How we develop phobias

It is essential to understand why. Some of the most common types of phobia include fear of spiders, fear of heights, fear of flying, and many more. Here’s an answer for you: As we grow up and develop new skills, our brain also develops fears.

Do you know someone who has a phobia? Maybe they’re afraid of heights or the dark. It’s not unusual for people to be scared of something; it can keep us safe from danger. But what about when that fear becomes so intense that it starts to interfere with your life? That’s where phobias come in.

Phobias are extreme and irrational fears, usually towards something specific like spiders or flying. Most people have heard the saying “you’re born with it,” - but is there more than meets the eye?

When we experience traumatic events as children, our brains become wired to associate that event with whatever we were most scared of at the time-may, be spiders if you got bitten by one before kindergarten or flying if you were on a plane that landed unexpectedly. It is also known as classical conditioning, and it’s how phobias begin to form. 

But what about if you didn’t have the opportunity to be scared of something as a child? We all know that people fear different things, so why do some people never develop phobias even though they may experience the same traumatic events as others? It may be due to genetics. A recent study found that our fear reaction to spiders can be influenced by our genes, including whether or not we’re predisposed biologically to developing specific phobias. We may also be predisposed to fear stimuli in certain situations, like when we’re in danger.

Your brain learns to be scared of something when it perceives the danger associated with that thing. As you can imagine, this can lead to real problems for some people. Many times, phobias are so severe they persist even if their original cause no longer exists-meaning. Someone who was bit by a spider as a child might still have an intense fear of spiders decades later. 

So maybe you weren’t afraid of spiders as a child but came into contact with one anyway - do you still have an intense fear reaction now? This is known as ‘conditioned learning’, and it’s another way in which phobias can form. This is where someone develops an aversion that arose because of their upbringing rather than an event. For example, if you’re afraid of spiders, but you happen to grow up in a place without any, there’s no reason for you to have any traumatic events linked with them. But regardless, your parents always tell you to be careful around spiders, so it becomes ingrained in who you are and what you fear.

There are many reasons why we develop phobias. Sometimes, our brain will create a fear of something that poses absolutely no threat to us--like public speaking or heights, for example. Other times, the person may have experienced an event in their life that triggers this response. It can be challenging to overcome without professional help from someone qualified to treat these disorders.