study and a dramatic success for gene therapy in reversing inherited blindness, both at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, were recognized among the top scientific achievements in 2009, according to three national publications: Time magazine, Discover magazine and the journal Science.

23 Dec 2009

Study on placebo effect

A short time ago, Swedish scientists published a paper suggesting the existence of a genetic disposition to respond to placebo, thus giving rise to debate in the media about a possible "placebo gene." In the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106[46]: 751-5), Matthias Breidert and Karl Hofbauer summarize the most recent data about placebos.

28 Nov 2009

Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment to help tackle driving phobias

Researchers at The University of Manchester have recruited volunteers with a variety of driving phobias to test whether virtual reality can be used alongside conventional psychological therapies to help tackle their fears.

From The University of Manchester 20 Oct 2009

Gelotophobia has no cultural barriers

Laughter is an emotional expression that is innate in human beings. This means laughing at others is also believed to be a universal phenomenon. However, the fear of being laughed at causes some people enormous problems in their social lives. This is known as gelotophobia, a disorder that affects people in all cultures alike.

15 Oct 2009

Help is on the way for shy, anxious drinkers

In life today alcohol plays an enormous part in many people's social activities and is often an essential part of a night out with friends.

20 Jul 2009

Neuroscientists locate where fear is stored in the brain

Fear is a powerful emotion and neuroscientists have for the first time located the neurons responsible for fear conditioning in the mammalian brain. Fear conditioning is a form of Pavlovian, or associative, learning and is considered to be a model system for understanding human phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders.

6 Jul 2009

Internet-based programs effective in treating depression – new study

In a discovery that could lead to new treatment approaches for depression, researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have shown that internet-based therapy programs are as effective as face-to-face therapies in combating the illness.

2 Jun 2009

Extremely shy? - help is at hand

Help is at hand for those who suffer from extreme shyness. Shyness in its extreme form can have a huge impact on peoples' lives because it results in an avoidance of the usual common social situations, such as meeting new people or going on a date, and can also have an impact on work situations.

30 Apr 2009

Lynx2 gene linked to nervous behavior in mice

To measure anxiety in a mouse and suggest it's similar to anxiety in a person may seem like a stretch, but the metrics sound uncannily familiar.

20 Feb 2009

Xenophobia, for men only

Very few people fear dandelions. Or even dangerous things - like Hummers. We may object to outsized automobiles on principle, but the mere sight of them doesn't make us tremble and sweat and run away. On the other hand, even toddlers show an automatic and powerful fear of snakes, including harmless ones.

5 Feb 2009