Phobia and their types
You felt fear it’s a dark night and you’re watching a horror movie. You scream or jump a little when a scary scene comes up. Or you’re plunging down the big drop on a roller coaster and your palms are sweating while you yell from the thrill. We are not talking about that kind of fear.
Sometimes fears become excessive and irrational to the point where we can’t function normally. The intense worry and avoidance caused by these fears can interrupt day-to-day living, causing panic when that fear is encountered. That’s when the fear becomes a phobia.
Phobias are classified into three types, those are
- Social phobia
- Agoraphobia
- Specific phobias
Specific phobias are further grouped into five major categories they are
- Environment
- Situational
- Animal
- Blood/injection/injury
- Others
A 2017 study found that over 10 percent of adults in the United States alone struggle with phobias. this makes phobia is the most common psychiatric illness among women and the second most common among men.
Curious? if you have a particular phobia? Let’s look at the 7 most common phobias.
Arachnophobia (fear of spider)
Currently, the most common phobia in the world is arachnophobia. This is the fear of spiders. This phobia affects 3.5 to 6.1 percent of the global population. meaning around 300 to 400 million people are affected each year. women are twice as likely to have arachnophobia when compared to men. however, 55% of people may Harbor some fear of spiders just not a full phobia.
researchers Oman and Menaka believe that arachnophobia may be rooted in our evolution. allegedly our ancestors found their appearance frightening and viewed them as a threat of food and water contamination.
Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes)
Do you hear you hissing? Because I hear hissing. Have you seen something out of the corner of your eye that’s long and sinuous and frozen fear? Maybe you can’t catch your breath and your heart hammers in your chest when a friend shows you their snake of the world book. If so you just might have ophidiophobia. The fear of snakes.
Ophidiophobia is the second most widespread kind of specific phobia. With around one-third of adult humans reporting to be suffering from it globally. Similar to its sibling’s arachnophobia the fear of snakes is believed to be rooted in the primitive drive to survive. As snakes are typically perceived as a vicious and dangerous creature.
Additionally, personal experiences and cultural influences may also play a part. As studies have shown that in places where snakes are less common more cases of ophidiophobia were reported.
It’s no wonder snakes often take a starring role in various movie scare scenes and fear facing reality shows.
Acrophobia (fear of heights)
Glass elevator? No thanks, I’ll stay on the first floor.
Affecting more than 6% of people globally the fear of heights is another common phobia many of us have. this phobias official name is acrophobia.
No, we’re not prejudiced against acrobats or other high-flying performance professionals.
Intuitively it makes plenty of sense why we’ve learned to be afraid of heights. The research alleges that this phobia may be the result of an evolutionary adaptation, like many things. This adaptation developed to help keep us from falling to our deaths. A little of this can be helpful to prevent us from taking unnecessary risks. However, if it gets out of hand and escalates it could lead to extreme daily difficulties.
you might have a severe aversion to common structures such as bridges towers steep staircases and other perceived high places for fear of triggering a panic attack.
Aerophobia (fear of flying)
So how long will it take to get from California to Tokyo by car? aerophobia refers to the fear of flying and it affects around 10 to 40% of American adults.
Are you thinking right now? Sure humans don’t fly naturally so the fear of flying is understandable. Well, while that’s true.
Aerophobia is actually logically irrational given that airplane accidents are so rare. statistics report that traveling by plane is actually much safer than traveling by car. Nonetheless, people with aerophobia avoid flights as much as they can. Which can be problematic for work requirements or long-distance relationships.
Cynophobia (fear of dogs)
Did you say puppies? I think you pronounced demon hound wrong.
Puppy is dago’s happy wagging tails and those soulful eyes and those sharp pointy teeth would they’re scary seen. Wait, what!
Let us remember again that phobias are by definition irrational.
The fear of dogs’ official name Cynophobia may be less common than the fear of snakes and spiders. However, it can be just as if not more debilitating.
Just consider how many pets and stray dogs are present in any given neighborhood. That kind of prevalence makes it virtually impossible to avoid them completely. Unfortunately, this means Cynophobias experienced intense and frequent dread anxiety and even panic.
Cynophobia could be caused by a traumatic childhood experience, such as being chased or bitten by a dog. That was never addressed or otherwise fully resolved.
Getting proper help and following professional therapy advice could not only make day-to-day life more livable but allow you to revel in the wonderful world of dogs.
Trypanophobia (fear of injections)
Would it be possible for me to take all my vaccinations in pill form? Next step we have Trypanophobia the fear of injections.
Never seen the huge strong sports guy break out into unprovoked tears when it was his turn to get vaccinated at school or seen the undisputed tough girl pass out when being asked to donate blood. Maybe they have Trypanophobia.
While it’s normal to be afraid of injections as children. Statistics report that the fear persists in approximately 20 to 30 percent of adults escalating to become Trypanophobia.
Trypanophobics stringently avoid medical treatments hospitals and doctors. As you can imagine this is incredibly risky to their health.
How bad can it be? You could ask.
Well, the fear can be so intense that most would faint at the mere sight of a needle. An interesting bit of trivia, Trypanophobia is the only kind of specific phobia that is found to run in families.
Mysophobia (the fear o0f germs)
Another common phobia shared by many and even some well-known celebrities is mysophobia, better known as the fear of germs.
The term was first coined in 1879 by psychologist William Hammond who believed that mysophobia was a symptom of OCD. this is since been debunked by the discovery that most people who have mysophobia aren’t actually OCD.
Mysophobia can manifest as excessive cleaning compulsive hand washing and extreme avoidance of bacteria and germs. Such as frequent or constant use of gloves face masks and other perceived germ blocking attire. In extreme cases, mysophobia can cause people to become shut-ins cutting themselves off from the outside world for fear of being contaminated.
Where do phobias come from?
well according to the American Psychological Association, phobias typically emerged range hood or adolescents persisting into adulthood. Phobias, unfortunately, are usually not solo travelers. It’s more likely to have multiple phobias than just a single one. Also, we have seen here that some are more common than others.
Do you relate to any of these? Do you know someone who does?
This has only shown some of the most common phobias. there are many more such as fear of storms, fear of dolls, fear of enclosed spaces, among others.
A specific phobia is characterized by intense fear and avoidance behaviors that can negatively impact a person’s life.
Fortunately, all phobias are treatable usually with cognitive behavioral therapy. So if you’re suffering from a phobia yourself or know someone who is it’s best to seek out a mental health care professional and get the help needed.
Thanks for reading.
