Could a Fear Wreak Havoc on Your Life?

Imagine being too frightened to leave your house or drive a car. For many women, freaky phobias like these are crippling. Here, true stories of terror.

"It happened so suddenly. Without warning, I felt like I had been swept up in a tornado! The room was spinning around me, my pulse was pounding, my palms were drenched in sweat, and my throat was closing up, leaving me gasping for air. I felt paralyzed with fear, convinced I was going to die," says Katherine, [*] a 26-year-old Web designer. What terrifying experience could possibly bring on this type of trauma? For her, it was a routine trip to her local cineplex. One day, for no apparent reason, she was overcome with a severe panic attack that would lead to a life-debilitating disorder. Now a full-blown agoraphobe--someone who suffers from a fear of being trapped while in public--a trip to the movies, the mall, or virtually anywhere outside the protection of her home is enough to induce these scared-as-hell reactions in Katherine.

Fear becomes phobia when the anxiety is so intense, the sufferer is forced to change her life in drastic ways to avoid the dreaded experience. And it's little consolation that she maybe intellectually aware that it poses little danger. Agoraphobes might not leave their houses for years; a woman who wigs out about driving over bridges might turn down a great job in the next town; a student who fears public speaking might drop out of college to avoid giving presentations in class.

The Formation of the Fear

Phobias generally stem from a panic attack--a sudden physical and mental meltdown that usually involves shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, trembling, and feelings of terror and loss of control. These attacks are often without any apparent provocation, although substances like caffeine and illegal drugs can be triggers. Though not everyone who has a panic attack becomes phobic, for some people, the incident is so overwhelmingly frightening, it's enough to create the disorder. Subconsciously, they will do any thing to ensure that they don't experience another episode and therefore develop an unmanageable fear of something related to the situation or object, explains Jerilyn Ross, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. In other words, they subconsciously link the fear of having another panic attack with whatever object or experience initially created the terror.

Stacy, a 29-year-old office manager, had her first phobic experience in college. "A required class during my senior year was about career planning, and one day, we were doing mock job interviews. I'd never loved public speaking--who does?--but I'd always gotten through it okay. When it was my turn to go in front of the class, however, I suddenly felt like I'd been punched in thc stomach. I couldn't breathe, I was nauseous, and I could feel my heart thumping like mad. I couldn't even remember my name. The worst part was being totally clueless about what was happening to me. For the next 10 years, my fear of job interviews was so intense, I couldn't even look at the want ads in the newspaper without freaking. The only reason I landed a job at all was because a friend hired me."

Not all anxiety origins are as clear-cut as Stacy's. If the traumatic event happened in childhood, for example, your memory of it may have faded. Jules, a 26-year-old public-relations executive, was able to trace her arachnophobia (fear of spiders) to childhood bullying by her brother. "He used to chase me, pin me down, and wave spiders in my face. It was terrifying. I would squirm and scream, desperate to get away from him, but I didn't recognize at the time that this went beyond normal fear," she says. "I realize now that those torture sessions have made me phobic to this day. If I see a spider in my house, I wig out! I start shaking, and I feel like I'm going to throw up. I get so scared, I have to bolt across the street to drag my neighbor over to get rid of the spider. Even after I know it's gone, I obsess for hours. I check between my sheets 10 times before getting in bed, and I'm so creeped out that I won't get up and go to the bathroom at night, even if' my bladder feels like it's about to burst."