User:Tawnamoe

Scopophobia

Scopophobia is “an abnormal fear of being looked at or seen” . It is similar to many social phobias, which are fears a person may suffer from in a public or social setting. Also known as scoptophobia, its definition can be varied anywhere from “phobia of being seen,” to a “stared at fear” . In the article Phobias and Related Symptoms: Some Social Sources, Swanson states, “the dangers feared are not easily avoided” .

Social Phobias

Social phobias generally are defined as a person’s irrational fear of being judged or humiliated. These social phobias can hinder people’s capabilities to speak in front of crowds, be put in “on-the-spot” situations, and even stop people from showing up in court . Swanson defined social phobias as “a fear of . . . situations in which the individual may be exposed to scrutiny of others. There is also fear that the individual may behave in a manner that will be humiliating or embarrassing” . Swanson also states that social phobias are some of the most often studied phobias, as “they are the ones classified as phobic disorders” . Social phobias can be divided into two types: specific social phobia an generalized social phobia. For the specific social phobia, people only become frightful and anxious when they are in a specific situation, while they are perfectly capable of acting normally in other public situations. For generalized social phobia, people are frightful in nearly every public or social situation . Though both types of social phobia can be highly undesirable, it is usually viewed that specific social phobia, though highly irrational and can conflict with daily life, is much more manageable than generalized social phobia. Maya, who suffers from generalized social phobia, states, “I used to socialize a lot and had many friends. Little by little I started feeling uncomfortable in crowded places. After a while I wasn’t able to use public transportation. A few months later I found myself being home all the time, except for going to work. My life became unbearable” .

Symptoms

Symptoms include, but are not limited to: “breathlessness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of becoming mad or losing control, a sensation of detachment from reality or a full blown anxiety attack” , “sensitivity to criticism, negative self image, fear of rejection, difficulty in being assertive and feelings of inferiority” .

Treatment

Though no therapeutic treatment is guaranteed to cure any phobia or anxiety disorder, many diverse treatments are available. Among these treatments are hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and Energy Psychology . Exposure therapy, also known as systematic desensitization, is another developed form of therapy to help phobic patients gain their bearings and live more normal lives.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy “helps to reprogram your subconscious ‘programs’ that may be part of [one’s] fear. When these programs are ‘de-bugged’ the symptoms of scopophobia often are minimized. However, some people don’t like the feeling of loss of control in allowing someone else play with their personal ‘software’” .

Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is “the study and practice of how we create our reality. From the NLP viewpoint, a phobia is the result of your programs or ‘constructs’ that you have created that don’t work very well. With NLP, these constructs are revealed and ‘re-programmed’ so that the scopophobia is minimized and often eliminated” .

Energy Psychology

Energy Psychology is “emerging as an excellent therapy for fears and phobias because in studies it is shown to be rapid, safe, effective and long-lasting. It is based on a theory and practice that has been around for a couple of thousand years. It has the same foundation or roots as acupuncture, except in this case there are no needles used. You could call it emotional acupuncture – without the needles. Recent scientific studies have shown it to be very effective” .

Hannah Moore, who previously suffered from scopophobia, shares her story: “Scopophobia . . . is a fear I had forever. I even had it in school. I wanted to overcome this fear many years ago, but never found anything that could help me. Energy Therapy helped me in overcoming my fear without so much trouble. I read [a] book and learned about things to do to help myself. I am now a free person and now I do not care if someone might stare at me” .

Exposure Therapy

Originating from the psychiatrist Joseph Wolpe, exposure therapy is “confronting an emotion-arousing stimulus directly and repeatedly, ultimately leading to a decrease in the emotional response” . Though the treatment is highly repetitive and may be stressful, the mental changes of this classic conditioning have proven to be efficient.

Systematic Desensitization

Wolpe used exposure therapy to develop systematic desensitization, which is defined as “a procedure in which a client relaxes all the muscles of his or her body while imagining being in increasingly frightening situations” . For example, if a patient suffers from scopophobia, the patient would begin by relaxing, then thinking of someone looking at them. Once the patient can remain relaxed while thinking of someone looking at them, the patient will then look in the mirror at themselves, or see a picture of someone looking straight at the camera (therefore, at the patient), then the therapist might look at the patient, then the therapist might take the patient into more and more public areas. The therapy is complete when the patient is completely relaxed in the most extreme situation, or the situation he or she will see most often.