Specific Phobia and Workers’ Compensation in New York

A specific phobia is an intense, irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. Some of the more common specific phobias are centered around closed-in places, heights, escalators, tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, dogs, and injuries involving blood. Such phobias aren’t just extreme fear; they are irrational fear of a particular thing. You may be able to ski the world’s tallest mountains with ease but be unable to go above the 5th floor of an office building. While adults with phobias realize that these fears are irrational, they often find that facing, or even thinking about facing, the feared object or situation brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety.

Specific phobias affect an estimated 19.2 million adult Americans and are twice as common in women as men. They usually appear in childhood or adolescence and tend to persist into adulthood. The causes of specific phobias are not well understood, but there is some evidence that the tendency to develop them may run in families.

If the feared situation or feared object is easy to avoid, people with specific phobias may not seek help; but if avoidance interferes with their careers or their personal lives, it can become disabling and treatment is usually pursued.

Specific phobias respond very well to carefully targeted psychotherapy.

Source: NIMH

Behavioral Medicine Associates provides psychological services for no-fault / workers' compensation cases including psychological evaluation of disability, psychological treatment of the injured worker, and cognitive-behavioral therapy for management of chronic pain. We have offices in the five boroughs of New York City, (Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island), Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties) and upstate New York (Westchester country). Injured workers with some of the following conditions are treated at Behavioral Medicine Associates: anxiety disorders (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, and specific phobias) depression, and chronic pain.