Support Forums for Phobias

We all have things we fear. Some of us are afraid of the dark. Others are afraid of spiders. However, fearing something does not necessarily make it a phobia. A phobia is defined as a persistent irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it, according to Dictionary.com. I suffer from a phobia of dentists, and I only go when it is absolutely necessary. If you suffer from a phobia as well, there are several support forums available on the Internet whose purpose is to offer its members a safe and supportive place to share your experiences, thoughts, and fears. Members of support forums often offer each other sympathy, advice, and tips to help other members of the forum with their difficulties. Forums also typically offer resources where members can find additional help for their phobias. Here are some of the best forums on the Internet today that deal with different types of phobias.

Dental Fear Central: This forum focuses on phobia of dentists, the dentist's office, and dental instruments. The forum offers a section where members can receive and provide support, a place to find dentists, a place where members can review dentists, and other dental phobia resources. I think this forum is unique in that members can view others' reviews of dentists in order to see which dentists are good and which ones to avoid.

The Dental Fear Central forum appears to be active, with members of the community posting and responding to others' posts daily. If you are interested in joining this forum, please visit Dental Fear Central. New members can register at the top of the forum.

Ofear Phobia Forum: Ofear phobia forum offers support to people suffering from many types of phobia. There are sections of the forum devoted to supporting individuals with a fear of heights, flying, people and places, animals, food, social situations, agoraphobia, and other phobias as well. The forum also offers places where members can discuss entertainment, cooking and recipes, news, photos, rants, and more. Finally, Ofear phobia forum offers a place where members can find local support groups for their phobias and provides information on the treatment of phobias as well.

If you are interested in checking out or joining this forum, please visit the Ofear Phobia Forum. New members can easily register at the top of the page.

Anxiety Zone: Anxiety zone has a forum on specific phobias, where members can talk about any type of phobia he or she experiences. This group seems very helpful and supportive. The forum is also pretty active.

Anxiety zone also offers forums for other types of anxiety disorders including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Social Anxiety as well as depression and other mental health issues.

If you are interested in joining the specific phobia forum, please visit Anxiety Zone. New members may register at the top of the page.

MD Junction: MD Junction is a site that offers support forums for many physical and mental health conditions. One of the support forums MD Junction offers is on agoraphobia. This forum offers a place where members can discuss their fears, offer advice, and suggest tips for dealing with agoraphobia. The forum also discusses treatment options for agoraphobia.

If you are interested in joining this agoraphobia forum, please visit MD Junction. New members can register on the top right hand side of the page.

Social Phobia World: Social Phobia World is another forum dedicated to helping individuals suffering with agoraphobia. The forum offers individuals suffering with agoraphobia a place to talk about their fears, successes, and stories with others. Members can also offer advice, sympathy, and tips for coping with agoraphobia with others.

If you are interested in joining this forum, please visit Social Phobia World. New members can register on the left hand side of the page.

Social Phobia Forum: The social phobia forum is a smaller forum. Members help support those who struggle with social phobia and share their own struggles as well. The forum also has a community section in which members of the forum can get to know one another beyond their fears.

If you are interested in joining this community, please visit Social Phobia Forum. New members can register on the top of the page.

Gut Reaction: Gut Reaction is a forum for individuals suffering from a phobia of vomit. Like all forums, this forum offers a place where individuals suffering from emetophobia can discuss their fears, share advice, and share their experiences. It also offers a place in which members can talk about things not related to emetophobia, so that members can discuss random topics and get to know each other better.

If you are interested in joining this forum, please visit Gut Reaction.

Scared of School: Scared of school offers kids and teens who have a phobia of school and school related things to talk about their fears, get help with homework, share and receive advice, talk about bullying, and express themselves. It also offers parents a chance to talk about their school-phobic children. This forum is unique in that it allows both people who suffer with phobias and their loved ones to receive advice and support.

This appears to be an active forum. If you are interested in joining this support group, please visit Scared of School.

Crazy Boards: Crazy boards is a huge forum with discussions on mental illnesses of all types. A specific section exists for individuals to talk about social phobia, issues that come along with social phobia, and a place where members can offer advice and tips to others suffering from social phobia as well. Additionally, the forum also offers places where members can talk about relationships, family issues, medication, therapy, and other personal issues.

The forum also offers discussions on other mental illnesses that may co-occur with social phobia, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Eating Disorders, Depression, substance abuse, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and self-harm.

Crazy Boards appears to be quite active. If you are interested in joining this forum for social phobia support or for support for any other mental illness, please visit Crazy Boards here. New member can register on the top of the page.

Victims of Anxiety: Victims of anxiety is a support forum for individuals suffering from all types of anxiety, including agoraphobia and social phobia. Other discussions on the support forum cover depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Something that is unique about this board is that it has a place where family, friends, and other loved ones can share their struggles with relationships and receive advice on how to help a loved one with social phobia or agoraphobia.

You must register for this support forum before you can read its posts. If you are interested in joining, please visit the Victims of Anxiety support forum. New members can register on the top of the page.

While a phobia is an irrational fear, it is certainly a hard thing to cope with, which is why these support forums may be helpful to anyone who suffers from social, dental, vomit, and school phobias as well as those who suffer from agoraphobia. If you suffer from a phobia, I hope these support forums help you cope with it.

Sources:

Dictionary.com: Phobia:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phobia

Dental Fear Central: Support Forum:
http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/forum/

Anxiety Zone:
http://www.anxietyzone.com/

Ofear Phobia Forum:
http://www.ofear.com/

MD Junction:
http://www.mdjunction.com/

Social Phobia World: Forum:
http://www.socialphobiaworld.com/forum13.html

Social Phobia Forum:
http://www.socialphobiaforum.com/social-anxiety-and-social-phobia

Gut Reaction: Emetophobia Forum:
http://gutreaction.myfreeforum.org/

Scared of School: Forum:
http://www.scared-of-school.tk/#

Crazy Boards:
http://www.crazyboards.org/forums/

Victims of Anxiety:
http://anxietyvictims.proboards18.com/index.cgi