Are you scared of ghosts?

Do you become breathless, does your mouth become dry, does your heart race and your hands tremble when you imagine that a ghost is in the room? Do you also suddenly become afraid of dying? If you do, then most likely you have a phobia of ghosts.

The phobia of ghosts in many human cultures is based on beliefs that some ghosts may be harmful or dangerous. This fear of ghosts is sometimes referred to as phasmophobia. Phasmophobia is a type of specific phobia.

“Phobia” refers to a group of symptoms brought on by certain objects or situations. Based on studies abroad, the most common type is the phobia of spiders (arachnophobia), particularly in women. Meanwhile, the prevalence rate of simple phobias is seven percent in the general population. Other common phobias include phobia towards insects, moths, bats, dogs, snakes, heights, thunderstorms and the dark. Children are said to be particularly phobic about the dark, ghosts and burglars, but the large majority of them outgrow these fears without treatment.

A specific phobia is characterized by an excessive fear of an object or a situation, an exposure to which causes an anxious response, such as a panic attack. Usually, individuals with phobias recognize that their fear is excessive and unreasonable, but they are unable to control it. The feared object or situation is thus usually avoided or anticipated with extreme dread.

There are more than 275 types of specific phobias. No one really knows just what causes them, though they seem to run in families and are said to be a little more prevalent in women. Specific phobias usually first appear in adolescence or adulthood. They start suddenly and tend to be more persistent than childhood onset phobia. It is said that only about 20 percent of adult phobias disappear on their own.

The exact cause of specific phobias is not known, but most appear to be associated with a traumatic experience or a learned reaction. For example, a person who has a frightening or threatening experience with an animal like a dog, such as an attack or being bitten, can develop a specific phobia of dogs. A child may develop fear of ghosts if this is reinforced by the yaya (nanny). Also witnessing a traumatic event in which others experience harm or extreme fear can also cause a specific phobia, as is receiving information or repeated warnings about potentially dangerous situations or animals or even repeatedly viewing scary movies.

A phobia can be learned from others, as well. For example, a child whose parent reacts with extreme fear and anxiety to certain objects or situations is likely to also respond to those objects with fear. For example, if a child’s mom screams while watching ghost movies on television, this child may also develop fear of ghosts.

When the fear or phobia of ghosts interferes with a person’s life, psychiatric treatment can help. Treatment for phobia of ghosts may include one or a combination of the following:

1. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing may also help reduce anxiety symptoms induced by the fear of ghosts.

2. Patient education. Patients with fear of ghosts need to understand their mental state and receive reassurance that they are not “going crazy” and that their condition can be managed.   

3. Exposure and response prevention. There is research evidence that suggests that exposure and response prevention is an effective treatment strategy for specific phobias.

4. Progressive desensitization is used in people with specific phobias who have great difficulty facing the object or situation that causes their fear. This treatment involves learning relaxation and visualization techniques.  

5. Medication. There is currently no proven drug treatment for specific phobias, but sometimes certain medications may be prescribed to help reduce anxiety symptoms before someone faces a phobic situation. Minor tranquilizers such as alprazolam may be prescribed to help reduce anxiety. Benzodiazepines like diazepam have been known to reduce anticipatory anxiety in people with specific phobia.

6. Lemon juice with salt and sugar is said to be a valuable home remedy to control giddiness because of fear.

7. Talk therapy, cognitive therapy and some anti-depressant medications are very efficient treatments to control fear or anxiety. Antidepressants like Paroxetine can be effective in controlling specific phobias. These drugs may be particularly helpful in people whose phobia interferes with their ability to function in normal daily activities.

8. Phobias can be cured by doing yoga, physical exercise and dance because it can reduce the feeling of anxiety and tension.

9. Hypnotherapy helps to reprogram one’s subconscious “programs” that may be part of one’s fear. When these programs are “de-bugged,” the symptoms of fear of ghosts often are minimized.

10. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). NLP is the study and practice of how you create your reality. From the NLP viewpoint, your fear is the result of your programs or “constructs” that you have created that don’t work well. With NLP, these constructs are exposed to your consciousness and “re-programmed” so that the fear of ghosts is minimized and thus is eliminated.

(For questions on loves, looks and relationships, e-mail me at nina.halilijao@gmail.com)