A phobia (from the Greek: phobos, fear or morbid fear), is an intense and persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or people. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive and unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, and if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.
Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorders. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias. Broken down by age and gender, the study found that phobias were the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25.
Phobias and Cause of Fears
It is generally accepted that phobias arise from a combination of external events and internal predispositions. In a famous experiment, Martin Seligman used classical conditioning to establish phobias of snakes and flowers. The results of the experiment showed that it took far fewer shocks to create an adverse response to a picture of a snake than to a picture of a flower, leading to the conclusion that certain objects may have a genetic predisposition to being associated with fear. Many specific phobias can be traced back to a specific triggering event, usually a traumatic experience at an early age. Social phobias and agoraphobia have more complex causes that are not entirely known at this time. It is believed that heredity, genetics, and brain chemistry combined with life-experiences play a major role in the development of anxiety disorders, phobias and panic attacks.
The Anatomical Side of Phobias
Phobias are more often than not linked to the amygdala, an area of the brain located behind the pituitary gland in the limbic system. The amygdala secretes hormones that control fear and aggression. When the fear or aggression response is initiated, the amygdala releases hormones into the body to put the human body into an "alert" state, in which they are ready to move, run, fight, etc. This defensive "alert" state and response is generally referred to in psychology as the fight-or-flight response.
Clinical Phobias
Psychologists and psychiatrists classify most phobias into three categories and, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), such phobias are considered to be sub-types of anxiety disorder. The three categories are:
Social phobia - fears involving other people or social situations such as performance anxiety or fears of embarrassment by scrutiny of others, such as eating in public.
Social phobia may be further subdivided into
generalized social phobia (also known as social anxiety disorder) and
specific social phobia, in which anxiety is triggered only in specific situations. The symptoms may extend to psychosomatic manifestation of physical problems. For example, sufferers of paruresis find it difficult or impossible to urinate in reduced levels of privacy. This goes far beyond mere preference: when the condition triggers, the person physically cannot empty their bladder.
Specific phobias - fear of a single specific panic trigger such as spiders, snakes, dogs, water, heights, flying, catching a specific illness, etc. Many specific phobias involve fears that a lot of people have to a lesser degree. People with the phobias specifically avoid the entity they fear.
Agoraphobia - a generalized fear of leaving home or a small familiar 'safe' area, and of possible panic attacks that might follow.
Phobias vary in severity among individuals. Some individuals can simply avoid the subject of their fear and suffer only relatively mild anxiety over that fear. Others suffer fully-fledged panic attacks with all the associated disabling symptoms. Most individuals understand that they are suffering from an irrational fear, but are powerless to override their initial panic reaction.
Various methods are claimed to treat phobias. Their proposed benefits may vary from person to person.
Some therapists use virtual reality or imagery exercise to desensitize patients to the feared entity. These are parts of systematic desensitization therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be beneficial. Cognitive behavioral therapy lets the patient understand the cycle of negative thought patterns, and ways to change these thought patterns. CBT may be conducted in a group setting. Gradual desensitisation treatment and CBT are often successful, provided the patient is willing to endure some discomfort. In one clinical trial, 90% of patients were observed with no longer having a phobic reaction after successful CBT treatment.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has been demonstrated in peer-reviewed clinical trials to be effective in treating some phobias. Mainly used to treat Post-traumatic stress disorder, EMDR has been demonstrated as effective in easing phobia symptoms following a specific trauma, such as a fear of dogs following a dog bite.
Hypnotherapy coupled with Neuro-linguistic programming can also be used to help remove the associations that trigger a phobic reaction. However, lack of research and scientific testing compromises its status as an effective treatment.
Antidepressant medications such SSRIs, MAOIs may be helpful in some cases of phobia. Benzodiazepines may be useful in acute treatment of severe symptoms but the risk benefit ratio is against their long-term use in phobic disorders.
Emotional Freedom Technique, a psychotherapeutic alternative medicine tool, also considered to be pseudoscience by the mainstream medicine, is allegedly useful.
These treatment options are not mutually exclusive. Often a therapist will suggest multiple treatments.
Non-Psychological Conditions
The word "phobia" may also signify conditions other than fear. For example, although the term hydrophobia means a fear of water, it may also mean inability to drink water due to an illness, or may be used to describe a chemical compound which repels water. Likewise, the term photophobia may be used to define a physical complaint (i.e. aversion to light due to inflamed eyes or excessively dilated pupils) and does not necessarily indicate a fear of light.
It is possible for an individual to develop a phobia over virtually anything. The name of a phobia generally contains a Greek word for what the patient fears plus the suffix -phobia. Creating these terms is something of a word game. Few of these terms are found in medical literature. However, this does not necessarily make it a non-psychological condition.
A number of terms with the suffix -phobia are primarily understood as negative attitudes towards certain categories of people or other things, used in an analogy with the medical usage of the term. Usually these kinds of "phobias" are described as fear, dislike, disapproval, prejudice, hatred, discrimination, or hostility towards the object of the "phobia". Often this attitude is based on prejudices and is a particular case of general xenophobia.
Class discrimination is not always considered a phobia in the clinical sense because it is believed to be only a symptom of other psychological issues, or the result of ignorance, or of political or social beliefs. In other words, unlike clinical phobias, which are usually qualified with disabling fear, class discrimination usually has roots in social relations. Below are some examples:
Chemophobia - prejudice against artificial substances in favour of "natural" substances.
Christianophobia - fear or dislike of Christians or Christianity.
Ephebiphobia - fear or dislike of youth or adolescents.
Gynophobia - fear or dislike of women.
Heterophobia - fear or dislike of heterosexuality.
Homophobia - fear or dislike of homosexuality.
Xenophobia - fear or dislike of strangers or the unknown, sometimes used to describe nationalistic political beliefs and movements. It is also used in fictional work to describe the fear or dislike of space aliens.
In many cases specialists prefer to avoid the suffix -phobia and use more descriptive terms, see, e.g., personality disorders, anxiety disorders, avoidant personality disorder, love-shyness.
Ablutophobia: fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning.
Acrophobia, Altophobia: fear of heights.
Agoraphobia, Agoraphobia Without History of Panic Disorder – fear of places or events where escape is impossible or when help is unavailable.
Agraphobia: fear of sexual abuse.
Aichmophobia: fear of sharp or pointed objects (as a needle, knife or a pointing finger).
Algophobia: fear of pain.
Agyrophobia: fear of crossing roads.
Androphobia: fear of men.
Anthropophobia: fear of people or being in a company, a form of social phobia.
Anthophobia: fear of flowers.
Aquaphobia: fear of water.
Astraphobia, Astrapophobia, Brontophobia, Keraunophobia: fear of thunder, lightning and storms; especially common in young children.
Aviophobia, Aviatophobia: fear of flying.
Bacillophobia, Bacteriophobia, Microbiophobia: fear of microbes and bacteria.
Blood-injection-injury type phobia: a DSM-IV subtype of specific phobias
Catoptrophobia: fear of mirrors or of one's own reflection.
Chorophobia: fear of dancing.
Cibophobia, Sitophobia: aversion to food, synonymous to Anorexia nervosa.
Claustrophobia: fear of confined spaces.
Coulrophobia: fear of clowns (not restricted to evil clowns).
Decidophobia: fear of making decisions.
Dental phobia, Dentophobia, Odontophobia: fear of dentists and dental procedures
Dysmorphophobia: or body dysmorphic disorder – a phobic obsession with a real or imaginary body defect.
Emetophobia: fear of vomiting.
Ergasiophobia, Ergophobia: fear of work or functioning, or a surgeon's fear of operating.
Ergophobia: fear of work or functioning.
Erotophobia: fear of sexual love or sexual questions.
Erythrophobia: pathological blushing.
Gelotophobia: fear of being laughed at.
Gephyrophobia: fear of bridges.
Genophobia, Coitophobia: fear of sexual intercourse.
Gerascophobia: fear of growing old or ageing.
Gerontophobia: fear of growing old, or a hatred or fear of the elderly.
Glossophobia: fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak.
Gymnophobia: fear of nudity.
Gynophobia: fear of women.
Haptephobia: fear of being touched.
Heliophobia: fear of sunlight.
Hemophobia, Haemophobia: fear of blood.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia: fear of the number 666.
Hoplophobia: fear of weapons, specifically firearms (Generally a political term but the clinical phobia is also documented).
Ligyrophobia: fear of loud noises.
Lipophobia: fear/avoidance of fats in food.
Megalophobia: fear of large/oversized objects.
Mysophobia: fear of germs, contamination or dirt.
Necrophobia: fear of death, the dead.
Neophobia, Cainophobia, Cainotophobia, Cenophobia, Centophobia, Kainolophobia, Kainophobia: fear of newness, novelty.
Nomophobia: fear of being out of mobile phone contact.
Nosophobia: fear of contracting a disease.
Nyctophobia, Achluophobia, Lygophobia, Scotophobia: fear of darkness.
Osmophobia, Olfactophobia: fear of smells.
Paraskavedekatriaphobia, Paraskevidekatriaphobia, Friggatriskaidekaphobia: fear of Friday the 13th.
Panphobia: fear of everything or constantly afraid without knowing what is causing it.
Phasmophobia: fear of ghosts, spectres or phantasms.
Phagophobia:fear of swallowing.
Phobophobia: fear of having a phobia.
Phonophobia: fear of loud sounds.
Pyrophobia: fear of fire.
Radiophobia: fear of radioactivity or X-rays.
Sociophobia: fear of people or social situations
Scopophobia: fear of being looked at or stared at.
Somniphobia: fear of sleep.
Spectrophobia: fear of mirrors and one's own reflections.
Taphophobia: fear of the grave, or fear of being placed in a grave while still alive.
Technophobia: fear of technology (see also Luddite).
Telephone phobia: fear or reluctance of making or taking phone calls.
Tetraphobia: fear of the number 4.
Tokophobia: fear of childbirth.
Tomophobia: fear or anxiety of surgeries/surgical operations.
Traumatophobia: a synonym for injury phobia, a fear of having an injury
Triskaidekaphobia/Terdekaphobia: fear of the number 13.
Trypanophobia / Belonephobia/Enetophobia: fear of needles or injections.
Workplace phobia: fear of the work place.
Xenophobia: fear of strangers, foreigners, or aliens.
Animal Phobias
Ailurophobia: fear/dislike of cats.
Animal phobia: fear of certain animals, a category of specific phobias.
Apiphobia: fear/dislike of bees (also known as Melissophobia).
Arachnophobia: fear/dislike of spiders.
Chiroptophobia: fear/dislike of bats.
Cynophobia: fear/dislike of dogs.
Entomophobia: fear/dislike of insects.
Equinophobia: fear/dislike of horses (also known as Hippophobia).
Herpetophobia: fear/dislike of reptiles.
Ichthyophobia: fear/dislike of fish.
Musophobia: fear/dislike of mice and/or rats.
Ophidiophobia: fear/dislike of snakes.
Ornithophobia: fear/dislike of birds.
Scoleciphobia: fear of worms.
Selachophobia: fear/dislike of sharks.
Zoophobia: a generic term for animal phobias.
Non-Psychological Conditions
Hydrophobia: fear of water (a symptom of rabies).
Photophobia: hypersensitivity to light causing aversion to light
Phonophobia: hypersensitivity to sound causing aversion to sounds.
Osmophobia: hypersensitivity to smells causing aversion to odors.
Biology and Chemistry Factors
Biologists use a number of -phobia/-phobic terms to describe predispositions by plants and animals against certain conditions. For antonyms, see here.
Acidophobia/Acidophobic: preference for non-acidic conditions.
Heliophobia/Heliophobic: aversion to sunlight.
Hydrophobia/Hydrophobic: a property of being repelled by water.
Lipophobicity: a property of fat rejection
Ombrophobia: avoidance of rain
Photophobia: (biology) a negative phototaxis or phototropism response, or a tendency to stay out of the light
Superhydrophobe: the property given to materials that are extremely difficult to get wet.
Thermophobia: aversion to heat.
The suffix -phobia is used to coin terms that denote a particular anti-ethnic or anti-demographic sentiment, such as Europhobia, Francophobia, Hispanophobia, and Indophobia. Often a synonym with the prefix "anti-" already exists (e.g., Polonophobia vs. anti-Polonism). Anti-religious sentiments are expressed in terms such as Christianophobia and Islamophobia.
Other prejudices include:
Biphobia: dislike of bisexuals.
Chemophobia: prejudice against artificial substances in favour of 'natural' substances.
Ephebiphobia: fear/dislike of youth.
Gerontophobia: / Gerascophobia: fear of growing old or a hatred of the elderly.
Heterophobia: fear/dislike of heterosexuals.
Homophobia: aversion to homosexuality or fear of homosexuals. (This word has become a common political term, and many people interpret it as a slur.)
Hoplophobia: aversion to firearms or firearms owners. This word has also gained a certain political notoriety as a dysphemism for "gun control advocate".
Judeophobia: fear/dislike of Jews.
Lesbophobia: fear/dislike of lesbian women.
Pedophobia / Pediophobia: fear/dislike of children.
Psychophobia: fear/dislike of mentally ill.
Transphobia: fear or dislike of transgender or transsexual people.
Xenophobia: fear or dislike of foreigners.
Jocular and Fictional Phobias
Aibohphobia: a joke term for the fear of palindromes, which is a palindrome itself. The term is a piece of computer humor entered into the 1981 The Devil's DP Dictionary
Anachrophobia: fear of temporal displacement, from a Doctor Who novel by Jonathan Morris.
Anoraknophobia: a portmanteau of "anorak" and "arachnophobia". Used in the Wallace and Gromit comic book Anoraknophobia. Also the title of an album by Marillion.
Arachibutyrophobia: fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. The word is used by Peter O'Donnell in his 1985 Modesty Blaise adventure novel Dead Man's Handle. It had circulated, unattributed, in the Internet for some time until it landed at the CTRN Phobia Clinic website: "Working one-on-one with one of our team, with guaranteed lifetime elimination of Sticky Peanut Butter Phobia. From $1497 and up."
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia: fear of long words. Hippopoto- "big" due to its allusion to the Greek-derived word hippopotamus (though this is derived as hippo- "horse" compounded with potam-os "river", so originally meaning "river horse"; according to the Oxford English, "hippopotamine" has been construed as large since 1847, so this coinage is reasonable); -monstr- is from Latin words meaning "monstrous", -o- is a noun-compounding vowel; -sesquipedali- comes from "sesquipedalian" meaning a long word (literally "a foot and a half long" in Latin), -o- is a noun-compounding vowel, and -phobia means "fear". Note: This was mentioned on the first episode of Brainiac Series Five as one of Tickle's Teasers.
Nihilophobia: fear of nothingness, as described by the Doctor in the Star Trek: Voyager episode Night. Voyager's morale officer and chef Neelix suffers from this condition, having panic attacks while the ship was traversing a dark expanse of space known as the Void. It is also the title of a 2008 album by Neuronium.
Venustraphobia: fear of beautiful women, according to a 1998 humorous article published by BBC News. The word is a portmanteau of "Venus trap" and "phobia". Venustraphobia is the title of a 2006 album by Casbah Club.
Miscellaneous Phobias
Arachnophobia: "fear/dislike of spiders," a film
Chromophobia: "hatred/fear of colors," a film
Choreophobia: hatred of dance, a book by Anthony Shay about Iranian dance and its prohibition after the Iranian Revolution
Entomophobia: a genus of orchids. The word means "fear of insects"
