The fear of blood is a phobia classified on current mental disorders diagnosis systems as a specific Blood-Injection-Injury type of phobia (BII). Some sort of fear towards blood is common and, in fact, it is considered that the amount of people that experience this fear may exceed 10%. Yet recent studies point out that about 2-3% of the population suffers from BII phobia.

This data is significant; not only because of its prevalence, but also due to the negative consequences that blood phobia can have on the quality of life of those who suffer from it. These people tend to avoid medical interventions that are key to health or pregnancies, as well as quitting on graduate school (e.g. medical school, nursing school), or avoid visiting hospitalized relatives, and so on.

Blood phobia, unlike the rest of phobias, is characterized by a biphasic anxiety response. That is to say, even though during the first seconds of exposure to the feared stimulus an elevated physiological activity takes place (tachycardia, palpitations, sweating, etc.), immediately followed by a rapid drop (blood pressure drops, cardiac rhythm can drop to between 35 to 40 beats per minute, etc). This can lead to dizziness, pallor, and, sometimes, even fainting.

In addition to the fear of fainting, among the most common fears are the possibility of losing control, having a panic attack, fear of ridicule, of the needle breaking and staying inside the body. Feelings of disgust and revulsion are also common when exposed to blood-related stimuli.
Relaxation techniques during the exposure to the feared situation are useful during the first phase of the biphasic response. And in regard to the treatment of blood phobia, Mind Up utilises Applied Tension techniques, with the aim of balancing out the physiological drop and so preventing fainting.

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Fear of heights — also known as acrophobia — is a condition that affects 3–5% of the general population. It is not necessarily pathologic, and it only implies a problem if the anxiogenic response is uncontrollable, if it can drive the patient into a panic attack or into suffocation sensations, etc. This phobia belongs to the category of “specific phobias”, which may provoke an intense and anxious response to a specific stimulus —in this case, when people are exposed to heights.
Fear of heights is considered natural, even adaptative, since the avoidance response could be positive when people feel they are in a risk environment.

It is considered as a multi-causal phenomena because not all the patients that seem to suffer this phobia have developed it in a conditioned or learned way. In a study where participants who have suffered significant lesions and falls before the age of 9, it was found that they do not show a phobic response when they are 18.

However, some people manifest a phobic behavior pattern when they are exposed to heights, such as feeling anxious or even presenting panic attacks. In these cases, treating the patient is essential since it is showing a high level of acrophobia, so one could try to avoid any place not situated at ground level. The avoidance response intensity depends on the patient’s particular condition but it is particularly important to understand how it is manifested through a continuum, which is a scale of high positions going from climbing up stairs to situating the patient on a cliff. This is an important indicator and it has to be taken into account not just when analyzing the impact and the relevancy of the disorder but also the stage.

Mind Up maximises the technology of Virtual Reality as the therapist holds greater control of exposure variables as opposed to the difficulty of obtaining an optimal environment in a traditional exposure to treat this phobia. It does not require the patient and therapist to move around to find suitable places for vivo exposure as the situation is modeled in a virtual environment, and is equally efficient as vivo exposure treatment.

Claustrophobia is defined as the fear and avoidance of enclosed spaces. It is characterized by a persistent and irrational fear triggered by being, or the anticipation of being, in enclosed spaces. The symptoms associated with this disorder mimic those of a panic attack, which can include dizziness, falls, vomiting, cardiac discomfort, and others. As a consequence, the patient avoids aforementioned situations, restricting in this way their quality of life.

In order to make a differential diagnosis it is important to take into account the fear immobility and/or the feeling of running out of air, in other words, the feeling and thoughts that oxygen is depleted in small, confined spaces.

Instead of direct exposure techniques, Mind Up utilises Virtual Reality where it allows the therapist to have total control over the parameters of the exposure. This technology eliminates the risk of reinforcing the existing fear by preventing panic attacks, and, in addition, the exposure can be repeated as many times as needed which helps to get the most of the therapy.

Agoraphobia, or the fear of entering open or crowded places, are the most frequent in clinical practice. In fact, they are the anxiety problems that are most commonly consulted by patients.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a good alternative to traditional exposure techniques for the agoraphobia treatment. Unlike live exposure, VR allows standardization and control over the parameters of exposure sessions. In addition, it is particularly useful to repeat the exposure as many times as necessary. Likewise, it avoids the appearance of panic attacks, losing the risk of reinforcing the existing fear.

In the current mental health diagnostic system, fear of public speaking is classified as a social phobia. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasise that only 29% of cases can be diagnosed like this. Recent data indicates that 34% of the population may have anxiety problems when facing the public, which generally has negative repercussions in the academic or professional future of the person who is suffering.

The treatment of choice for this type of phobia is usually based on exhibition techniques combined with relaxation techniques, cognitive restructuring and, in certain cases, training in public speaking skills. However, as it can be difficult to provide a suitable space and a specific audience, it is complicated to carry out live exhibition sessions. Also, parameters such as control over the audience’s reactions, and others that generally depend on factors outside of the therapist’s control increase the complexity of making a live exhibition in the case of social phobia.

For a long time, the investigation that has been done into virtual reality as a tool to treat the fear of public speaking has been very extensive, and largely coincides with not only its therapeutic efficacy, but also its potential to integrate different techniques and permit greater context control. Mind Up utilises a virtual platform – an especially suitable tool for conducting exhibition sessions and/or training within a secure and prescribed context.

Fear of Driving is defined in the current mental disorders classification system as a situational phobia within specific phobias. It is characterized by an intense and persistent fear that increases with the anticipation or exposure to the driving stimuli. Recent studies have shown that the prevalence of this phobia is 4% of the population, although the percentage of people with some type of driving-related fear could raise up to 22%. The symptoms of this phobia can cause significant discomfort and serious interference with the daily lives of the patients.

Certain factors affect the intensity of the patient’s emotional reaction to driving. The typical and most important ones are: speed, weather, amount of traffic, distance to be covered, time of day, driving alone or with company, where the patient is driving through, characteristics of the road, type of car, etc.

Virtual reality has proved to be a good alternative to traditional exposure techniques in the treatment of driving phobia. It enables the standardization and control over the exposure session parameters. Also, VR is especially useful in repeating the exposure as many times as needed to those situations on the road that are unpredictable or last a limited amount of time. Taking into account that the treatment takes place at the therapist practice, VR also reduces chances of suffering an accident and saves the patient some embarrassment.

Insectophobia or entomophobia is classified on the current mental disorders diagnosis systems as a specific phobia of animal subtype. Nowadays, animal phobia has become a very common problem, in fact, recent studies show that 7.9% of the population has presented at some point this kind of problem. Cockroach and spider phobia is among the most frequent types of fears.

People suffering from phobias related to spiders and/or cockroaches usually avoid all those situations in which they believe the feared animal may appear, which may lead to serious consequences in their family, social and work life. In the event of not being able to avoid the situation, these people experience high and very intense levels of anxiety, and they may run away or remain still, paralyzed. Even once the animal has disappeared, they remain alert with high emotional activity.

Among the main fears experienced by people with phobias associated to cockroaches and spiders, the ones which stand out are: the sudden movement of the animal, its physical appearance or the sounds they emit. Other factors which may modulate the intensity of the emotional response are: the animal’s breed, size and ability to move freely, the distance from the animal or the fact of being accompanied by others. It is important to point out that there is not only an intense reaction of fear towards the possibility of the animal approaching and attacking, but entomophobia is also characterized by a strong feeling of disgust and revulsion.

In such cases, the preferred treatment is based on the use of exposure techniques, with a success rate of approximately 90%. In spite of that, it is very complicated to carry out properly-adjusted live exposure sessions because of the difficulty to control the insects’ reactions, the ability to create specific situations (e.g.: killing a cockroach), finding certain species, etc. Leaving aside the difficulty which implies having animals at disposal in the consultation itself, most of the patients refuse to get involved in live-exposure tasks.

As support and treatment, Mind Up uses exposure strategies supported by Augmented Reality (AR). In general, it is a technology that enables the combination of the real world with digital objects, which makes showing three-dimensional objects overlapped with real situations easy. In the case of animal phobia, AR enables the introduction, in a controlled and safe way, of different species at the patient’s familiar environment (i.e.: the therapist’s consultation, the patient’s home, etc.). That facilitates the construction of exposure sessions which are systematic, gradual, and customized to the needs of each patient.

Social Anxiety Disorder replaces the old term of social phobia. This modification represents a change in the conceptualization of the disorder, in which it is understood that the condition exists in a variety of social settings.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a beneficial tool for the treatment of Social Phobia, as it exposes the patient to social interactions, cognitive restructuring, social skills training and allows to train the patient on relaxation techniques. Moreover, the virtual exposure can be applied in an anxiogenic or unfavorable situation (seated, noisy, mid-conversation, etc), which is useful to design the exposure to the patient’s needs.

Test anxiety has been defined as the emotional, physiological and behavioral responses that occur around the potential consequences of negative evaluations or a future test or exam.

Studies of onset, prevalence and incidence show that the start of the problem may be very early (7 years), although the major manifestations occur in adolescence. It is estimated that between 10 and 40% of the child/adolescent population may suffer from it. Other studies show a high incidence, around 48%, in university access.

Systematic desensitization (SD) through exposure is shown to be effective itself in reducing test anxiety in addition to having a positive effect on academic results and a decrease in overall anxiety and trait status. The therapeutic approaches that combine SD with cognitive restructuring and study techniques are the ones that show a greater reduction of anxiety before the test.

The virtual reality environments are capable of generating the anxious response that appears because of the test in order to be able to perform the gradual exposure. In addition, virtual reality is equally effective as exposure by imagination, and achieves a greater Test Anxiety and Virtual Reality reduction of avoidance behaviors than exposure by imagination. This may be because virtual reality allows a greater generalization of the coping response learned.

With this VR technology, Mind Up uses a variety of psychological intervention techniques: exposure, cognitive restructuring, systematic desensitization, and training in social skills – and the ability to use specific techniques that are more appropriate to the characteristics of the patient and build on those with greater empirical support to get better results.

Someone who has this mental disorder may find it extremely difficult or nearly impossible to be in the dark. Some people suffering with nyctophobia (fear of darkness) may realize that their fear is irrational.

Young children typically have nyctophobia due to how movies and other forms of media dramatize the dangers of the dark. However, this is not to say that adults cannot develop nyctophobia, because this can most certainly be the case. Theoretically, anyone can develop this mental illness, as long as they have the genetic predisposition to do so.

People suffering from nyctophobia fear what they cannot see. They are typically aware that they are more vulnerable in the dark as opposed to in the daylight.

Excessively exposing someone with nyctophobia to their fear could be highly counterproductive to the point where their fear may become immensely worse. An advantage of using VR technology as exposure therapy is the ability of the therapist to control the environment and the level of exposure depending on how severe the patient’s symptoms are.

Fear of Spiders produces feelings of anxiety and stress for the people who have them. While this may appear ludicrous to other people, the person who suffers from this fear knows very well that the anxiety they experience is real enough.

If you have arachnophobia, you will probably go out of your way to ensure that you do not come into contact with a spider. If you find a spider in your home, you may react in one of two ways: either screaming and running away or freezing in place. You may be unable to kill or trap the spider yourself, relying on a friend or family member to rescue you from the situation. If you are alone, you may actually leave the house rather than deal with the spider. This persistent and excessive fear interferes with your functioning – eventually finding yourself limiting your activities in an effort to avoid spiders. Hiking and camping trips may be difficult or impossible for you. You may even dread visiting the zoo or participating in sports that involve being outside in a field.

What causes this fear is still uncertain. However, few theories explain that (a)Arachnophobia was a survival technique for our ancestors. Since most spiders are venomous, although most do not pose a threat to humans, a fear of spiders may have made humans more likely to survive and reproduce; (b)Arachnophobia is more likely based on cultural beliefs about the nature of spiders.

Arachnophobia is most commonly treated with therapy, particularly cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which focuses on stopping the negative automatic thoughts that are associated with the feared object or situation, replacing them with more rational thoughts instead.

Newer research has shown that virtual reality therapy, in which the person with the phobia is exposed to virtual representations of spiders, may work as well as the older technique of gradually exposing the client to live spiders.

As support and treatment, Mind Up uses exposure strategies supported by Augmented Reality (AR). In general, it is a technology that enables the combination of the real world with digital objects, which makes showing three-dimensional objects overlapped with real situations easy. In the case of animal phobia, AR enables the introduction, in a controlled and safe way, of different species at the patient’s familiar environment (i.e.: the therapist’s consultation, the patient’s home, etc.). That facilitates the construction of exposure sessions which are systematic, gradual, and customized to the needs of each patient.

The fear of birds can take many forms – some people fear only birds of prey, such as vultures, while others are afraid of household pets like parakeets. This fear is commonly caused by a negative encounter, directly or indirectly, with the feared animal.

An encounter with birds may cause you to shake, cry, freeze in place, run away, or attempt to hide. You might also experience pre-emptive anxiety in the days before a likely confrontation with birds.

Birds are extremely prevalent throughout populated areas of the world making it almost impossible to go through an entire day without a single encounter. This fear may progressively restrict your activities which can severely impact your daily life.

Exposure therapy is likely to be a very effective form of treatment for someone suffering from fear of birds. Exposure therapy works by gradually exposing the patient to their fear over a given period of time. Though doing so will inevitably give the patient an influx of unwanted dread and anxiety, the goal with exposure therapy is to try and desensitize the patient to their fear by repetitively exposing them to it.

As support and treatment, Mind Up uses exposure strategies supported by Augmented Reality (AR). An advantage of using VR technology as exposure therapy is the ability of the therapist to control the environment and the level of exposure depending on how severe the patient’s symptoms are. In general, it is a technology that enables the combination of the real world with digital objects, which makes showing three-dimensional objects overlapped with real situations easy. In the case of animal phobia, AR enables the introduction, in a controlled and safe way, of different species at the patient’s familiar environment (i.e.: the therapist’s consultation, the patient’s home, etc.). That facilitates the construction of exposure sessions which are systematic, gradual, and customized to the needs of each patient.

Ophidiophobia is an irrational fear of snakes. This is a relatively common phobia, and can be rooted in childhood. A young person who was startled by a snake moving unexpectedly in the grass or who had a negative experience that involved having a snake placed near his or her face may grow up to have an unnatural fear of these animals.
This phobia may exist even when the person learns facts about snakes. This does not make the person feel any less threatened by them.

A person who has ophidiophobia may become fearful thinking about snakes, seeing an image of one (photograph or a video), or seeing a live one causing them to freeze or feel panicky and wish to leave the area immediately. Anxiety may be the most prominent symptom. Their anxiety may be so extreme that they may even endure full blown panic attacks as a result of it. This varies from person to person and dependent on many factors.

There are no definitive causes of ophidiophobia. Nevertheless, genetics and one’s environment may both play very significant roles in the development of this condition.

When it comes to treating ophidiophobia, there are a number of approaches that will help the individual conquer this fear. Hypnotherapy can be an option for some people – “reprogramming” their thinking about snakes. This is not always the best option, since it involves giving up some degree of control to the therapist while in a trance.
Other treatments include exposure therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and some psychiatric medications, among others.

Exposure therapy can be an efficient way to help desensitize the patient to this specific fear. Theoretically, the more someone is exposed to something they fear, the less it will bother them over time.

As support and treatment, Mind Up uses exposure strategies supported by Augmented Reality (AR). In general, it is a technology that enables the combination of the real world with digital objects, which makes showing three-dimensional objects overlapped with real situations easy. In the case of animal phobia, AR enables the introduction, in a controlled and safe way, of different species at the patient’s familiar environment (i.e.: the therapist’s consultation, the patient’s home, etc.). That facilitates the construction of exposure sessions which are systematic, gradual, and customized to the needs of each patient.

Our therapists are capable of sensing just how severe the symptoms are and can therefore apply the appropriate level of exposure that the patient will likely be able to handle.

Fear of dogs occasionally share characteristics with fear of snakes or spiders. Dogs can be violent and dangerous, so it is usually about how the fear is quantified, from caution through to terror depending on the reality of the situation. It is truly a phobia (or irrational fear) when there is no realistic danger, but extreme fear persists.

There is no known cause of cynophobia. However, genetics and one’s environment may play very significant roles:

Genetics – a person may be more vulnerable to developing cynophobia due to their genetic makeup. Someone who has no traceable family history of mental illness of any kind may have a much smaller chance of developing this fear than someone whose parents both have anxiety disorders.

Personal experience – fear is developed due to a very traumatizing personal experience where they were bit or attacked by a dog.

Observational experience – based on fear acquisition. Witnessing someone else getting attacked by a dog or watching a documentary about dog fighting on TV can make a lasting impression on the individual to where they may develop this fear over time.

Informational experience – fear is developed through reading or hearing about it. If someone is genetically predisposed to develop mental illness, then informational experience may be all that is necessary for someone to develop fear of dogs.

Unlike with spiders and snakes, it is actually more common for some level of dog attack to occur, or perhaps to be barked at, growled or otherwise threatened by a dog’s behaviour.

Because dogs are such common animals, a strong phobia can cause real problems around travel, environments and relationships. Avoidance is one of the most common behaviours of people suffering from phobias. Though avoidance will give them some relief from their painstaking anxiety, such a behaviour could actually be causing much more damage than they may realize. If they were to isolate themselves from going outside in an attempt to avoid dogs, this may open the door for them to develop additional disorders such as social anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder, among others.

There are several types of treatments that can be very beneficial for treating the symptoms of phobias and anxiety disorders in general. Such is the case with exposure therapy, relaxation training, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and some medications.

Exposure therapy is one of the most common forms of treatment for people suffering from phobias. Theoretically, the more someone is exposed to that which they fear, the less it will bother them over time.

As support and treatment, Mind Up uses exposure strategies supported by Augmented Reality (AR). In general, it is a technology that enables the combination of the real world with digital objects, which makes showing three-dimensional objects overlapped with real situations easy. In the case of animal phobia, AR enables the introduction, in a controlled and safe way, of different species at the patient’s familiar environment (i.e.: the therapist’s consultation, the patient’s home, etc.). That facilitates the construction of exposure sessions which are systematic, gradual, and customized to the needs of each patient.

Exposure therapy can be very challenging for patients, so it is very important to see a therapist that is very adept and experienced at treating phobias. If the therapist were to expose the patient to too much too soon, then it may actually have a counterproductive effect by worsening their phobia as opposed to gradually improving it. Our therapists are expertly skilled in sensing just how severe the symptoms are and can therefore apply the appropriate level of exposure that the patient will likely be able to handle.

Being careful to sanitize and clean is important to everyday health, but if avoiding germs is always first on the to-do list, it is possible that one suffers from mysophobia.

Mysophobia may be an extension of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) as many people who suffer from this mental illness often experience a fear of germs as well. The distinction between the two is that with mysophobia, there is more of an emphasis on the sheer terror of germs and bacteria as opposed to additionally experiencing irrelevant compulsions like with OCD.

For “germaphobes,” avoiding germs dictates how they live their lives. Someone who fears germs might avoid contact with people or is constantly in a state of sanitation. A mysophobe who believes they have been contaminated will often feel physical side effects such as panic attack, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, sweating, accelerated heart rate, chest pain and nausea. Some of the most common symptoms include intense anxiety when around dirt/grime – or even when just thinking about germs, avoiding public places, taking excessive showers and hand washing, and excessively cleaning their home.

Mysophobia can be triggered by an event or sometimes for no apparent reason. Some people can get by their phobias easily, but for those who fear germs, their phobia can be life altering. When dealing with mysophobia, the opinion of a professional is vital since many times mysophobia can be construed as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The difference is that people who fear germs avoid them or get rid of them while people with OCD have a routine set in stone (if they always clean, they will never just avoid the germs).

In addition to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), exposure therapy may also work very well for people suffering with mysophobia. Some medications can also help treat the worst of the phobia symptoms or aid in coping with exposure therapy. Over short to long periods of time, depending on the severity of the case, this technique can help people who fear germs get their lives back in order.

Although exposure therapy can be a very effective form of therapy for someone with mysophobia, it is imperative that it be implemented very carefully so as to not instil too much fear into the patient. This may have the opposite effect of what is desired with exposure therapy.

As support and treatment, Mind Up uses exposure strategies supported by Augmented Reality (AR). In general, it is a technology that enables the combination of the real world with digital objects, which makes showing three-dimensional objects overlapped with real situations easy. In the case of animal phobia, AR enables the introduction, in a controlled and safe way, of different species at the patient’s familiar environment (i.e.: the therapist’s consultation, the patient’s home, etc.). That facilitates the construction of exposure sessions which are systematic, gradual, and customized to the needs of each patient.

Mind Up is expertly skilled in sensing just how severe the symptoms are and can therefore apply the appropriate level of exposure that the patient will likely be able to handle. It is always best to seek out treatment from a therapist who is very experienced and adept at treating phobias.

Dental phobia, also called dentophobia refers to an irrational fear of dentists or dental treatment. While this phobia may seem harmless on the outside, avoiding professional dental treatment for years at a time will lead to devastating dental damage and a decline in hygiene.

Someone suffering from this phobia will experience great amounts of anxiety when around dentists and even when merely thinking of them. Their intense fear of dentists may motivate them to avoid them at all costs. In some extreme cases, someone with dentophobia may even choose to move to an area where there are no dentist clinics nearby to limit their chance of laying eyes on one, thus reducing their anxiety. In addition to anxiety, they may also experience muscle tension, shakiness, sweating, and panic attacks.

Dentophobia may be traced back to several different sources:

• Past traumatic experiences when visiting a dentist in the past or during childhood.
• Afraid of being embarrassed or teased about your dental hygiene.
• A fear of the pain involved with dentist treatment, usually after skipping routine visits.
• Parents or loved ones who have also had a fear of dentists may have instilled the fear.

The feeling of helplessness or lack of control when visiting a dentist.
A history of abuse in your life may manifest itself in a dental phobia.
A person with dental phobia may see a psychologist to discuss their fears and undergo routine cognitive behaviour therapy, or exposure treatment methods.

Exposure therapy may be one of the best treatment methods for someone suffering from an irrational fear of dentists. In fact, exposure therapy is one of the most common forms of treatment for people suffering from most phobias. This form of treatment works by having the therapist slowly expose the patient to their fear over a given period of time. Though this will give the patient an influx of unwanted anxiety, the more they are exposed to their fear, the less it will bother them over time, theoretically.

As support and treatment, Mind Up uses exposure strategies supported by Augmented Reality (AR). In general, it is a technology that enables the combination of the real world with digital objects, which makes showing three-dimensional objects overlapped with real situations easy. In the case of animal phobia, AR enables the introduction, in a controlled and safe way, of different species at the patient’s familiar environment (i.e.: the therapist’s consultation, the patient’s home, etc.). That facilitates the construction of exposure sessions which are systematic, gradual, and customized to the needs of each patient.