← Back to catalogue
Research draft

phobia

vr.tr.phobia · ACT.ACT

Let an agent explain phobias and their kinds and features in general terms, relay treatment and self-help information from health bodies, distinguish clinical phobias from ordinary fears and coined terms, and route personal mental health questions to professionals and crisis services where needed.

Thing Registry Activities and processes

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent explain phobias and their kinds and features in general terms, relay treatment and self-help information from health bodies, distinguish clinical phobias from ordinary fears and coined terms, and route personal mental health questions to professionals and crisis services where needed.

An anxiety disorder characterised by persistent, excessive and irrational fear of a specific object, situation or activity that leads to avoidance and distress, including specific phobias such as fear of animals, heights, flying, blood and injections, social phobia and agoraphobia, and many named fears from trypophobia to apeirophobia; phobias are common, are diagnosed by clinicians, and respond well to treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy and exposure, and are described here in general terms.

What it is for: Excessive fear of specific things.

It can be explain kinds and features; relay treatment information; distinguish from ordinary fears; route personal questions.

Distinguishing features

Irrational intensity

Avoidance

Treatable

Common

What it looks like

Not visible; experienced fear and avoidance.

How it is recognised

Persistent excessive fear with avoidance

Specific phobias, social phobia, agoraphobia

Ordinary fear is proportionate; coined phobia words often name dislikes rather than disorders

Related models

is a kind of - category

anxiety disorder

is a kind of - category

fear

is related to - a specific phobia type

animal phobia

is related to - a condition that may co-occur

depression

In practice

Families and kinds

animal phobias

natural environment phobias such as heights and storms

blood, injection and injury phobias

situational phobias such as flying and enclosed spaces

social phobia and agoraphobia

Standards and regulation

Diagnostic classifications

Clinical guidelines for anxiety disorders

Mental health service standards

Failure modes and hazards

Agents giving personal diagnosis or treatment advice

Treating coined phobia words as diagnoses

Failing to route people in crisis

Also called

kinesiophobiatrypophobiaonomatophobiaombrophobiatheophobiaapeirophobiaanti-Chinese sentimentoptophobiapediophobiaschool refusalhalitophobiasurdophobiaagoraphobianostophobiaclaustrophobiaspecific phobiaphallophobiaafrophobiaabandonment anxietymazeophobiaheptadecaphobiachildhood phobiadriving phobianumerophobiatetraphobiachromophobiatokophobiaecclesiophobiaanti-Chinese sentiment in Japananti-Chinese sentiment in the United Statesanti-Chinese sentiment in KoreaAgoraphobia Without History of Panic DisorderOmmetaphobiacoprophobiaIpovlopsychophobiaeisoptrophobiaradiophobiafear of crimesophophobiamechanophobia

+23

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Also registered as vr.tr.phobia

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Understand What phobias are.

General information.

Concept

Concept and kinds.

Concept

Concept.

  1. What is a phobia, how does it differ from ordinary fear, and what kinds are recognised? definition
  2. Is the user asking about their own fear, which needs a professional? boundary

Names

Named phobias.

Names

Names.

  1. How do coined phobia names such as trypophobia relate to clinical diagnoses? provenance
  2. Is a clinical or a popular sense meant? boundary
Help Treatment and support.

Guidance.

Treatment

Treatment.

Treatment

Treatment.

  1. What treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy and exposure do health bodies describe, in general terms? provenance
  2. Is the user in crisis and in need of emergency or helpline support now? boundary

Self-help

Self-help.

Self-help

Self-help.

  1. What self-help approaches and resources do health bodies recommend? provenance
  2. Which entry fits mental health support? action
Science Causes and research.

Attribution.

Causes

Causes.

Causes

Causes.

  1. What does research say about the origins of phobias in learning, genetics and evolution, with findings attributed? provenance
  2. Which findings are contested? boundary

Prevalence

Prevalence.

Prevalence

Prevalence.

  1. How common are phobias, and which are most frequent, according to surveys? provenance
  2. Which entry fits epidemiology of mental health? action
Learn History and teaching.

Education.

History

History.

History

History.

  1. How have phobias been understood and treated historically? provenance
  2. Which references are standard? provenance

Teach

Teaching.

Teach

Teaching.

  1. How can phobias be taught in mental health education without stigma? action
  2. Which misconceptions arise? provenance

What the second pass must settle

  • Should specific phobia types be separate entries?
  • How should guidelines be linked?
  • How should self-help resources be linked?