Phobias and affective illness.

The present study is based upon an unselected series of III patients admitted to hospital with an affective illness. Information was retrospectively elicited from each patient concerning the presence, both premorbidly and during illness, of animal phobias, miscellaneous specific phobias, social phobias and agoraphobias. Two principal components analyses performed on the phobias present prior to and during illness showed that there was a tendency for the phobias to separate into monosymptomatic and agoraphobic clusters. Monosymptomatic phobias were relatively unaffected by illness, while social phobias and agoraphobias were frequently related to it. In addition it was found that the presence of mild agoraphobic symptoms may indicate a liability to affective illness. The relationship between social phobias and agoraphobias is discussed. Patients with anxiety states were found to have significantly more phobias both before and during illness than patients with depressive illness. The frequency and distribution of phobias in a control group of non-psychiatric hospital patients, matched for age and sex, is also reported. A principal components analysis performed on the phobias showed a similar tendency for the phobias to separate into monosymptomatic and agoraphobic clusters.