List of different phobias and their meaning. List of the most common phobias. What are the types of phobias based on the number of objects of fear?

Are you afraid of the dark and sleep with the lights on? Looking for a long train ride over a high-speed plane ride? Do you feel like you're in a bunker in a confined space? Calm down! Your fears are not even close to the phobias that we will tell you about now.

Neophobia

This is the fear of doing something new. Surely everyone has encountered slight fear or apprehension, for example, when changing a job or place of residence, taking a responsible trip, or changing their usual life schedule. Usually people adapt to changing conditions quite quickly and easily. But neophobes succumb to crazy panic, and they definitely need support.

Scopophobia

Poor people with this fear feel extremely uncomfortable around people. No, they are not afraid of the crowd, their fear is caused by the fact that they may become the object of scrutiny or condemnation. By the way, this phobia can develop into a very serious mental disorder, such as paranoia. In addition, constantly expecting judgmental looks from the outside, people simply begin to move away and separate from society.

Phagophobia

This is mostly a neurosis that is caused by the fear of choking on food during a meal. Phagophobes are afraid to swallow, so they never take solid food - only liquid or soft food.

Nomophobia

How do you feel if you accidentally left your phone at home? Well, we were upset, lamented, and warned our relatives with a call from the office so as not to worry. This is a normal reaction. It’s not normal when a person is seized by real panic and rushes headlong to get his phone. And we are not talking about important calls or contracts. These are signs of nomophobia - the fear of being left without mobile communications! How easy life was for our ancestors a couple of hundred years ago – there was one less phobia!

Coulrophobia

Many people suffer from this phobia. And even celebrities sheepishly admit to being afraid of the painted clown's face. Johnny Depp publicly admitted that he is terribly afraid of clowns! And, by the way, coulrophobia is popular in the USA. Because it is in this country that the image of the clown has long acquired a certain sinister mystical appearance: terrible grimaces and painted mouths. To be honest, it's no laughing matter...

Trichophobia

For trichophobes, going to hairdressers, getting a haircut, and even banal combing of hair turns into real torture. Fear of hair implies disgust and psychosis at the sight of hairs on any surface - clothing, floor, table, etc. Apparently, the poor fellows comb their hair with their eyes closed, and only dream about domestic animals.

Caliginephobia or venustraphobia

Girls, pay attention! Now everything has fallen into place: there is a fear of beautiful women! Poor men suffering from this phobia literally lose their heads and the power of speech at the sight of a breathtaking beauty.

Spectrophobia or Eisoprophobia

This phobia is inspired by fiction and superstition. Fear of mirrors manifests itself in the fact that a person is afraid to look in the mirror and see his reflection. This is usually caused by childhood fears - for example, a child has heard enough horror stories and tales, or played with mirrors with friends, causing all sorts of mythical evil spirits. All these childhood fears carry over into adulthood and cause a lot of trouble.

Ablutophobia

So to speak, a dirty phobia. Why dirty? Yes, because with ablutophobia a person is afraid of everything related to swimming and water. Roughly speaking, this is a fear of washing. And by the way, nothing funny! Refusal of water procedures can lead to very serious consequences for the health of the body as a whole.

Chrometophobia

There are people who are afraid of money! But not the banknotes themselves, but microbes, of which there are enormous quantities on the banknotes. In principle, this is a justified fear, because imagine how many hands this unfortunate banknote goes through!

Altocalciphobia

Surprisingly, the fear of high heels is unique to women. The fear can be explained by potential injuries: the girl is simply afraid of breaking her ankle or falling down the stairs. You will not find Louboutins in the wardrobe of such girls. But some beauties are not afraid to walk (and even run) in high heels, even in icy conditions!

Triskaidekaphobia

Fear of the number 13, or simply the devil's dozen, is very common. And it is caused by the same superstitions. And God forbid a triskaidekaphobe get a ticket to row 13! Hysteria and panic are guaranteed.

Deipnophobia

Winnie the Pooh clearly did not suffer from this phobia, because he really loved visiting! But deipnophobes will always prefer to stay at home rather than have table conversations in an unfamiliar company.

Pediophobia

Fear of dolls is a rather serious phobia, and its cause also comes from childhood. Dolls and mannequins cause panic, and going to clothing stores and shopping becomes a real challenge.

Agyrophobia

People suffering from this phobia are afraid to cross wide roads and highways. Even at the permissive color of the traffic light! Therefore, for these people, the location of home, work, necessary shops and other establishments exclusively on one side is very important.

Phobia (Greek phobos - fear, fear) - unreasonable fear of something, fear of something (for example, photophobia - photophobia, antrophobia - fear of people, crowds).

There are a huge number of different types of phobias. They have long been well known. Everyone knows perfectly well what claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces), agoraphobia (fear of open spaces), acrophobia (fear of heights) means. And perhaps only specialists know that graphophobia is the fear of writing; ergophobia is the fear of work, pnigophobia is the fear of being strangled, and taphephobia is the fear of being buried alive, etc. Despite the prevalence of various phobias, science still does not know exactly the mechanism of their occurrence. There are many theories about the origin of fears, but most of them are questionable.

Phobia is a painful, obsessive and unreasonable fear (a type of obsessive state) that engulfs a person in certain situations and causes autonomic disorders, for example, increased heartbeat and sweating. A patient suffering from certain phobias tries to avoid situations and objects that cause fear. Such people often realize that their fear is completely unfounded. For example, people who are afraid of spiders or elevators know that they are in little danger. However, despite this, they still experience panic fear. This fear usually has a negative impact on their life, sometimes making it unbearable.

Many children are afraid of the dark or animals, some are afraid of school. For preschoolers and primary schoolchildren, this phenomenon is completely normal and is not considered a phobia.

Compared to other mental disorders, phobias are quite widespread. For example, in England, almost 8% of residents suffer from various phobias. The results of studies conducted in the United States showed that almost 6% of the population are susceptible to certain fears.

Are phobias dangerous?

Pathological fears are quite common, but they are not always clearly expressed, so the life of a person (and his loved ones) is not particularly disrupted. And only two out of a thousand patients suffering from phobias require help and treatment (because their daily life and everyday life are disrupted). Such a small percentage of phobias that require treatment is due to the fact that, due to circumstances, a person suffering from a certain fear may never or very rarely encounter the object of his fear, which, of course, has virtually no effect on his life. For example, a resident of a big city who is afraid of snakes may never meet the object of his fear. Likewise, the owner of a village diner is terrified of the elevator, but he never uses it.

Women are three times more likely than men to suffer from phobias. For certain types of fears, the ratio is even higher, for example, 75-90% of agoraphobic patients are women. It is assumed that this is due to the stereotype that women are weaker and more defenseless. Those suffering from agoraphobia are passive, timid and dependent - all these characteristics have been attributed to women since ancient times. In addition, sometimes the ordinary life of a housewife leaves its mark. Therefore, researchers sometimes define this fear as a logical manifestation of the role of a weak woman.

Theories of phobias

There are many theories explaining the appearance of various fears, but none of them are fully confirmed or proven.

Sigmund Freud was the first to try to explain the reason for the appearance of various fears in people. In his opinion, phobias are symptoms of conflicts deeply hidden in the human soul. The cause of the fears of a person suffering from phobias is negative childhood experiences. From Freud's point of view, a phobia is a way out that a person's subconscious has chosen to avoid conflict.

From the point of view of behavioral therapy specialists, a phobia is a person’s learned erroneous reaction to a certain stimulus. Therefore, one can learn to avoid such a wrong reaction. The patient is placed directly in front of the object of his fear, for example, left in the dark (of course, gradually) until the fear disappears, or the patient is able to overcome his unreasonable fear by consciously relaxing.

Main types of phobias

The list of phobias is very long: more than 300 types of different fears are known. They can be of varying degrees of severity. People with a mild form of phobias often do not suspect they exist: they are able to concentrate, gather their will and overcome them.

Phobias are classified not only by the object or situation that causes fear. There are other classification criteria: frequency of repetitions, behavior inherent in gender, age when the phobia appeared, mental and somatic symptoms characteristic of fear. There are four groups of phobias:

• Social phobias.
• Agoraphobia.
• Zoophobia.
• Other fears.

Social phobias

Social phobias are not very common. People suffering from severe social phobia feel as if others are making fun of them. Therefore, they tend to avoid situations in which other people could observe them. For example, some are afraid of blushing and therefore avoid large crowds of people, others think that they eat unattractively and they avoid visiting restaurants and cafes. The first difficulties for patients usually arise during puberty, when self-esteem and social contacts become of great importance. However, usually there are no major problems (women make up about 60% of all patients).

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces. This form of fear is quite common, accounting for about 60% of all types of fear. 75-90% of patients suffering from agoraphobia are women. This fear is not only a fear of wide and large areas or of large crowds of people; the patient may also be afraid of traveling or heavy traffic. Fear can be so strong that a person is afraid to even leave the house. Agoraphobia usually begins in adolescence or after adolescence. Other symptoms are added to the phobia itself: internal tension, drowsy state, etc. The person checks several times whether he has turned off the stove, whether he has closed the window and door. Those suffering from this type of phobia often sigh, are in a bad mood, and are afraid of going crazy.

People with agoraphobia have times when their fears do not manifest themselves. They fearlessly survive even critical situations if there is a person nearby whom they trust. More details in a separate article Agoraphobia.

Zoophobia

This type of phobia makes up only 3% of the total. The majority of patients are women (about 95%). Zoophobia is more common already in early childhood as a result of incidents that caused mental trauma. It is assumed that this fear initially affects boys and girls equally. However, boys typically experience greater social pressure to admit their fears. Therefore, fears are not “fixed” in their brain and disappear over time. With zoophobia, there are usually no strictly defined symptoms. A person experiences strong excitement at the sight or only at the assumption that he will see an animal that causes fear.

Other phobias

Other phobias include fear of heights, darkness, infection with infectious diseases, fear of vehicles, etc. Thus, you can be afraid of almost everything.

Opposite reaction

Some people suffering from phobias develop completely opposite behavior as a response. For example, a person who is afraid of heights becomes a climber or parachutist.

Fear of being scared

Some phobias are like a vicious circle. Sometimes a person experiences fear just by imagining that something is about to happen and he will be afraid. Experts call this condition phobia phobia.

You can learn to be afraid

A phobic reaction can be learned. If a child constantly sees his mother being terrified of spiders, then it is likely that under certain circumstances he will also develop a fear of them. A child who is constantly told that dogs are dangerous may develop a corresponding type of phobia. Praise or reproach can contribute to the formation of fear. If a child is praised for staying away from dogs and reprimanded for petting them, there is a high likelihood of developing a fear of animals.

Man is a social being - a member of society. Therefore, it is completely normal that he cares about the opinions of people around him. However, sometimes a person places too high demands on himself and cannot meet them, which contributes to the formation of phobias and complexes. Patients suffering from social phobias are often prone to one or another irrational beliefs, which become the cause of their internal tension. It is very important for them that society recognizes and loves them. They always try to be competent and behave impeccably in all life situations. However, this is impossible. As a result, a person reacts painfully to other people’s opinions, later he is overcome by a feeling of rejection, and he becomes withdrawn.

Treatment

Due to the existence of various theories explaining the occurrence of fear, the therapeutic principles of treating phobias also differ.

Psychoanalytic method

From a psychoanalytic point of view, a phobia is an expression of a conflict hidden in the subconscious. In this case, they do not treat the fear itself, but try to discover the conflict that is its cause. The main means for clarifying conflicts are the interpretation of dreams and the analysis of conversations between the patient and the doctor. When the conflict can be detected, the patient comes to terms with it and the phobia disappears. Some psychoanalysts suggest that the patient consciously do what he is most afraid of and thus overcome fear.

Behavioral therapy methods

Behavioral therapy specialists have created many different techniques designed to alleviate the manifestation of fear in patients or eliminate this fear completely. A frequently used method is systemic desensitization combined with deep muscle relaxation. In this case, when the patient is completely relaxed, several situations are created that cause him fear. The principle of habituation (habituation) is used. During therapy, the patient encounters situations that cause him fear. For example, treatment for agoraphobia involves visiting places with large crowds of people. Modern data confirm that this is a fairly effective therapeutic method, which makes phobias easier to tolerate.

Another technique for teaching a patient not to be afraid of his fear is based on the principle of visualization. The patient watches a movie or observes real life scenes and realizes that the object that causes fear in him does not cause it in others. The third technique is based on gradually overcoming fear. The patient gradually, step by step, approaches the object of his fear. The patient is praised and encouraged for the slightest effort. Thus, the basic principle of all these techniques is to look for danger to ensure safety.

Medications

To alleviate an acute anxiety-phobic state, medications may be prescribed as an additional therapeutic agent. However, you cannot limit yourself to drug treatment alone. When you stop taking the medication, fear arises again.

List of phobias

• The fear of everything is panophobia.
• Many things - polyphobia.
• Everything new - neophobia.
• Air - anemophobia.
• Clouds - nephophobia.
• Cold, ice and frost - cryophobia (Cryophobta).
• Nights - Nyctophobia.
• Darkness - Scotophobia.
• Day - eosophobia.
• Sunlight - Phengophobia.
• Sveta - photophobia.
• Flashes of light - Selaphobia.
• Thunder and lightning - Brontophobia.
• Electricity - electrophobia.
• Bright light - photoaugliaphobia.
• Loud noise - ligyrophobia.
• Cosmic phenomena - cosmikophobia.
• Meteors - meteorophobia.
• Comet - Cometophobia.
• Moons - Selenophobia.
• Northern Lights - Auroraphobia.
• Stars - astrophobia.
• Sun - heliophobia.
• Droughts - xerophobia.
• Floods - Antlophobia.
• Fog - Homichlophobia.
• Hurricanes - Lilapsophobia.
• Lakes - limnophobia.
• Rivers or running water - Potamophobia.
• Seas and oceans - Thalassophobia.
• Chasms - Cremnophobia.
• Rain - Ombrophobia.
• Shadows - sciopophobia.
• Snow - Chionophobia.
• Water - hydrophobia.
• Wind - Ancraophobia.
• Heights - acrophobia.
• Lesov - Hylophobia.
• Plants - botanophobia.
• Trees - dendrophobia (Dendropriobia).
• Mushrooms - mycophobia.
• Flowers - Anthrophobia and smells - Olfactophobia.
• Being hypnotized is hypnophobia.
• Litigation - Liticaphobia.
• Marriage - Gamophobia.
• Surgery - tomophobia.
• Religious ceremonies - teleophobia.
• Being alone is isolophobia.
• Hearing good news is Eupophobia.
• Being unnoticed is athazagoraphobia.
• Being ridiculed is Katagelophobia.
• Alcohol - methylophobia (Methyphoba).
• Guilt - Oenophobia.
• Harmful fumes - Aerophobia.
• Dust - Amathophobia.
• Feces - coprophobia.
• Rotting matter - Seplophobia.
• Food - Cibophobia.
• Garlic - Alliumphobia.
• Meat - Carnophobia.
• Vegetables - Lachanophobia.
• Gold - Aurophobia.
• Metal - metallophobia.
• Staring at others closely is called Scoptophobia.
• Touching - Aphenphosmophobia.
• Sexual harassment - Contreltophobia.
• Rape - virginitiphobia.
• Accident - Dystychiphobia.
• Atomic explosion - Atomosophobia.
• Radiation - radiophobia.
• Physical or moral punishment - Rhabdophobia.
• Porky - Mastigophobia.
• Critics - Enissophobia.
• Being tied up is Merinthophobia.
• Being strangled is Pnigophobia.
• Choking - anginophobia (Angmophobia).
• Being in a crowd is Ochlophobia.
• Lunch and dinner conversations - Deipnophobia.
• Getting dirty is Rhypopnobia.

TO phobias often include any manifestations anxiety, fear, fear, fright . This understanding is dictated by the characteristics of anxiety-phobic disorders - their symptoms are so wide that it is possible to find some form of obsessive fear in almost everyone.

But how exactly to distinguish the presence of a phobia from the ordinary form of apprehension and fear?

What it is?

The existence of humanity has always been associated with the need to protect against possible danger, therefore nature itself has created a safety mechanism in us that allows us to warn in time about a threat to life or health.

We are talking about the emotion of anxiety and the feeling of fear, which characterize the emotional sphere of a person at a time of real danger.

Emphatically irrational, fear in anxiety-phobic disorder, as a rule, has no basis - it is not required either for survival or for preventing risks and threats. At the same time, the danger in the human mind multiplies many times over; even harmless phenomena (objects, events) can be elevated to the rank of a threat to life.

Adequacy, rationality and logic, like other cognitive characteristics of the thought process, are simply absent. Experiences so captivate the mind that a person becomes capable of committing the most stupid and inexplicable acts.

This is what explains the most strange phobias that arise in people: fear of bald people - peladophobia, or fear of bearded people - pogonophobia, mirrors - eisoptrophobia, aquariums - ichthyolaccophobia, antiques - anticophobia, etc.

Moreover, people cannot specify what directly causes such strong fear.

How the body reacts to a phobia

The physiological reaction of the body when experiencing a phobia is associated with the preparation of all systems to resist a potential threat, and the following occurs:

• the heart beats faster, blood pressure rises, oxygen supply to tissues becomes more intense, which can cause complications in the cardiovascular system (infarction, heart attacks);
• the pupils of the eyes dilate, which indicates a stressful state;
• the intensity of inhalation-exhalation cycles increases, oxygen saturation of the lungs increases, which can initiate hyperventilation and, as a result, panic;
• the adrenal glands begin to intensively produce the stress hormone (cortisol), which has a detrimental effect on the state of the immune system, muscle and bone tissue;
• body cooling mechanisms are activated - sweating occurs more intensely;
• the functioning of the digestive organs is disrupted.

Types of human phobias

Analyzing the types of phobias, experts develop their own and very diverse classifications. Although there is a unified international classification of phobias, including at least 3 large groups:

• agoraphobia;
• social;
• specific.

Space is dangerous

Agoraphobia was originally associated with “fear of the marketplace” - the meaning of the word in literal translation.

The modern understanding of this type of uncontrollable fear includes a fairly wide range of phenomena associated with: open or, conversely, closed space, large crowds of people, any public place, travel, the inability to instantly get to a safe place (home, for example).

Hostile surroundings

Excessive anxiety and fear as a reaction to a possible negative assessment of the social environment, to ridicule, criticism, condemnation of people - all this is a possible basis for the manifestation social phobias.

Social phobes experience difficulties in adapting to life in society, when building interactions with people: when making acquaintances, communicating on the phone and in person with visitors, with superiors, if necessary, performing actions in the presence of others (eating, writing, etc.), speak publicly.

This type also includes fear of work. Not everyone will remember what the phobia is called in this case, but many have experienced ergophobia if necessary, get a new job, perform too complex and time-consuming tasks, after injuries in the workplace, in case of unfavorable relations with the team.

Isolated and so many-faced fears

Specific or isolated phobias describe fears associated with specific situations, phenomena or objects. A panic attack of fear can be caused by animals and insects, natural phenomena and physical objects (thunderstorm, strong wind, water, loud sound, height).

Human phobias: list with explanations

The American Medical Terminology Dictionary defines 400 types of phobias.

The list of the most common includes about 50 items. Here are some of them:

1. Fear of illness ( nosophobia). A person is persistently and inevitably terribly afraid of getting sick - with one, or less often, with several diseases. Sometimes this leads to complete inaction - in order not to expose oneself to danger, all attempts to interact with the outside world are suppressed.
2. Fear of death ( thanatophobia).
   Slightly related to the previous phobia, but specific from the point of view of the specific object of fear. Everyone is afraid of death, but for a thanatophobe this fear is constant and is not associated with a real risk of “departing for another world.” An individual experiences severe panic attacks at the mere thought of the possibility of death.
3. Fear of germs ( spermophobia). People suffering from this phobia try in every way to avoid environments containing microorganisms - dirt, dust. They wash everything, clean it, fight it almost “to the holes.”
4. Fear of heights ( acrophobia). Inadequate perception of everything associated with being at altitude. Even at low altitudes, the individual becomes numb and overly tense, covering his face with his hands. Nausea sets in and I feel very dizzy.
5. Fear of holes ( trypophobia). Any hole, or rather a cluster of them (even in natural objects) is associated with a threat: you can get sucked into holes, you can fall there, poisonous creatures can lurk there. The discomfort caused by the fear of holes is accompanied by the whole spectrum of negative emotions - disgust, extreme hostility.
6. Fear of the dark ( achluophobia, nyctophobia).
   Darkness, associated with surprise and the unknown, evokes animal horror. Although it is more associated with childhood fears, nyctophobia is inherent in any age. People with imagination are more inclined - it always tries to complete the terrible plot of what may be hidden in the dark.
7. Fear of people ( anthropophobia). This form of phobia can be called an extreme manifestation of social fears, when even the presence of one person is painfully experienced. A neurotic state occurs with any violation of personal space, especially with direct contact with a person, especially an unfamiliar one.
8. Fear of dogs ( caninophobia, cynophobia). Knowing that a dog is a human-friendly animal, cinephobes deeply do not support this opinion. For them, these animals serve as a source of fear, increased heartbeat, panic and the desire to run away without looking back. Regardless of size, appearance and distance from the individual, the dog inspires maximum fear.
9. Fear of snakes ( ophidiophobia).
   A snake is not the most pleasant creature, which is why many people understand ophidiophobia. Irrational fear and pathological anxiety in relation to snakes is reflected in the reluctance to even think about the places where snakes may live, let alone visit them. Such people deliberately limit their stay in nature, spending the night in tents. The search for snakes is carried out even in one’s own home or workplace - this is in case of particularly severe phobias.
10. Fear of insects ( entomophobia, insectophobia). This phobia is similar to the previous one - here horror is caused by any species of insects or their individual representatives. The very sight of crawling creatures, the sounds they make when moving and flying, is perceived as painful, with emotional intolerance.

Phobia test

Diagnosis of fears is carried out using at least 2 varieties test methods:

• personal questionnaires or questionnaires to determine psycho-emotional state;
• projective tests.

TO first This group includes all tests of the classic version, which involve a general “question-answer” scheme (or “a statement - its assessment” by the test taker). A phobia can be judged by a significant level of personal and situational anxiety. In this case, the Spielberger-Khanin questionnaire is used, which gives an objective assessment of a person’s perception of a range of circumstances that are objectively not dangerous, but in the presence of a phobia are associated with an undoubted threat.

Information about the severity of the phobia is also provided by the Zang scale (ZARS test), which allows self-assessment to identify an anxiety disorder, a panic attack, or the phobia itself.

Projective test techniques are designed to work with the subconscious. For the subject, there is stimulus material (in the form, for example, pictures, drawings, abstract images) that stimulates a number of associations, from which it becomes possible for the psychologist to draw a conclusion about the existence of fear and its characteristics.

The most famous projective techniques:

• Rorschach stains, where the stimulus material is a set of inkblots - they become an indicator that “raises” repressed fears and concerns from the subconscious into the conscious sphere (a person is shown inkblots, and he “recognizes” something vaguely familiar in them);

• non-existent animal: the technique is based on the close relationship between a person’s psychomotor skills and his internal psychological sensations (emotions); By drawing an animal, the appearance of which is suggested only by his own imagination, the individual, through muscle tone and fine motor skills of the hands, demonstrates his own fear on a piece of paper.

Treatment

Along with medicinal influence, psychocorrectional work is one of the methods of overcoming anxiety-phobic disorders.

The main focus of psychotherapy for phobias is to strengthen the body’s adaptive functions to traumatic experiences.

Something's going on designing a new approach to respond to frightening reality:

An effective way to gradually master your own phobia and curb it is desensitization . Painful fear creates great tension in a person’s body and psyche; if one manages to master the technique of voluntary relaxation during the experience of a phobia, the individual can achieve a state where fear gradually recedes instead of, as before, allowing it to unconditionally take over the consciousness and emotional state.

The emergence and spread of phobia is a phenomenon that has not yet been fully studied, although it is clear that this process is facilitated by mental And psychophysiological features person.

Fatigue, tension (of the psyche), irrational and negative thinking, on the one hand, contribute to the development of anxiety and fear, but on the other hand, they are a hint and an important resource for finding a way out of a situation of uncontrollable fear and defeating it.

We offer you to watch a video about the strangest phobias of people:

Probably every person has had to deal with phobias in one way or another. Some have learned to get along with their inner demons, while others strive with all their might to get rid of the worries that poison their lives. Experts pay great attention to the study of all kinds of phobias, trying to alleviate the plight of those suffering.

Some fears are quite common. We will definitely look at the list of the 10 most common phobias in this article. And there are also those whose names are unknown even to those who are susceptible to them. Therefore, we will mention rare phobias for your information.

What to do if a phobia interferes with your life, is it possible to get rid of it, is this always necessary? Let's find answers to all questions.

and mental disorder: what's the difference?

First of all, let's define the terms. Phobia is inextricably linked with fear. It represents an insurmountable fear of certain phenomena, objects, situations. But are these concepts identical?

Experts answer this question in the negative. According to scientists, the feeling of fear is a necessity with the help of which any living creature avoids danger. This mechanism that helps to survive is laid down by nature itself. But in most cases, the feeling of fear is justified.

A phobia may not only have no apparent cause, but also have a number of signs that are uncharacteristic of a natural feeling of fear. They are clearly visible even to those who do not have a medical degree. These include the following:

• breathing failure (fast or slow);
• the appearance of perspiration, increased sweating;
• tremor, hand trembling;
• disorientation in space, dizziness, nausea;
• increased heart rate, unbalanced blood pressure.

Some of these signs also appear at a time of danger, when fear is justified. This is due to the release of adrenaline. By the way, this hormone only works for the good: it helps you make the right decision and get yourself together. The main thing is not to panic and pull yourself together in time.

In cases where we are talking about a phobia, a provoking stimulus is not needed. It is enough to mention or even just remember it. At the moment of exacerbation, fear is impossible to curb. A person cannot control himself, and the condition may worsen. At rest, a person is well aware that he has a phobia, but prefers not to talk about it.

This is the main difference from a mental disorder. Phobias do not affect the individual, do not violate the integrity of the perception of the world, and do not destroy the psyche. When fears become an obsession and a person begins to behave inappropriately, consulting a doctor is vital. Alarming symptoms should be considered regular mention of the cause of fear, arrangement of shelters, unreasonable spending on protective equipment, attempts to escape from a non-existent pursuit, the desire to find out as much information as possible related to the object of apparent danger, aggression towards those who are trying to dissuade. If someone you love is behaving this way, they may need help. None of the most common phobias, nor any of the rare ones, cause inappropriate behavior. Phobias are not a mental disorder.

Where do phobias come from?

Analyzing some common phobias, it can be assumed that their origins are similar. Experts believe that stress is often the cause. After a frightening situation, a person may forever lose the desire to be in it again.

Some phobias grow out of childhood shocks and fears. Often those situations, objects, people, circumstances that caused the phobia to form do not even remain in memory. But the subconscious mind stores information in its depths, “carefully” inspiring a person to avoid repetition in every possible way.

However, there is a lot that is inexplicable. For example, the fear of flying on an airplane can haunt those who have never flown. In this case, the phobia probably developed from a fear of heights. Some types of phobias are even more difficult to explain.

Mystical version of the origin of phobias

There is an alternative view. People who believe in the transmigration of souls put forward the theory that the phobia is associated with deep memories of a past life. More precisely, about a past death. According to esotericists, a person who drowned in a past life will be afraid of water in subsequent reincarnations.

Of course, although this version is quite entertaining, it cannot be considered scientific. In any case, she currently has no confirmation.

Groups of phobias

Specialists who study phobias and the characteristics of behavior associated with them use the following classification.

It is convenient to present a list of the most common phobias with explanations in the form of a table.

Note that not all existing phobias are clearly classified. The table shows only the most common groups. To better understand the topic, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with each group in detail and consider examples.

Phobias related to space

Scientists call the most common phobia the fear of enclosed spaces, from which it is difficult to get out. There is a version that the reason for this may even be tight swaddling in infancy, but this is just a version that requires further analysis. Fear of small spaces is called claustrophobia.

The opposite phenomenon is agoraphobia. A person feels extremely uncomfortable in the middle of wide fields and squares.

Social phobias

The list is headed by anthropophobia - the fear of people in a broad sense. Aphenphosmophobia is the fear of being touched. The painful fear of people of the opposite sex is called heterophobia.

Many people are also susceptible to glossophobia, and this feature usually manifests itself in childhood. It is characterized by a fear of public speaking. Lemophobia, the fear of crowds, also belongs to this group.

Fear of diseases

Not least on the list of common phobias is (nosophobia). It can manifest itself both in persistent denial of real diagnoses and in obsessive searching for all sorts of symptoms. Monopathophobia is the fear of a specific illness.

Doctors also identify acnephobia, which is expressed in a terrible fear of acne.

There are also less common types in this group: amychophobia (fear of skin damage), venerophobia (fear of contracting STDs), vermiphobia (fear of pathogenic microorganisms), dermatophobia (when the risk of skin diseases is frightening).

Algophobia - the fear of experiencing pain - is common to many people. It can be difficult to diagnose, but to a reasonable extent this is common to everyone.

Mortal fear

Topping the list of the most common phobias associated with death is thanatophobia - the fear of death as such.

Taphephobia also belongs to the group - an indescribable fear of being buried alive. Surely many remember that such fear haunted Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol all his life. Perhaps this was not just fear, but a premonition of trouble, because after the exhumation it was established that the great writer was most likely buried when he was in deep sleep or coma. Modern medicine has advanced significantly, experts pronounce death after an autopsy and careful examination, but many of our contemporaries also suffer from this phobia.

The names “cardiophobia” and “heart attack phobia” speak for themselves. These fears are associated with death from heart disease.

Sexual sphere

A very common phobia is panic fear of intimacy (coitophobia). This group also includes special cases: fear of the first sexual experience (intimophobia), fear of harassment (contreltophobia), fear of nudity and touching (mixeophobia).

The list of phobias included in this group is quite long. Scientists identify many areas, each of which is associated with certain parts of the body, situations, and other factors. Some people even have such an unusual fear as the fear of kissing (philemaphobia).

Contrast phobias

The next group unites fears associated with wrong actions, erroneous actions, and inappropriate feelings.

The most common are hamartophobia (fear of an unworthy act), paralipophobia (fear of a false choice), chairophobia (fear of out-of-place joy), and enosiophobia (fear of the Fall).

Phobiophobia

This sounds surprising, but the list of the most common phobias also includes phobia. Some people, especially those familiar with the topic, are terribly afraid that they will develop a phobia. These thoughts can be very intrusive.

Scary environment

Having examined the 7 main groups, we will pay attention to some equally common phobias that are not included in any of them.

Experts combine many varieties into the group of zoophobias. It should be noted that this is a collective name; as such, fear of all animals does not exist.

The factor is always a certain type of animal (for example, in ailurophobia - fear of cats), class (in ostraconophobia - fear of shellfish) or a group of animals.

List of the most common phobias

The top 10 will help you get a more complete understanding of the spread of certain fears.

1. According to experts, at least 20% of the world's population is susceptible to nyctophobia. The meaning of fear is related to It is the most common phobia in the world. Nyctophobia is most common among children. It may go away with age, but this does not always happen. Some people need a night light all their lives.
2. Acrophobia is a panicky fear of heights. 7-8% of people suffer from this. Airplanes, rooftops, balconies of high-rise buildings, mountain peaks, attractions like the Ferris Wheel - all this seems hateful and dangerous. According to experts, this phobia is not only one of the most common, but also extremely dangerous. Many people note that once at the top, they feel the urge to throw themselves down.
3. Aerophobia - fear of air travel. Common sense is powerless when a panic attack begins. Many aerophobes are well aware that an airplane is one of the safest vehicles, but they cannot help themselves.
4. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed or cramped spaces. Elevators, closed doors, secluded corners are frightening and make you want to break out.
5. Aquaphobia is the fear of choking or drowning.
6. Ophidiophobia is a panicky fear of snakes.
7. Hematophobia is an uncontrollable panic fear of blood, which is accompanied by loss of consciousness much more often than other phobias.
8. Thanatophobia is fear for one's own life.
9. Autophobia is caused by an obsessive fear of loneliness.
10. Glossophobia is the fear of speaking in public.

The most unusual phobias

All sorts of anxieties overcome a person... The most common phobias seem more or less understandable, but there are also those that are even more difficult to explain. Let's consider the names and factors of the most unusual human fears.

• Acribophobia is a panicky fear of not understanding the essence of what is heard.
• Gnosiophobia - fear of learning.
• Lacanophobia - fear of vegetables.
• Dorophobia is an inexplicable fear of gifts.
• Hydrosophobia is an excessive fear of sweating.
• Ombrophobia is associated with rain, snow, and hail.
• Penteraphobia occurs only in men. The object of fear is the mother-in-law.
• Chronophobia is the fear of time.
• Philophobia is characterized
• Ratterophobia is the fear of mispronouncing a word or phrase.

Is treatment necessary?

Experts do not give a clear answer to this question. Each case requires an individual approach. Some phobias can become causes of neuroses (by the way, Freud believed that nyctophobia always leads to neuroses).

It happens that a phobia can negatively affect your health, for example, cause heart problems. In such cases, consultation with a psychologist, and possibly a psychotherapist, is necessary.

It should be remembered that a person with a phobia should under no circumstances be “broken”: the fear of water will not disappear if you throw the unfortunate person out of a boat in the middle of the lake; Fear of snakes will not go away by itself from contact with reptiles. The consequences can be irreversible and tragic. Correction of the condition can only be determined by an experienced doctor.

Many people experience obsessive, unreasonable feelings associated with a certain situation. These are phobias. They interfere with normal life. The list of phobias includes several hundred names, and their number is growing. The main reasons for their appearance: heredity, social factor and childhood trauma. Once experienced, fears can be firmly deposited in the subconscious, causing reflexive repetition, so everyone has the possibility of developing phobias. Their manifestation largely depends on temperament. Phobias can develop in a person during adolescence or menopause. This uncontrollable fear often takes over a person.

What is the person experiencing?

Every person is afraid of something, but not everyone has phobias. In psychology, a phobia is considered a pathologically increased manifestation of the fear reaction to a stimulus.

Signs of a phobia:

• shiver;
• cardiopalmus;
• suffocation;
• feeling of heat;
• sweating;
• often - ringing in the ears.

Fear is not associated with a specific threat, but with a specific situation. The reaction of the human body may be such that it is impossible to move, and numbness sets in. Fears are 2 times more common in women than in men. Sometimes various ones are also called phobias, although this is not entirely true.

It happens that children or women, wanting to be the center of attention, begin to be afraid of something, and gradually this becomes a habit. Sometimes a particular phobia causes a feeling of strong disgust, for example, to worms.

What phobias exist, and why are people scared of so many things? The reasons for this are memory, imagination and speech. It was a large number of fears and concerns that helped humanity survive and move forward. Obsessive fears vary in intensity. Despite their senselessness, coping with them is sometimes difficult. Existing phobias are systematized alphabetically, their names are in Greek and Latin.

Types of fear

The classification of phobias is not clearly defined. Psychotherapists and medical psychologists group them into groups based on certain characteristics. The main types of human phobias based on the plot of fear are as follows:

1. - appearing in any social situations and relationships in society.
2. - fear of public places.
3. Specific, related to a specific or.
4. Connected with .

According to the age at which they manifest themselves, types of fear are divided into children's, teenagers' and parents'.

In young children, there is a fear of the dark, strangers, loneliness, small animals or insects. This usually goes away with age.

Parental phobias are associated with excessive responsibility, the fear that something terrible might happen to their children. To avoid this, the child is not allowed to leave the house again and his freedom is limited.

At school age, a child may develop social fear when he refuses to go to school under any pretext. What is the fear of being humiliated by ridicule called? Catagelophobia. In addition to this, a student may be tormented by the following most well-known phobias:

Fears of adolescence

Among adolescents, the most common phobias are related to intimate life; Their peculiarity is that boys and girls live with them, suffer, but do not tell anyone about them. During the transition period, many feel shame and unpreparedness for the changes occurring in the body, which may result in the following fears:

1. Acnephobia is the fear of acne and is a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
2. Oneirogmophobia is the fear of nocturnal ejaculation. This is most typical for teenagers who are accustomed to total control in the family. Involuntary ejaculation is uncontrollable, which is why it causes fear.
3. Primeisodophobia is the fear of losing one's virginity. More common among girls than boys. The first are afraid of bleeding, the second are afraid that they won’t succeed. Both are afraid of possible pain and dirt. For girls, this phobia is fraught with vaginismus, for boys - problems with the genitourinary system.
4. Onanophobia is the fear of the consequences of masturbation. The stronger it is, the more likely it is that painful sexual disorders will occur.
5. Homophobia is the fear of homosexuals or the fear of becoming homosexual oneself.

The most common phobias

At the end of the 19th century. German neuropathologist and psychiatrist Karl Westphal made an accurate description of the fear of open spaces - agoraphobia as a psychopathological symptom. This began the study of anxiety states, and it was found out what kind of phobias people have. With agoraphobia, a person tries to leave the house as little as possible, and sometimes does not even go to the window. The big world outside the walls of the house presses on him, and he feels danger for himself there. Fear manifests itself especially strongly in unfamiliar areas. A person is afraid of finding himself in a situation where it will be difficult to find a way out and help will be unavailable. Agoraphobia can be part of a panic disorder or exist on its own.

The opposite of agoraphobia is common in the modern world. This disease can develop in miners as a result of a cave-in, in submariners after being in a confined space for a long time without the ability to see into the distance, in persons serving a sentence in the space of a small prison cell. People suffering from claustrophobia are afraid to travel in the subway, railway compartments, and elevators. If they decide to go to the theater, they prefer the side seats closer to the exit. Claustrophobe tries to avoid situations that cause anxiety, but if this cannot be done, he finds no place for himself in anticipation of the upcoming prospect of meeting her, fearing the worst sensations.

A more complete list of space phobias includes stenophobia - the fear of very narrow corridors, coenophobia - the fear of empty rooms, and agyrophobia - the fear of roads and streets.

The most common fears associated with the profession are observed among theater actors or people who often speak in front of an audience. They are afraid of forgetting the words, musicians are afraid of not being able to perform.

Fear of mice and rats

Various types of fears develop in 14% of people at one stage or another in life. They can be harmless or cause health problems. Inspired phobias are considered the most dangerous. Suspicious people are more susceptible than others. It is called pathophobia, or nosophobia. Severe fear can cause imaginary pain. Sometimes you can get out of this state only with the help of antidepressants. Nosophobes, getting rid of a non-existent disease, tend to self-medicate and this can seriously harm their health.

Phobias are studied by doctors, biologists, psychologists, philosophers, theologians, and linguists, each presenting them in their own way with many comments related to their profession.

There are fears caused by animals - zoophobia. People experience fear of various animals: spiders, cockroaches, snakes, cows, but most often mice (musophobia) and rats (zemmiphobia).

If the fear has gone very far, a person becomes sick from the sight of not only living rodents, but even Mickey Mouse, depicted in drawings, in the form of figurines or on a T-shirt. Zemmyophobia includes the fear of rats and moles. It may be caused by disgust at the sight of these animals. Zemmyophobes believe that they are planning an attack and will attack at any moment. Scientists believe that the fear of mice has long been passed down from generation to generation at the genetic level, as a warning about the danger of losing food supplies and contracting diseases.

Vampire disease

Of the many phobias, the list of the most common is related to light and the sun. In early childhood, due to genetic failures, heliophobia - fear of the sun - can develop. The following fears have minor nuances:

• photophobia - painful sensitivity of the eyes to light;
• Selarophobia - fear caused by flashes of bright light;
• fengophobia - fear of sunlight, shiny objects;
• Photoaugliaphobia - fear of bright light.

In the early stages, each of the above phobias has its own reason for its appearance; later they become practically interrelated diseases. Fear of sunlight is considered a serious social phobia and requires an experienced psychoanalyst to treat it. When exposed to sunlight, a person experiences physical suffering, so he withdraws into his home and his social circle is limited. Fear of light leads to a lack of vitamin D in the body, and heliophobes experience deformation of bones, teeth, and stoop. Fear of the sun is also called the vampire disease.

There are fears associated with one color or another, for example, melanophobia - fear of black, erythrophobia - red, leukophobia - white. If a person experiences fear of more than one color or combination of colors, it is called chromophobia.

How to get rid of fears?

Scientists consider phobias to be neuropsychiatric disorders. Each person can try on their own and learn to manage them. To do this, you can portray the phobia as funny and amusing, try to treat it with humor, or, having overpowered yourself, go against it, consciously act in the opposite direction to its calls. Determination and self-hypnosis are of great importance. 90% of people do not try to get rid of fear on their own and do not seek help from specialists; they simply avoid encountering objects and situations that cause it. In some cases this is not difficult to do, in others restrictions and taboos seriously complicate a person’s life, his relationships in the family and with other people.

How are phobias treated? The method of immersion in the situation has been proven to be highly effective.

As part of the social rehabilitation system of psychological training for personality correction, the Museum of Horrors was created in Tver in 1998, the exhibits of which evoke a special psycho-emotional mood, allowing one to overcome the numerous fears that modern people have. The excursions are conducted by highly qualified psychologists.

Phobias are treated with psychotherapy sessions and hypnosis.

Completely different interesting techniques are proposed by Hokwan Lau from the University of Los Angeles and his co-authors from the USA, Japan and Great Britain. Observations of 17 volunteers revealed networks of firing neurons that are formed when fear arises. During the experiment, scientists gave the subject a moderate electric shock as soon as an image of a certain object appeared on the computer screen. In order for the resulting reaction to be assessed accurately, scientists used information from the areas of the brain responsible for the formation of such emotions. It was found that the manifestation of activity in a network of neurons (patterns) when fear occurred even when the subject was in a relaxed state. Noticing such excitement, the scientists rewarded the volunteer with a small sum of money. The patterns that form phobias began to be associated with positive experiences, and later, when the experimental subjects were shown pictures that had previously frightened them, the patterns associated with the previous fears were not activated.

Modern phobias

Fears and phobias differ from each other only in the dynamics of manifestation. According to the Research Institute of Social Analysis and Statistics, the most popular fears among modern Russians are:

• illness of relatives and friends;
• problems with your own health;
• crime;
• possible poverty;
• arbitrariness of the authorities;
• deterioration of the environmental situation;
• large scale war;
• interethnic conflicts;
• the wrath of God.

How many of these anxieties will develop into phobias in sensitive people?

A recent fear, fear of losing your mobile phone (nomophobia) is quite common in the UK.

In the 21st century came agmenophobia - the fear that the queue in which you are standing will move slower than the next one, and ignorophobia - the fear that the message was viewed but not responded to.

Today, a common phobia of aging is gerascophobia. How to live peacefully when ugly old age creeps up? She blocks the road to a happy world. One of the types of gerascophobia is rhitiphobia - fear of wrinkles.

Fear of older people is called gerontophobia. At the same time, there are people who are afraid of young people and even hate them - ephebiphobes. Psychotherapists pay special attention to them, since their attitude towards teenagers is often aggressive.

One of the varieties of ephebiphobia is paedophobia - fear of young children. The pedophobe avoids contact with them and is hostile to those who communicate too closely with the child. Experts say that pedophobia is nothing more than the fear of discovering a tendency toward pedophilia. Only a professional can help you figure out whether this is really so.

Strange and rare phobias

By analyzing your fears and understanding their causes, it is easier to cope with them, but not all of them can be explained logically. Here is a list of the strangest human phobias, a list with explanations of the essence, and their reasons may be hidden in distant childhood:

• genuphobia - fear of knees, a person hides them and fears that someone might touch them;
• dorophobia - fear of receiving or giving gifts;
• kionophobia - fear of snow;
• Coprophobia - fear of defecation.

Some people have a fear of numbers, such as Friday the 13th (paraskevedekatriaphobia) and the number 666 (hexakosiohexekontahexaphobia). Sometimes people who suffer from a phobia in a given situation refuse to get rid of it, not wanting to lose their unique personality trait.

Whatever people are afraid of! Among the rare phobias that may even seem funny, the following stand out:

The rarest is punctumophobia - the fear of receiving a message with a period at the end, and the most severe is panophobia - an enduring fear of everything in the world.

No matter how trivial and unburdensome your fears may seem, do not refuse the help of a specialist.

Phobias can change. If today you have a fear of clouds (nephophobia), tomorrow it may transform into a fear of fog or air. Some may transform into obsessive-compulsive disorder. To cope with phobias, you need to find out their origins and understand yourself.