The Most Common Phobias

Sergiu Vidican

Written by Sergiu Vidican on August 10th 2010
Posted in: Featured, Science
2 comments

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You might jump when you see a spider, or the simple thought of speaking in public might send shivers down your spine. You might have a phobia, and you should not worry, as you are not alone. Almost 20 million people from the United Stats of America only have some sort of phobia. They might fear clowns, they might fear cats, or they might fear balloons. These are the most common phobias.

The dentist is a source of fear for many people. You won’t find too many people who enjoy going to the dentist, because let’s be hones, the process is not too enjoyable. However there are people who have a dentist phobia, and they have admitted that they will not go to see one even if the pain which they experience is extreme. In most of the cases, these persons need to be forced to the dentist. The reason behind the dental phobias might be numerous: fear of injection, feelings of helplessness, or they might have had a bad experience in the past.

The dogs can also be a source of fear for many people. The ones who suffer from cynophobia, or extreme fear of dogs will be very frightened when they see one even if it has a very small size. A German Sheppard or a Chihuahua will not make any difference for those persons. Brad Schmidt, a psychology professor at Ohio State University stated that these people are afraid of the dogs whether because they have been bitten by one in the past, or because they have witnessed a dog biting. There are also people who are afraid of dogs because they know that they can bite.

Flying can represent terror for many people. There are more than 25 million people in the United States of America who suffer from some sort of flying fear. The flying phobia is called aviophobia, and it will keep a person on the ground no matter what. Some of these people are afraid that the plane might crash, whereas the other ones are afraid of the enclosed spaces. The later ones might develop a panic attack inside the plane while they are in the air. Reason will not solve anything with these people, just like it happens in the case of other phobias as well. There are certain therapies which seem to improve the condition of the person who suffers from aviophobia.

There are people who have severe weather phobias, and these people will start to tremble when they see a lightning and hear a thunder. This phobia might be some severe, that there are people who move to areas where storms occur very rare. It has been revealed that more than 60 percent of the people have a certain fear of the weather. The people who suffer from weather phobia might be in large numbers, but many of them do not want to reveal this fact. This phobia can be treated with accurate information about the event and social support.

Most of the kids are afraid of the dark. They fear that once the lights have been turned-off, the boogey man will come out of the closet and will catch them. This fear is the most common in children, and the scientists are amazed by their imagination. They invent all these monsters, and scenarios even thought they have no reason to fear the dark. Most of the children will get over it when they grow up, but the people with nyctophobia will not. They will still be afraid of the dark even when they are adults.

The fear of heights is one of the most common fears in the world, so the next time you get the heebie-jeebies when you look down from a tall building, you should remember that you are not alone. The fear is called acrophobia. The scientists have discovered that the people, who suffer from acrophobia, actually believe that the building is taller than it actually is when they are on top of it. They usually see it 12 meter taller than it really is, and because of that they might feel that they are at a higher height than they really are.

More than 15 million adults from the United States of America suffer from social phobia, which is the fear of people. These people will feel intense fear when they have to speak in front of the others, or even when they have to drink or eat in front of people. It is believed that the fear starts about the age of 13 and it can last for the entre lifetime, making life very difficult for the one who suffers from it. The people who suffer from this have a very difficult time of establishing social connections, and of developing friendships.

The agoraphobia, or the fear of places from which one could escape with difficulty is one of the most common fears in the world. These people will avoid going into elevators, bridges, sporting events, movie theaters, and so on. They will not travel by train, bus, tram, plane, and if the phobia is left untreated the person might end up being afraid to leave the house.

Almost everyone is afraid of creepy crawlers, such as spiders. However there are people who suffer from arachnophobia. It is said that the women are more likely to develop this phobia than the men. It is believed that the reason for this is the fact that the women might have encountered these creatures more often than the men, because they were the ones who gathered the food.

The most common phobia in the world is the ophidiophobia, or the fear of snakes. It has been revealed that the fear of snakes might have been developed in the past, when spotting a snake was essential for the surviving. The people have the capacity of spotting a snake really fast, and it has been proven that this might have helped us hundreds of years ago.

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2 Responses to The Most Common Phobias

  1. Noelle says:

    I think that most people that say they have a phobia and cannot stand a certain animal are, in fact, disgusted by it. I have a good friend who always said he has a snake-phobia when the truth is he is just darn right scared and cannot stand the sight of them.

  2. Sergiu Vidican says:

    Yes, that might have to do something with it. However there are irrational phobias, like the fear of cucumbers. I can not explain that :D

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