Types of Phobia

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder that causes an individual to experience extreme, irrational fear about a situation, living creature, place, or object. It is an irrational fear of something that’s unlikely to cause harm. The word itself comes from the Greek word“phobos,” which means “fear” or “horror.”

Phobias come in all shapes and sizes, and because there are an infinite number of objects and situations, the list of specific phobias is quite long. Read on to know more about types of phobias.

What are the different types of Phobia?

There are two types of phobia – Specific and Complex.

1. Specific Phobias

Specific Phobia refers to fear or anxiety about specific situations, objects, people, or animals. People often develop this kind of phobia during childhood or adolescence, which may get less severe with age. Some common Specific Phobias are:

• Animal phobia or fear related to animals/reptiles/insects, such as rodents, snakes, or dogs.

• Situational phobia or fear related to specific situations such as tunnels (fear of a collapse), flying by plane and fearing that it might crash, fear of confined spaces with the fear of being trapped, and escalators.

• Phobia or fear related to the natural environment, such as darkness, heights, water, thunderstorms, etc.

• Sexual phobia, such as fear of nudity or sexual acts

• Phobia related to medical procedures such as injections, blood, choking, vomit, etc.

• Other phobias related to clowns, certain foods or objects

2. Complex Phobias

Complex Phobias are more disabling than Specific Phobias because the fear or anxiety is deep-rooted about a particular object or situation. They usually develop during adulthood and can affect your everyday life. Complex phobias are commonly of 2 types —

• Social Phobia

Also known as Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), it refers to intense fear or anxiety in social situations. People with social phobia avoid interacting with new people, talking in gatherings or groups, eating in front of others, starting conversations, going to school or work, etc. Such people have a fear of being judged negatively by people. Social phobia can affect your relationships, self-respect and self-confidence, isolate you, and disrupt your daily activities.

• Agoraphobia

It is the fear of being in places or situations that can be embarrassing or difficult to escape. People with this kind of phobia fear being alone at home, being in a crowd or open spaces, being alone outside, or even travelling.

Some common Phobias

Here are some common kinds of phobia:

• Acrophobia: Fear of heights

• Aerophobia: Fear of flying

• Aquaphobia: Fear of water

• Claustrophobia: Fear of being in constricted, confined spaces

• Achluophobia: Fear of darkness

• Arithmophobia: Fear of numbers

• Hypochondria: Fear of becoming ill

• Escalaphobia: Fear of escalators

• Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders

• Necrophobia: Fear of death or dead things

• Obesophobia: Fear of gaining weight

• Xenophobia: Fear of strangers or foreigners

• Zoophobia: Fear of animals