Top 10 Phobias, plus 40 More

Phobias are irrational fears of objects, situations, or living things.

Certain specific phobias fit the criteria for an anxiety disorder. These fears fill someone with the desperate need to avoid the source of their apprehension when confronted with it.

All phobias can put someone in a Fight or Flight mode.

About 75% of people who have a specific phobia also have fears of other objects or situations.

Hold onto your phone tight! It would be a horror show if you lost it!

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Here's a List of 31 Well-Known Phobias

Acrophobia - fear of heights (Greek, acro, heights or summits)

Aerophobia - fear of flying (associated with other fears, like fear of heights or fear of enclosed spaces. People who suffer from this have a fear of even getting on a plane)

Agoraphobia - fear of open spaces (Greek, agora, marketplace, or the place of assembly)

Ailurophobia - fear of cats (Greek, ailuros, cat)

{During the 1692-1693 Salem Witch Trials, cats were seen as harbingers of evil, a direct link to the devil himself.}

Arachnophobia - fear of spiders (Greek, arachin, spider)

Anthrophobia - fear of people (Greek, anthropos, man generically)

Aquaphobia - fear of water (Latin, aqua, water)

Atychiphobia - fear of failure (often intense enough to become debilitating)

< ⚡Astraphobia - fear of __lightning ⚡ (Greek, asterope, lightning)

Brontophobia - fear of thunder (Greek, bronte, thunder)

Keraunosphobia - fear of thunder, thunderbolts (Greek, keraunos, thunderbolts) ⚡>

Claustrophobia - fear of closed spaces (Latin, claustrum, bar, bolt, or lock)

Cynophobia - fear of dogs (Greek, cynas, dog)

Dementophobia - fear of insanity (Latin, demens, mad)

Equinophobia - fear of horses (Latin, equus)

Herpetophobia - fear of lizards, reptiles (from the Greek herpetos, meaning creeping or crawling things)

Murophobia - fear of mice (from the Latin murmus meaning mouse)

Mysophobia - fear of dirt, germs, contamination (Greek mysos, meaning uncleanliness, abomination)

Nosophobia - fear of developing a disease (similar to hypochondria) - thinking minor symptoms are more serious {This phobia became more intense in recent years due to the COVID global pandemic.}

Numerophobia - fear of numbers (Latin numero, numbers)

Nyctophobia - darkness (Greek nyx, night)

Ophidiophobia - snakes (Greek ophis, snake)

Pyrophobia - fire (Greek, pyr, fire)

Social Phobia - social interactions (also known as Social Anxiety Disorder)

Thanatophobia - death (Greek, thanatos, death)

Trichophobia - hair (Greek, tricho, hair)

Trypanophobia - intense fear of injections 💉💉🩸🩸

Vehophobia - fear of driving, especially on highways or bridges (similar to Acute Stress Disorder)

Xenophobia - stranger (Greek, xeros, stranger)

Zoophobia - animals (Greek, zoos, animals)

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All Phobias Can Induce Panic Attacks

Symptoms include

1. Sudden intense fear 😱
2. Heart palpitation
3. Chest pain
4. Sweating
5. Breathlessness
6. Dry mouth
7. Numbness
8. Hot flashes
9. Ringing in the ears

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Phobia treatments include cognitive and behavioral therapy, medication, or a combination of both, tailored to fit the individual's needs.

⚡Electroconvulsive therapy also produces incredible results!

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Some of the Most Unusual Categorized Fears

Ablutophobia - fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning oneself. Most occurs in children and resolves with age, but some adults still experience it - related to aquaphobia, fear of water, ablutophobia tends to be more extreme, resulting in social isolation because of unpleasant body odor

Arachibutyrophobia - fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth - Some people only eat a little, but many refuse to eat peanut butter altogether.

Arithmophobia - fear of numbers - Anxiety associated with math class, doing math, or dealing with numbers in general.

Decidophobia - fear of making decisions - People with this anxiety rely on others for every choice - They often use sources like the internet and astrology - This condition could be a mental health disorder called dependent personality disorder. {I almost deleted this a couple times but then spontaneously hit Save and Publish. 🤷‍♂️}

Eisoptrophobia - fear of mirrors - Also called spectrophobia or catoptrophobia, people with this anxiety can't look at themselves in a mirror or any reflective surface - This may stem from superstitions about mirrors, like breaking one can cause bad luck - Others have such low self-esteem and have such shame, seeing themselves can lead to depression.

Ephebiphobia - fear of adolescents or young people - People with this fear see teenagers as rude, unpredictable, out of control, and therefore dangerous - People with ephebiphobia avoid going to a friend's house if it's a place where teenagers hang out.

Ergophobia - fear of work - Some of these people have fears associated with work environments; others fear finding a job - Associated with negative experiences, it's related to Social phobia.

Globophobia - fear of balloons - The intensity of this anxiety varies, to the point some people can be triggered just seeing a balloon on television - It is usually associated with an incident as a child - It can be linked to Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns.

Linonophobia - fear of string - People with this fear avoid anything with string, like tying shoes - Usually developed from a negative association with string, like being tied up or kidnapped.

Nomophobia - fear of being without your mobile phone - Research shows that 23% of male students were labeled as nomophobic, and almost 77% checked their cellphones more than 35 times a day).

Omphalophobia - fear of belly buttons - People with this fear avoid seeing or touching belly buttons, and may put a bandage over theirs - They avoid places like beaches where bellys might be exposed.

Optophobia - fear of opening one's eyes - People with this extremely debilitating phobia prefer to stay indoors or in dimly lit areas. Like other strange phobias, this generalized anxiety disorder is generally the result of a traumatic accident.

Plutophobia - fear of money or wealth or rich people - Generally they dread money and having to deal with it, to the extent they could sabotage their own careers.

Pogonophobia - fear of beards - Usually stemming from a distressing incident with a bearded person.

Vestiphobia - fear of clothing - For many, this is the fear of a specific garment; for others, it is being afraid of tight-fitting clothes - Sometimes associated with allergies to fabrics, other times related to traumatic events, like incidents with soldiers causing a fear of military clothing.

Xanthophobia - fear of the color yellow - People with this rare phobia may also be afraid of objects that are yellow, like school buses, or flowers, or foods.

And check this one, authors. ⚡😁👇

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - fear of long words - Ironically, this is the longest word in the dictionary - also called, sesquipedalophobia, it's especially common in people with dyslexia.

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More info about some of the most commonly recognized phobias....

Claustrophobia - being overwhelmed in a tight space - can be triggered by trains, planes, and small automobiles, tunnels, elevators, caves, MRI imaging machines, basements, even just thoughts of being in a confined space. Roughly 12.5% of the population suffer from claustrophobia. Some are preoccupied with thoughts of suffocation. Many have the sensation that the walls are closing in on them.

Arachnophobia - not even having the capacity to tap on a spider emoji 🕷️ - As an example, one woman with this fear caused a multi-car accident when a spider crawled out from under her driver's side visor, inches from her face. She declined taking a lucrative job in Georgia when she found out they have "giant banana spiders" in the Peach State.

Arachnophobia affects 1 in 3 woman and nearly as many men. This phobia can be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Exposure therapy can be beneficial: first being exposed to cartoons of spiders, then pictures of tiny spiders, then photographs of bigger spiders, then videos of spiders, and eventually holding a dead tarantula.

{ See how one superpowered woman deals with spiders... }

Agoraphobia can manifest in many debilitating ways. Some people become totally housebound. Some experience a 'buried alive' sensation; if they venture outside, their knees are likely to give out and they will collapse. Others become so apprehensive that are unable to leave their beds for long periods of time. Different triggers may come into play, like not being able to go outside during specific conditions: on sunny, or snowy, or rainy days. They often will restrict their family members, afraid if they leave the house they could be harmed. This phobia has a severe impact on individual's lives.

Beyond what it means to be shy, Social Anxiety Disorder causes people to be fearful of negative scrutiny and public humiliation.

They may be wary of attending social events, forming new relationships, going to a job interview, eating while others watch. Besides anxiety, it may have numerous physical symptoms, such as blushing, sweating, and shaking.

Patients learn it is much easier to change behavior if their change their feelings.

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And finally....

Phobophobia - fear of phobias! - This is a "free-floating anxiety" where someone is so afraid of fear, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - Some people turn to alcohol or drugs as coping mechanisms. People with phobophobia avoid social contact or any situation that could cause nervousness.

I hope you made it all the way to the end of this story without freaking out.

Please don't be scared to hit that heart button ❤️ or SUBSCRIBE. The only people I electrocute are supervillains.

They should be very afraid.

* by

_____________ Bolt ⚡