Respond to at least one of your colleague's postings in one or more of the following ways:

• Ask a probing question.
• Share an insight gained from having read your colleague's posting.
• Offer and support an opinion.
• Make a suggestion.
• Expand on your colleague's posting.

Colleague Post:

Post a brief description of a common child or adolescent fear or phobia other than fear of the dark.

A phobia is an identifiable and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable and is triggered by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation. Minors with one or more phobias can frequently experience anxiety when exposed to the specific object or situation. One common phobia in children and adolescence is having a fear of closed spaces or claustrophobia.

Then, explain at least three contemporary factors (environment, culture, society, family, or media) that may contribute to the development and persistence of the phobia, and explain how.

This can stem from unfit environments, trauma (from abuse or neglect) and things that they've seen or experienced. Claustrophobia can be brought on by being locked in a tight area or space for an extended period of time, crowded spaces, a form of punishment or even being left or being forced to stay in a space where a lock is on it. Environmental factors can play a big part in the phobia that the minor experiences. People typically develop claustrophobia during childhood or in their teenage years and it travels with them throughout their adult life. A large number of researchers have found that fearfulness of children sometimes decreases as they grow older (Burnham & Gullone 1997).

Finally, explain one way you might help the parents/guardians support their child or adolescent to overcome the fear or phobia, and explain how. Be specific. You must understand and acknowledge the fear or phobia at hand In order to implement interventions. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is also another form of therapy that can be utilized because this teaches the client to control or alter negative thoughts that may arise that triggers claustrophobia. As a child I remember playing hide and seek with my friends and family. Some of us hid in the closet and one of the other kids locked the door. We were locked in the closet; it was dark, and no one responded for an hour. The adults didn't hear us because it was loud in the house from music, tv and a house full of people. However, the children played downstairs and in the back yard. My aunt did a walk through to check on the kids and said she didn't see some kids and came looking for us and found us. I was extremely happy to see her but that fear, and phobia followed me through childhood into adulthood. I noticed we were all drenched in sweat, hyperventilating and crying. I'm still affected about this and I don't feel comfortable in tight spaces. This is something that I don't speak about often but this assignment has helped me and gave insight as to what services are available for this kind of phobia.

Reference: Burnham, J. J., & Gullone, E. (1997). The Fear Survey Schedule for Children-II: A psychometric investigation with American data. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 165-173