More than 10 million adults in the United States suffer from some sort of phobia. Theseexaggerated fears—whether of spiders, needles, snakes, heights, social situations or even publicspaces—can become so all-consuming that they interfere with daily life. What exactly is phobia? Aphobia is an excessive and irrational fear reaction. If you have a phobia, you may experience a deepsense of dread or panic when you encounter the source of your fear. The fear can be of a certainplace, situation, or object. Unlike general anxiety disorders, a phobia is usually connected tosomething specific and the impact of a phobia can range from annoying to severely disabling.People with phobias often realize their fear is irrational, but they’re unable to do anything about it.Such fears can interfere with work, school, and personal relationships. Seek the help of a doctor ifyou have a fear that prevents you from leading your fullest life.        The good news is that over the past several decades, psychologists and other researchers havedeveloped some effective behavioral and pharmacological treatments for phobia, as well astechnological interventions. Now researchers are taking the next step, says psychologist and phobiaresearcher Arne Ö hman, PhD, of the clinical neuroscience department at the Karolinska Institute inSweden. They are using neuroimaging techniques like positron-emission tomography (PET) andfunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to understand the brain circuitry that underliesphobia and what happens in the brain during treatment. They’re finding that the amygdala—a small,almond-shaped structure in the middle of the brain's temporal lobes—is a key player, and thatmalfunctions of the amygdala and associated brain structures may give rise to many phobias. Still,researchers have yet to work out the details of how this happens.        In addition, genetic and environmental factors are also found to cause phobias. Children whohave a close relative with an anxiety disorder are at risk of developing a phobia. Distressing events,such as nearly drowning, can bring on a phobia. Exposure to confined spaces, extreme heights, andanimal or insect bites can all be sources of phobias. People with ongoing medical conditions orhealth concerns often have phobias. There’s a high incidence of people developing phobiasafter traumatic brain injuries. Substance abuse and depression are also connected to phobias.        Phobias have different symptoms from serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Inschizophrenia, people have visual and auditory hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, negativesymptoms such as anhedonia, and disorganized symptoms. Phobias may be irrational, but peoplewith phobias do not fail reality testing.
【題組】38. Based on the passage, what is the difference between phobias and anxiety disorders?
(A) There is always a reason behind a phobia, but not an anxiety disorder.
(B) Even a doctor cannot provide any help to treat people with a phobia.
(C) Phobias have a greater impact on one’s life than anxiety disorders.
(D) A phobia may stem from something that does exist in the real life.