10 Most Common Phobias

Does a fear of heights strike terror into you?

Do spiders and snakes make your heart pound?

You may know that your fear is irrational but you can't help it!

A phobia is an irrational fear that interferes with your daily life.

But don't get me wrong....all of us have an irrational fear or two!

I get nervous around needles; others get light-headed when looking down from a great height, and my mom shrieks at the sight of a rodent.

But when this irrational fear provokes an excessive anxiety reaction and affects your daily functioning it becomes a phobia.

Some of the most common phobias that people develop involve:

• animals (e.g. spiders)
• certain environmental situations (e.g. heights, water)
• situations (e.g. elevators, flying)

While phobias impact on your life the right phobia treatment can help you to overcome your fear.

The 10 most common phobias

The top 10 phobias that affect millions of lives include:

1. Arachnophobia, a fear of spiders
2. Ophidiophobia, a fear of snakes
3. Acrophobia, a fear of heights
4. Agoraphobia, a fear of crowded or open places in which escape may be difficult
5. Cynophobia, a fear of dogs
6. Astraphobia, a fear of thunder and lightening
7. Trypanophobia, a fear of injections
8. Social phobia, a fear of social situations and evaluation by others
9. Pteromerhanophobia, a fear of flying
10. Mysophobia, a fear of germs or dirt

Phobia symptoms

If you experience one of these top 10 phobias, or any other phobia, then you are likely to have a strong physical and emotinal reaction to the object/situation of fear.

Some common symptoms of phobias include:

• a persistent and overwhelming feeling of panic, dread or terror to the object or situation

• a shortness of breath, increased heart rate, and trembling
• difficulty thinking about anything other than the fear
• a strong urge to flee from the situation
• a persistent anxiety about the anticipated event that involves the object or situation that you fear

These symptoms of phobia are quite similar to anxiety attack symptoms and other symptoms of anxiety disorders.

Search here for more phobia information

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