According to Reuters Health, a new study shows that migraines may be linked with a wide variety of psychiatric disorders, including social phobia. Researchers found an unusually strong link across all demographics, including age, gender, education and residence. It is important to understand the difference between correlation and causality. The research results showed a higher than expected number of migraine sufferers who also have a psychiatric disorder. However, it was not shown that migraines cause psychiatric illness or that psychiatric illness causes migraines. More research will be needed to see if the results are repeatable, or if it was a fluke. If further research shows that there is indeed a link, then it will be necessary to find out what is causing the link. In the meantime, whether or not you have migraines, it is important to seek treatment for any possible phobia.

I have always suffered from mild acrophobia, also known as fear of heights. It has never been severe enough to significantly impact my life, just enough to make me a bit shaky on ladders and high balconies. Until I went to work for Universal Orlando, that is.

If you have ever been there, you may have seen the Earthquake attraction (now replaced by Disaster). In the last pre-show before the main ride, an audience volunteer plays the role of “Stuntman” in a reenactment of a scene from the 1970s Earthquake film.

One of my positions was “Stunt Coordinator.” That meant I had to hang out on a tiny platform 30 feet in the air. There was a guardrail around the platform, and I was safely secured by an elaborate harness system. But the feeling was that the platform was just sort of floating out in mid-air.

The first time my trainer took me up to the platform, I learned what acrophobia really is. Harness or not, I hugged the wall like my life depended on it. I couldn’t do my job. I couldn’t even step out onto the platform. I felt shaky and hot and slightly dizzy. My heart pounded.

Fortunately my trainer had dealt with it before. She had me sit down just a few inches from the wall. We watched another employee perform the job, and we just sat and chatted calmly. This helped my breathing to regulate and my nerves to calm. Over the next hour or so, I was gradually able to make my way out onto the platform, just a little at a time. Eventually I was able to stand up and perform the job.

I never quite got over being nervous up there, no matter how many times I did it. But I did get to the point that it was manageable. I found that during a shift, I didn’t really have time to be scared. If I did get nervous, I sat down and did deep breathing for a few moments. I got used to the height, at least well enough to do my job.

What about you? I opened a new folder in the forums for you to share your experiences. By sharing our stories, we can all help each other learn to cope.

If you suffer from a phobia of needles, you may have serious difficulty dealing with routine medical procedures. Some people avoid going to the doctor altogether, while others beg their physicians to avoid needed blood tests. Some are able to grit their teeth and get through the test, but then spend the rest of the day recovering from a panic attack.

Whether your reactions fall into one of these categories or are completely different, if you suffer from a needle phobia you know how difficult doctor visits can be. According to QJ Net’s Science channel, researchers have isolated a set of proteins in saliva that appear to be identical to those found in blood. Early studies are beginning to show success in spit tests for everything from cancer screening to diabetes management. Of course, only time will tell whether spit tests will become the new standard in health screening./p>

According to Science Daily, a medical research team recently released the results of a study that may have found the reason that anxiety sufferers appear to be at higher risk for heart disease. According to those results, people who suffer from panic disorder or severe phobias actually had a higher tendency towards blood clotting. This in turn could eventually lead to heart disease, heart attack or thrombosis (blood clot).

No need to panic, however. The research showed that clotting tendencies, while elevated, were still within normal limits. It appears that other factors, such as smoking, obesity or lack of exercise must also be present in order for dangerous consequences to develop. Further research is also needed to determine if the results are significant. In the meantime, patients who received treatment for their anxiety disorders showed that their clotting factors returned to normal. This is just another of the many reasons to seek treatment for your phobia.

The polygamist compound that was recently raided in Texas has been all over the news. Many stories have focused on the children that were removed, who are now in a sort of legal limbo as Child Protective Services attempts to sort out the facts of the situation.

A story on F.A.C.T. net, which focuses on providing support and resources to people who have escaped from cults, adds an interesting angle to this situation. Not only have the children been suddenly torn from the only life, people and homes that they have ever known, which by itself can lead to mental disorders, but they are now facing the outside world against which they have been warned since birth.

What sort of phobias might these children develop? Are they going to be able to make a smooth transition into society, or will they be haunted at night by remembered warnings? Will they be able to cooperate in the investigative process, or will they harbor fears that the outsiders mean them harm?

It is not yet known what the psychological ramifications may be, but I hope that the children are treated with sensitivity and compassion. I also sincerely hope that they are given whatever mental health treatment might be in order.

In the odd news category, it was recently reported by United Press International that a successful British chef suffered a severe phobia of food. According to that story, Andrew Forster, head chef at Sale Pepe Italian Restaurant, developed his phobia at only 18 months of age. Since then, he has survived almost exclusively on cookies, supplemented with bits of toast, cereal and tea.

According to the story, Forster was able to work his way up in the culinary world without ever sampling his creations. Normally chefs are expected to taste their dishes before sending them out, but Forster was able to rely on kitchen staff to tell him if a dish was acceptable. It would seem that spending his life surrounded by the object of his phobia is an odd choice, but according to the story, Forster loves being around food as long as he doesn’t have to taste it.

Apparently the phobia has now been treated, thanks to the intervention of a girlfriend who was worried for his health. For the first time, the chef is able to enjoy a meal.

This leads to two important questions: One, if flooding himself with the restaurant environment wasn’t able to cure his phobia, what does Forster know about restaurant cooking that the rest of don’t? Two, what do you think about his career choice? Have you ever been drawn to the object of your phobia at the same time that you were repulsed by it? Feel free to send me your comments or discuss the topic in our forums.

A McDonald’s employee in South Carolina is at the center of a controversy that is turning out to be more complicated than originally anticipated. She was working the front cash register when a customer with dwarfism approached the counter. The employee started screaming and ran into the restaurant’s back room.

Another employee came out to speak with the befuddled customer, who had only intended to order some lunch. According to the second employee, the first employee has a phobia of little people.

At first glance, this seems like a clear case of discrimination against the customer. However, if the cashier’s phobia is legitimate, then it raises another issue. What are her rights? Would it be discrimination against the cashier to fire her for her conduct? What constitutes reasonable accommodation for phobias in the workplace? Your thoughts are welcome.

If you have a phobia, then you are probably all too familiar with the extreme panic that a sudden, unexpected confrontation with the object of your fear can induce. Yahoo News reported on a German man who had just such an experience.

Apparently the 23 year old was watching a movie when he spotted a mouse on the floor. Wearing only his boxer shorts and a pair of slippers, the man ran for the hills, out onto the snow-covered streets. After discovering him in a phone booth, police searched the house but were unable to find the furry intruder. The man elected to go to a relative’s house rather than return home.

According to the Worthington Herald, experts in the UK recently identified a new phobia. Nomo-phobia has been defined as a phobia of being out of mobile phone contact. According to the statistics given in the article, 24% of people in Horsham, UK never switch off their phones. The article compares being out of phone contact to other phobias such as dentist phobia.

While I find the article interesting, I have trouble accepting nomo-phobia as a legitimate new phobia. Perhaps our always-connected generation does experience some anxiety when out of contact, but scientifically controlled research would have to be performed before I would be ready to call this an actual phobia. What do you think? Is this a legitimate new phobia for today’s generation or just a commentary on our tendency to stay connected? Comments are welcome.

Many of us see celebrity lifestyles through rose-colored glasses. It is easy to imagine that money and status act as a shield against the disorders that afflict the rest of us. Of course, this is not true. Phobias are just as likely to occur among the rich and famous, as yesterday’s incident with Derrick Rose clearly demonstrates. According to Sports Illustrated, the Memphis basketball player had a collision with another player during Friday’s game against Michigan State. Rose was told that he needed four stitches above his right eye. After a rather visceral reaction that included ranting and nearly breaking down, it came out that Rose has a needle phobia. He eventually calmed down when officials agreed to glue, rather than stitch, the wound.