10 Most Common Phobias
The most common fear that people share is that of public speaking (glossophobia). Thus, no one finds it strange if you are not eager to address large groups of people. However, if you are stricken with a panic attack in the presence of a man with a beard (pogonophobia), then you might consider yourself odd and painfully unique. In reality, roughly one in twenty-three Americans suffer from some form of phobia. The different triggers for the panic attacks that phobias inspire vary. Phobias are commonly referred to as irrational fears, but they generally inspired by some form of trauma in an individual’s life. If you or a loved one are dealing with the frustration and embarrassment of having a phobia, take heart, you are not strange, you are not alone, and there is help available to you. The following is a list of ten of the most common phobias that millions of people struggle with every day.Arachnophobia: Extreme fear of spiders. Most people are made to feel uncomfortable by the presence of uninvited arachnids, but almost fifty percent of women and ten percent of men are absolutely paralyzed by the sight of these tiny creatures. Many of these people stiffen at the thought of spiders, and you probably know someone with this phobia.
- Altophobia: Fear of heights. When you think of this fear, it is easy to identify with the mental image of some harrowing and precarious position, but many folks avoid using step ladders as a result of altophobia.
- Agoraphobia: This phobia encompasses both the fear of wide open places/outdoors, and of crowds. Essentially, it is a fear linked to the loss of control an individual has over their environment in these conditions. This is easy to understand, as loss of control is generally undesirable to most people.
- Aichmophobia: Fear of needles or pointed objects. These phobics may faint at the sight of one.
- Brontophobia: Fear of thunder. This is common among children and animals, but yes, a multitude of adults cower at the earth-shaking resonance of thunder.
- Claustrophobia: Fear of confined spaces. There are many confined places with particularly undesirable attributes (prison cells, coffins, the principal’s office), but some folks can’t ride in cars or trucks.
- Emetophobia: Fear of vomit or vomiting. People with emetophobia tense up at the very thought of vomit.
- Necrophobia: Fear of death or dead things. Seems perfectly natural to fear death, but for some it can be debilitating.
- Carcinophobia: Fear of cancer and people who have cancer. This phobia apparently gives those afflicted the sense that cancer could be contagious.
- Social Phobia: This phobia is particularly damaging. It is often mistaken for extreme shyness, but it is in fact an intense fear of being around people-even groups as small as two or three people.
