ABSTRACT
It would be fair to assert that most people are afraid of at least some things. However, it is also true that these fears are not so severe that they cannot manage to get by without having to totally avoid these objects associated with their fears, or at least that it does not significantly interfere with their daily routines. In many ways, this difference lies at the heart of what constitutes a phobia. A phobia (simple phobia) is defined in DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) as a significant, excessive fear in response to the presence or anticipation of a specific stimulus (situation or object). Furthermore, the stimulus almost always results in immediate anxiety and the person is aware that his or her anxiety is excessive. The person would, therefore, attempt to avoid the stimulus and this mostly tends to interfere with social or occupational activities. An example of a particular phobia is social phobia, where there is a significant and enduring fear of social situations with a potential for embarrassment. Other specific phobias may relate to animals, heights, or driving, for example. Phobias may evolve in response to identifiable, discrete events: for example, a phobia of dogs being 100triggered after a dog has bitten the person. In other cases, there may appear to be no clear causative factor or precipitant.
