The Mystery Behind Debilitating Phobias

(CBS)  David Hoberman is obsessive-compulsive and has more phobias than you can count.

"I always go to the right of anything," he told Sunday Morning correspondent Martha Teichner. "I will not go under ladders. I don't like to fly."

From the very first episode, Monk, USA cable's star detective, was meant to be the walking definition of anxiety disorder — but funny. The back-story is that Monk and Hoberman, the show's creator, have a lot in common.

For the 40 million Americans who have an anxiety disorder, fears from ailuraphobia (a terror of cats) to aphenphosmphobia (dread of being touched) are not just funny-sounding crossword solutions, as actor Tony Shalhoub discovered.

"People's lives can be, you know, shattered," he said. "I realized we really have to tread lightly here, because it's a serious problem."

Jerilyn Ross, who runs the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, said that people who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder are being sent the wrong signals about what they should fear.

"Something is telling your body that there's danger, but there isn't any danger, and so what happens is the person is totally aware that this is irrational," Ross said. "Even people with the same, exact anxiety disorder can have very different symptoms."

Jennifer Reines was 15 and at a party when her first panic attack came out of nowhere. Suddenly, her body felt very hot and the room began to spin.

"I felt like I was having a heart attack," she said. "It was probably the most terrifying experience in my life, and then after that I started to get them every single night before I went to bed."

Stephanie McKee has a fear of elevators and has been in therapy for years. She can remember walking up 19 flights of stairs rather than taking an elevator.

Emily Ford was afraid of talking in public. It got so bad that at one point she eight months living by herself in a cabin with no electricity in the Vermont woods.

"I'd sweat," she said. "I'd just be terrified that I was just gonna say something wrong or foolish and I couldn't talk, so I just wouldn't go out."

All three of these young women have been struggling to overcome what they consider the living hell of their anxiety disorders at the treatment center Ross runs outside Washington, D.C.

"A lot of people think that, 'Oh, you're not really sick,' or you know, 'It's just in your head and you can just get over it,'" Reines said. "But it is a disease."

Scientists have found that there is usually a genetic predisposition to anxiety disorders and they can be triggered by a physical or emotional trauma. Caffeine can even set off the accompanying panic attacks. Twice as many women have anxiety disorders as men, and sufferers can't turn their fears off because their brains function abnormally.

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[rational_1]

"i am 55 and i had anxiety attacks all my life. fixed it with drugs and booze. ended up in aa and na. a doctor put me on paxil and i have never had another problem. 6 years clean and sober."

I think this poster makes a very important point. How many people have alcohol or drug abuse problems that are secondary to other issues such as OCD, anxiety or depression? There's no point in addressing the alcoholism if you don't first determine that there isn't an underlying reason for it. Treat that and the alcohol or drug abuse problem becomes much more manageable.

[boop9295]

I am 37 years old and have been suffering from panic attacks since the age of 13. For years I told no one of this problem in fear of someone thinking I was crazy. At first I thought something was wrong with my heart until I was diagnosed. Finally at the age of 23 after giving birth to my daughter I became agoraphobic. For 3 months I confined myself to my home. I then knew it was time to seek help because I could not let my daughter see her mother like this. I have been on Zoloft for and diazepam for 14 years and I am doing great. I still have occasional panic attacks but I am able to leave my home and function normally . Whatever "normal" is. My medicine has been a life saver. If anyone with panicanxiety disorder would like someone to talk to please feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail]. It is nice to be able to talk to others who can understand or just need someone to listen to them.

[boop9295]

I am 37 years old and have been suffering from panic attacks since the age of 13. For years I told no one of this problem in fear of someone thinking I was crazy. At first I thought something was wrong with my heart until I was diagnosed. Finally at the age of 23 after giving birth to my daughter I became agoraphobic. For 3 months I confined myself to my home. I then knew it was time to seek help because I could not let my daughter see her mother like this. I have been on Zoloft for and diazepam for 14 years and I am doing great. I still have occasional panic attacks but I am able to leave my home and function normally . Whatever "normal" is. My medicine has been a life saver. If anyone with panicanxiety disorder would like someone to talk to please feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail]. It is nice to be able to talk to others who can understand or just need someone to listen to them.

[retro63metro]

Jerilyn Ross' Cognitive-Behavioral model taps into the patient's (I'd say limited) ability to quash his or her obsessions and/or compulsions, but requires using the logic that "this is an illness and I will stop checking NOW." I say that's 50% of the job.

I can tell you that abject terror/anxiety/confusion engendered by my OCD sent me home from Brown University midway in my college career. The semester before, Thorazine helped me limp through, but even at 19 I knew that was no answer.

Since then, it has been the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors that have tamed the compulsions more than the obsessions. !

But is OCD a Psychological Problem in itself? Hell, no. However, dealing with a therapist and receiving medication management are a better combination than taking the Psychological or Psychiatric (drug treatment) route by itself.

Many believe that if you pull up your bootstraps, something in your better nature will cause the planets to align and you will be cured cause you're YOU! That old depression-era way of thinking doesn't explain or solve psychiatric problems.

Sometimes, the help we need goes beyond someone's kind words and good intentions.

[hmikem]

i am 55 and i had anxiety attacks all my life. fixed it with drugs and booze. ended up in aa and na. a doctor put me on paxil and i have never had another problem. 6 years clean and sober.

[gi822]

I did not see the piece this morning but my mom called and told me about it so I decided to log on and read the article. I began suffering from anxiety and panic attacks when I was 23. I am now going to be 26. I'm afraid to travel outside of my "comfort zone" and because of this I have missed out on so many fun things in life. It's a sad thing to live in a "box". I wish I never had this disorder but am thankful to have such a wonderful support system. I am currently seeking therapy in hopes to help overcome or at least control my anxiety. I once heard that when you fear nothing, only then can you feel completely free. I hope that comes true one day for me and everyone else that suffers along with me.

[freezulu]

I'm afraid of getting a new phobia - seriously.

[gmond]

He won.

[thenamesdave]

Tiny bit off topic, but what is Monk doing with the Stanley Cup in that photo?

[jonnyg9]

I think this poorly describes Anxiety Disorders. Not all Anxiety disorders are a disease but a behavior problem; with the exception of OCD. Furthermore, Monk is a poor representation of the average OCD suffer. They make it out as if he can never get better; while millions of OCD suffers get better every year. I've learned to deal with my anxiety and have virtually cured my OCD; I do not take meds now nor did I ever take them. Im not saying everyone can be med-free but a strongly motivated person can overcome any of these Anxiety Disorders with out medication. Furthermore, Pure-OCD has even been labeled as possibly being a psychological condition rather than a mental illness by leading psychologist on Pure-OCD Dr. Steven Phillipson. Phillipson also stated in an article that the character in "As good as it gets" is not at all like an OCD suffer but more like someone with OCPD. Sounds to me like this show is more than happy to help out the pharmaceutical companies.