Common Causes
What Really Scares People: Top 10 Phobias
- Fear Factors. (Image credit: Stockxpert.) Whether you jump at the sight of a spider or work up a sweat at the mere mention of getting on an airplane, fears and ...
- The Dentist. ...
- Dogs. ...
- Frightful Flight. ...
- Thunder and Lightning. ...
- The Dark. ...
- Harrowing Heights. ...
- Other People. ...
- Scary Spaces. ...
- Creepy Crawlies. ...
Related Conditions
- Papyrophobia: Fear of paper
- Pathophobia: Fear of disease
- Pedophobia: Fear of children
- Philematophobia: Fear of kissing
- Philophobia: Fear of love
- Phobophobia: Fear of phobias
- Podophobia: Fear of feet
- Porphyrophobia: Fear of the color purple
- Pteridophobia: Fear of ferns
- Pteromerhanophobia: Fear of flying
What are the top 10 worst phobias?
- Social phobia (aka social anxiety disorder)
- Specific (or simple) phobia
- Agoraphobia – fear of being alone in a public place
What are the most common types of phobias?
- Fears of the natural environment
- Fears related to animals
- Fear related to medical treatments or issues
- Fears related to specific situations
What are the different types of phobia?
What are some common fears people have?
What Are We Afraid Of?
What is the fear of thunder?
What is the fear of heights?
What is social phobia?
Why do people have phobias of snakes?
What is the fear of being alone?
Why do we have animal phobias?
See 4 more
About this website
List of Phobias A-Z: Most Common Fears, Types & More
Fear in a dangerous situation is normal. Phobias, however, go beyond normal fear and are irrational.The fear could be an animal, object, place or situation. Many times the source of the fear poses no actual threat or danger, but the person is overwhelmed by fear nonetheless.
How do phobias affect people?
There Are Two Types of Phobias That Can Affect A Person's Life: Simple phobias can produce a variety of reactions from their victims, ranging from mild anxiety to severe panic attacks. These types of phobias have a particular focus such as: A specific object. Particular animals, or. Specific activities.
What is a simple and complex phobia?
Simple and Complex Phobias — Andrew Rosen, Ph.D., ABPP, FAACP. Simple and Complex Phobias. What Are Phobias? Phobias are the most common type of anxiety disorder. Through this disorder, a person experiences extreme or irrational fear of an animal, object, place, or situation. Most people develop subtle fears throughout their lives;
How to help a phobia?
Relief for simple and complex phobias is typically found through psychotherapy. A therapist may recommend desensitization or self-exposure therapy, through which the patient is gradually exposed to the animal, object, place, or situation they fear most. For complex phobias, talking therapies or counseling is often most effective.
What are some examples of fear?
Examples may include a fear of dogs, spiders, going to the dentist, being in enclosed spaces, a fear of heights, or flying.
What is the best treatment for phobias?
For complex phobias, talking therapies or counseling is often most effective. In this type of therapy, people often participate in cognitive behavior therapy, which helps them focus on changing the thought patterns and behaviors that have been promoting their phobia rather than helping to diminish it.
When do phobias start?
In most cases, simple phobias begin to develop in childhood, usually between the ages of 4 and 8. In the majority of people, these phobias will disappear or lessen as the sufferer moves into adulthood. Complex phobias, on the other hand, usually begin later life, between the teenage years and early adulthood. ...
What is a phobia of heights?
Some typical phobias are: acrophobia (fear of heights), astraphobia (fear of lightning), cenotophobia (fear of new things or new ideas), claustrophobia (fear of closed places), hemophobia (fear of blood), and xenophobia (dread of strangers). Phobias are subclassified as agoraphobia, social phobias, and specific phobias. See also anxiety disorders. adj., adj pho´bic.
How many outpatients were in the NSSI?
Considering the NSSI among the groups, there were 16 out patients (16 out of 42) in the social phobia group, 7 outpatients (7 out of 29) in the agoraphobia group, 14 outpatients (14 out of 40) in the simple phobiagroup, and 6 healthy controls (6 out of 52) in the control group, who responded as "yes" to the screening questions in the first part of the ISAS, indicating the NSSI.
What is a phobia?
phobia. [ fo´be-ah] a persistent, irrational, intense fear of a specific object, activity, or situation (the phobic stimulus), fear that is recognized as being excessive or unreasonable by the individual himself. When a phobia is a significant source of distress or interferes with social functioning, it is considered a mental disorder ...
What are simple phobias?
SIMPLE PHOBIASThese are fears of one object, such as animals , telephones, birds, buttons and bridges.
What is the meaning of "assault"?
1. a persistent pattern of significant fear of specific objects or situations, manifesting in anxiety or panic on exposure to the object or situation or in anticipation of them , which the person realizes is unreasonable or excessive and which interferes significantly with the person's functioning;
Is phobia a fear?
Previous studies in the literature have reported that simple phobiais a common emerging fear in early childhood, social fears in adolescence, and agoraphobia in early adulthood (22-24).
Is chromosome 9q linked to panic disorder?
Chromosome 9q may be linked to panic disorder
How does phobia affect people?
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.
What is a phobia?
A phobia is an excessive and irrational fear reaction. If you have a phobia, you may experience a deep sense of dread or panic when you encounter the source of your fear. The fear can be of a certain place, situation, or object. Unlike general anxiety disorders, a phobia is usually connected to something specific.
What is social phobia?
Social phobia. Social phobia is also referred to as social anxiety disorder. It’s extreme worry about social situations and it can lead to self-isolation. A social phobia can be so severe that the simplest interactions, such as ordering at a restaurant or answering the telephone, can cause panic.
What is the fear of flying called?
Aviophobia: This is also known as the fear of flying. Dentophobia: Dentophobia is a fear of the dentist or dental procedures. This phobia generally develops after an unpleasant experience at a dentist’s office. It can be harmful if it prevents you from obtaining needed dental care.
What is the fear of heights?
Acrophobia: This is the fear of heights. People with this phobia avoid mountains, bridges, or the higher floors of buildings. Symptoms include vertigo, dizziness, sweating, and feeling as if they’ll pass out or lose consciousness. Claustrophobia: This is a fear of enclosed or tight spaces.
What is it called when you faint when you come in contact with blood?
Hemophobia: This is a phobia of blood or injury. A person with hemophobia may faint when they come in contact with their own blood or another person’s blood.
What is the fear of speaking in front of an audience called?
Many people dislike certain situations or objects, but to be a true phobia, the fear must interfere with daily life. Here are a few more of the most common ones: Glossophobia: This is known as performance anxiety, or the fear of speaking in front of an audience.
What Is It?
A phobia is a persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of an object, person, animal, activity or situation. It is a type of anxiety disorder. A person with a phobia either tries to avoid the thing that triggers the fear, or endures it with great anxiety and distress.
What are some examples of phobias?
Some phobias are very specific and limited. For example, a person may fear only spiders (arachnophobia) or cats (ailurophobia). In this case, the person lives relatively free of anxiety by avoiding the thing he or she fears. Some phobias cause trouble in a wider variety of places or situations. For example, symptoms of acrophobia (fear of heights) can be triggered by looking out the window of an office building or by driving over a high bridge. The fear of confined spaces (claustrophobia) can be triggered by riding in an elevator or by using a small restroom. People with these phobias may need to alter their lives drastically. In extreme cases, the phobia may dictate the person's employment, job location, driving route, recreational and social activities, or home environment.
Can phobias dictate your life?
People with these phobias may need to alter their lives drastically. In extreme cases, the phobia may dictate the person's employment, job location, driving route, recreational and social activities, or home environment. To continue reading this article, you must log in.
Does Harvard Health Publishing have archived content?
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
What are the different types of phobias?
There are three types of phobias, according to the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR): 1 Social phobia (aka social anxiety disorder) 2 Specific (or simple) phobia 3 Agoraphobia – fear of being alone in a public place
What is the fear of being alone?
Agoraphobia – fear of being alone in a public place. Each type of phobia can vary in severity – from mild to a severe, debilitating disorder. The earlier a phobia develops and the longer you wait to treat the phobia, the more difficult it becomes to recover from it.
What is a specific phobia?
A specific, or simple, phobia is the fear of a particular object or situation. Most people are familiar with this type of phobia. For example, many people fear spiders; if a person's fear is irrationally exaggerated enough, this might classify as a specific phobia. People with specific phobias actively seek to avoid the feared object ...
What is a phobia?
The definition of a phobia is an overwhelming, persistent, unreasonable fear of an object or situation. There are three types of phobias, according to the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR): Each type of phobia can vary in severity – from mild to a severe, debilitating disorder.
How many people have social phobias?
Social Phobia. About 15 million adults in the United States have a social phobic disorder and most developed symptoms in their early teens. Social phobias are more than mere feelings of shyness. Social phobias involve self-consciousness to the point of paralyzation.
How old do you have to be to have a phobia?
Specific phobias often develop at a young age. Animal phobias target the youngest age group and can start at an average age of seven years old. Other early-developing phobias include blood phobia at age nine and dental phobia at age twelve.
What are some examples of social phobias?
Examples of social phobias include: Fear of public speaking. Fear of using public restrooms. Fear of eating with other people. Fear of social contact in general.
What are the different types of phobias?
Common types of simple phobia include: 1 Animal phobia also known as zoophobia, this is the irrational fear that happens when a person faces an animal (other phobias associated with animal phobia are cynophobia, apiphobia and orithophobia) 2 Environmental phobia: environmental phobias occur when an individual is involved in a specific natural situation or event (this phobia consists of other phobias like acrophobia and astrphobia) 3 Situation phobia: Fear such as visiting the dentist, etc. 4 Bodily phobia: The fear that arises due to an invasive medical procedure and sometimes by witnessing injury or blood; in some instances people with bodily phobia may lose their consciousness
What is the irrational fear that happens when a person faces an animal?
Animal phobia also known as zoophobia, this is the irrational fear that happens when a person faces an animal (other phobias associated with animal phobia are cynophobia, apiphobia and orithophobia) Environmental phobia: environmental phobias occur when an individual is involved in a specific natural situation or event ...
What is the fear of water?
The fear that the person experiences gets transferred from one situation to the other, or reoccurs throughout life. For example, the person develops a fear of water when he sees a drowning incident that is unforgettable. Phobia and anxiety disorder are relatively common. An individual does not experience any symptoms until he comes ...
Why do people get panicky when they have phobias?
A person with a phobia becomes panicky when encountering the source of fear, which can be a place, incident, situation or an object. The phobia is usually linked to something specific, unlike general anxiety disorder. Image Credit: Benoit Daoust / Shutterstock. It is believed that phobias generally emerge from highly traumatic experiences.
What is it called when you are afraid of public speaking?
Moreover, the affected person might feel afraid of talking in front of people or in public in fear of being humiliated. Social phobia is also known as Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). A person with social phobia may have a fear of: public speaking. using public restrooms.
What are some examples of complex phobias?
Sometimes complex phobias continue for many years. There are several types of complex phobias, and some common examples include agoraphobia and social phobia.
How long does it take for a phobia to develop?
However, there are some differences as well. Simple phobias usually develop in early childhood, i.e., between 4 and 8 years. On the other hand, complex phobias develop in adolescence or are created by traces of the early childhood experiences. Furthermore, it is believed that simple phobias may or may not be caused genetically (running in families).
What Are We Afraid Of?
Phobias are surprisingly common, but what exactly do people fear the most? Are there any phobias that tend to be more common than others?
What is the fear of thunder?
Astraphobia is a fear of thunder and lightning. People with this phobia experience overwhelming feelings of fear when they encounter such weather-related phenomena. Symptoms of astraphobia are often similar to those of other phobias and include shaking, rapid heart rate, and increased respiration. 4
What is the fear of heights?
Acrophobia. Acrophobia , or the fear of heights, impacts more than 6% of people. 5 This fear can lead to anxiety attacks and avoidance of high places. People who suffer from this phobia may go to great lengths to avoid high places such as bridges, towers, or tall buildings.
What is social phobia?
Social phobia involves the fear of social situations and can be quite debilitating. In many cases, these phobias can become so severe that people avoid events, places, and people who are likely to trigger an anxiety attack.
Why do people have phobias of snakes?
Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes. This phobia is quite common and often attributed to evolutionary causes, personal experiences, or cultural influences. Some suggest that since snakes are sometimes poisonous, our ancestors who avoided such dangers were more likely to survive and pass down their genes.
What is the fear of being alone?
Agoraphobia involves a fear of being alone in a situation or place where escape may be difficult. This type of phobia may include the fear of crowded areas, open spaces, or situations that are likely to trigger a panic attack. People will begin avoiding these trigger events, sometimes to the point that they cease leaving their home entirely.
Why do we have animal phobias?
One of the most common explanations for this and similar animal phobias is that such creatures once posed a considerable threat to our ancestors who lacked the medical know-how and technological tools to address injuries from animals and insects. As a result, evolution contributed to a predisposition to fear these creatures.
What Is It?
Excessive, extreme, irrational, fear or panic reaction about a situation, living creature, place or object.
Phobia is not always related to an underlying condition. It may be caused by:
- Traumatic experiences
- Substance abuse
- Being raised by adults with phobia or anxiety
Symptoms
Diagnosis
Expected Duration
Prevention
- The symptoms of phobia are: 1. Excessive, unreasonable, persistent feelings of fear or anxietythat are triggered by a particular object, activity or situation. 2. Feelings are either irrational or out of proportionto any actual threat. For example, while anyone may be afraid of an unrestrained, menacing dog, most people do not run away from a calm,...
Treatment
- A mental health professional is likely to ask about current symptoms and family history, particularly whether other family members have had phobias. You may want to report any experience or trauma that may have set off the phobia – for example, a dog attack leading to a fear of dogs. It may be helpful to discuss how you react – your thoughts, feelings and physical s…
When to Call A Professional
- In children, specific phobias can be short-term problems that disappear within a few months. In adults, about 80% of new phobias become chronic (long-term) conditions that do not go away without proper treatment.
Prognosis
- There is no way to prevent a phobia from starting. However, treatment can reduce the negative impact of the disorder.
Additional Info
- Treatment usually includes some combination of psychotherapy and medication depending on the type of phobia: 1. Specific phobia. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can help, especially a procedure called either desensitization therapy or exposure therapy. This technique involves gradually increasing your exposure to the thing you fear, at your own pace, under controlled circ…