At that moment, the person experiences a fear of dying, with no safe place to go. When this happens more than once, the person might think they are going crazy. Someone with panic attacks soon won't leave the house because of fear of a panic attack happening outside the house. Soon, depression sets in.
What causes phobias? Researchers do not agree on any one definite cause of a phobia. Simple phobias, however, are often the result of a bad childhood experience. A tendency towards phobias, especially panic attacks, may run in families. Genes appear to play a role in all cases of phobias. A person has three times the risk of developing a phobia if a close relative suffers from one. (Wood 516). From the phsycodynamic perspective, people develop phobias primarily as a defense against the anxiety they feel when sexual or aggressive impulses threaten to break into consciousness. If the anxiety can be displaced onto a feared object and if that object can be avoided, then there is less chance that the disturbing impulse will break through. .
Phobias may be acquired through observational learning, as well. For example, children who hear their parents talking about frightening experience with the dentist, with bugs or thunder storms may develop similar fears themselves. Frightening experiences set the stage for phobias, yet not all phobias recall the experience producing the phobia. For example, if a person was humiliated by performing in front of others, they may develop a social phobia. .
Social phobia is the third largest medical problem in the world. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, (NIMH), social phobia is "a disorder characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self -consciousness in social situations." Social phobia is defined "as people intensely afraid of any social or performance situation in which they might embarrass or humiliate themselves in front of others - where they might shake, blush, sweat, or in some other way appear clumsy, foolish, or incompetent" (Wood 504).