WHAT WE TREAT
At Paracelsus Recovery, we combine classic and cutting-edge therapies to help you overcome your phobia. Our therapists tailor your treatment to provide lasting strategies for managing your phobia, helping you regain control and live a calmer, more fulfilling life.
A phobia occurs when a person has a debilitating fear of a situation, object, feeling, place or animal. Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that can negatively impact a person’s life, relationships, career and health.
When a person struggling with a phobia encounters that fear-inducing experience, it leads to heightened levels of stress and anxiety. The individual becomes terrified that they will die and their body responds accordingly by shooting out high volumes of fight or flight hormones. That fear of danger can come from the individual, i.e. if someone is afraid of cliffs, it might be because whenever they encounter the cliff they have intrusive thoughts about jumping, or it can be external, i.e. someone can become terrified of an aeroplane in case it crashes.
A phobia is a kind of anxiety disorder wherein the individual’s anxiety becomes ‘localised’ in an experience or object, which brings a paradoxical level of comfort (knowing where the danger lies is better than free-floating anxiety for our subconscious brain). While undeniably challenging and complicated, phobias are highly treatable. With adequate care and support everyone can overcome a phobia (even you).
Specific phobias:
Common examples of specific phobias include aeroplanes, thunderstorms, heights, blood, dogs, insects, sharks, vomiting, and clowns. They are usually localised on one object or experience.
Complex phobias:
Complex phobias are often more distressing than simple phobias and usually develop during adulthood. They are caused by deep-seated anxiety about a particular situation or experience. The two main types of complex phobias are social phobias/social anxiety and agoraphobia, which is a fear of situations that would be difficult to escape such as elevators, open spaces, small spaces, public transport, or busy areas. Claustrophobia, which is the fear of being trapped in an enclosed space, is also a complex phobia.
Phobias do not have a single cause but are the result of numerous interrelated factors. These factors can include genetic vulnerability, learned behaviour from a parent or caregiver and traumatic experiences. For example, if a child loses a parent at a young age, they may not be able to handle the grief and as a result, a phobia can develop as an unconscious coping mechanism for this traumatic event. The child can avoid the phobia but not their grief.
A person suffering from a phobia will usually not experience any symptoms of anxiety until they come into contact with the source of their phobia. In extreme cases, just thinking about the source of the phobia can make a person feel extremely anxious. Phobias can also escalate over time and ‘suck’ other objects or experiences into the fear vortex, which means that a person’s life can become increasingly restricted as their fear grows larger. Symptoms of phobias include:
- Intense fear or anxiety: Experiencing intense distress when faced with the source of the phobia.
- Avoidance: Shaping one’s life in such a way so as to avoid the phobia.
- Panic attacks: Sudden episodes of intense fear when encountering the source of the phobia that may include symptoms like shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, or dizziness.
- Anticipatory anxiety: Extreme worry or dread about encountering the phobic situation or object, even when it’s not immediately present. The imagined threat is far greater than any actual threat posed by the phobia.
- Intrusive thoughts: Persistent, distressing thoughts about the phobic object or situation that are hard to control.
- Phobic sources are increasing: The phobia has grown in size, e.g. what was once a phobia of public spaces such as stadium arenas has become an inability to take taxis or elevators.
Additional symptoms include:
What are the psychological symptoms of phobias?
- Sense of impending doom when thinking about or confronting the phobic stimulus.
- Inability to concentrate due to intrusive thoughts about the fear.
- Feelings of detachment from reality during episodes of intense fear.
- Catastrophic thinking: believing the worst possible outcome will occur.
- Fear of losing control or going crazy when faced with the phobia.
What are the physical symptoms of phobias?
- Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia) or palpitations.
- Shortness of breath or hyperventilation.
- Sweating or cold chills.
- Dizziness or feeling faint.
- Tightness in the chest or chest pain.
What are the behavioural symptoms of phobias?
- Complete avoidance of the feared object or situation.
- Distress in daily activities due to constant fear or anxiety.
- Need for reassurance or seeking safety measures, such as always being accompanied by someone.
- Fidgeting or restless behaviour when in proximity to the phobic trigger.
- Excessive preparation or rituals to avoid encountering the feared stimulus.
Each of these symptoms can range in severity and vary from person to person, but they all contribute to the debilitating effects of phobias.
Bespoke treatment
How we treat phobias
We can’t tell you exactly what your four-week stay will involve because our patients have no pre-defined treatment path. Everyone who comes to stay at Paracelsus Recovery receives a bespoke treatment plan, with each day thoughtfully structured to include a range of therapeutic elements that are carefully tailored to your specific fears and triggers.
These therapies are designed to complement one another, ensuring that every aspect of your physical, emotional, and psychological health is addressed. See below for more details.
Our approach considers the whole person: mind, body and soul
The root causes of a phobia usually have very little to do with the actual phobic object or event. Instead, unconscious emotions, experiences and stressors that are difficult for us to process have become ‘localised’ in the phobia. At Paracelsus Recovery, while we will address your symptoms through exposure therapy modalities, it is only a small part of our phobia treatment programmes.
The bulk of your programme will be centred on biochemical restoration, functional medicine, intensive psychotherapy, and various complementary therapies to restore your sense of safety. Each treatment plan is based on intricate testing to address your specific root causes. Depending on the type of phobia, treatment may include exposure therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR).
15+ team members, all dedicated to your health and well-being
Our phobia treatment team is made up of world-renowned doctors, therapists and specialists, including a Nobel Prize-winning board member. This team of more than 15 experts will be dedicated to you and by your side throughout your stay with us. This includes a personal psychiatrist, medical doctor, client relations team, and many others. At the heart of this team is a live-in therapist who is there to provide emotional support and help you address your anxiety 24/7 throughout your entire stay.
Comprehensive programmes as unique as you are
Our phobia treatment programmes are guided by our principles of humanistic pragmatism and curated to meet your individual needs.
We can provide treatment for phobias and any co-occurring mental health conditions at our phobia treatment clinic in Zurich.
FURTHER READING
