Great question! I am not in the mental health field but my understanding of phobias is that phobias are considered a symptom linked to an emotional disorder and depending on its intensity of the "fear" triggered by the phobia (what is feared), it could turn into a serious anxiety disorder.
According to the definition found on Wikipedia: A phobia (from the Greek: φόβος, phóbos, "fear"), or morbid fear is an irrational, intense, persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or people. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.
Phobias (in the clinical meaning of the term) are the most common form of anxiety disorders. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias. Broken down by age and gender, the study found that phobias were the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.
Homophobia is known as a resentment or fear of gay and lesbian people. At its most benign it's voiced as a passive dislike of gay people. At its most destructive it involves active victimization. The fear may not be linked to a mental response but possibly environmental influences such as religious upbringing, societal norms, etc. Homophobia could be passive but in extreme cases it may take a violent expression which results on bodily harm against those who may be perceived to be gay or lesbian, someone who has an association with gay people or one who does not conform to stereotypical expectations of masculine or feminine behavior.
This link from the National Institute of Health has great information about phobias as an emotional/mental disorder. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/phobias.html
And this link offers good information on homophobia http://www.avert.org/homophobia.htm
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Great question! I am not in the mental health field but my understanding of phobias is that phobias are considered a symptom linked to an emotional disorder and depending on its intensity of the "fear" triggered by the phobia (what is feared), it could turn into a serious anxiety disorder.
According to the definition found on Wikipedia: A phobia (from the Greek: φόβος, phóbos, "fear"), or morbid fear is an irrational, intense, persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or people. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.
Phobias (in the clinical meaning of the term) are the most common form of anxiety disorders. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias. Broken down by age and gender, the study found that phobias were the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.
Homophobia is known as a resentment or fear of gay and lesbian people. At its most benign it's voiced as a passive dislike of gay people. At its most destructive it involves active victimization. The fear may not be linked to a mental response but possibly environmental influences such as religious upbringing, societal norms, etc. Homophobia could be passive but in extreme cases it may take a violent expression which results on bodily harm against those who may be perceived to be gay or lesbian, someone who has an association with gay people or one who does not conform to stereotypical expectations of masculine or feminine behavior.
This link from the National Institute of Health has great information about phobias as an emotional/mental disorder. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/phobias.html
And this link offers good information on homophobia http://www.avert.org/homophobia.htm
March 27, 2009 - 10:23pmThis Comment
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