Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two—of spiders, for example, or your annual dental checkup. For most people, these fears are minor. But when fears become so severe that they cause tremendous anxiety and interfere with your normal life, they’re called phobias.
A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger. Common phobias and fears include closed-in places, heights, highway driving, flying insects, snakes, and needles. However, you can develop phobias of virtually anything. While most phobias develop in childhood, they can also develop in later life. If you have a phobia, you probably realize that your fear is irrational, yet you still can't control your feelings.
6/19 the most common type of specific phobia is zoophobia or fear of animals. Zoophobia is actually a generic term that encompasses a group of phobias involving specific animals. Examples include arachnophobia -- fear of spiders; ophidiophobia -- fear of snakes; ornithophobia -- fear of birds, and apiphobia -- fear of bees. Such phobias often develop in childhood and sometimes go away as the child ages. But they can persist into adulthood.
A phobia is an excessive fear of an object or situation. It’s a fear that lasts for at least 6 months. It is a type of anxiety disorder. These are some different types of phobias: specific phobia. A child has anxiety when exposed to a certain object or situation. He or she stays away from the object or situation, dreads it, or endures it with so much fear that it interferes with normal activities. Some common phobias are a fear of animals, insects, blood, heights, or flying. Panic disorder. A child feels an unpredictable, unexpected period of great fear or discomfort.
Common vs. Rare Phobias
Some phobias are more common, while others are often quite rare.
A few of the most common phobias include arachnophobia (the fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (the fear of snakes), and glossophobia (the fear of public speaking).
Phobic disorders consist of persistent or recurrent irrational fear of an object, activity, or situation that results in the compelling desire to avoid the phobic stimulus. 137 in old age they are associated with higher rates of medical and of other psychiatric morbidity but are frequently found in the absence of other psychiatric disorder. 133 agoraphobia is often triggered by the traumatic experience or acute physical ill health. 137 the longitudinal course of phobic disorders in old age is unclear. Individuals with one phobia may develop another. Fear of crime is particularly common in old age, leading to fear of going out and to nighttime fearfulness.
What Is a Phobia?
What are phobias? 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. 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. An estimated 19 million americans have a phobia that causes difficulty in some area of their lives.
A phobia is an uncontrollable, irrational, and lasting fear of a certain object, situation, or activity. This fear can be so overwhelming that a person may go to great lengths to avoid the source of this fear. One response can be a panic attack. This is a sudden, intense fear that lasts for several minutes. It happens when there is no real danger.
Dentists
there are several categories of phobias that people may be affected by, including phobias related to the natural environment, animals, situations and medical treatment. Each category has a unique set of specific phobias that are related. People with these types of phobias may experience more than one of the phobias within a group. The phobias that fall into these categories are among the most common types of phobias. There are other phobias that do not fall into these categories, and these are listed in alphabetical order on this page.