Phobias list and types of phobias
The practice of medicine shows that phobia is not a single disease. As a matter of fact the phobias list is very long, comprehensive and includes many types of phobias. A short fleeting glance at the phobias list will be enough to understand how many possible sources of phobias exist. Some people may be even amazed to find out that many things, the elements, situations, and actions may provoke all these kinds of phobia.
The word phobia translated from Greek means fear, fright. But it is not simply a fear. To diagnose any types of phobias, it is necessary that the fear was steady, constant and irrational, i.e. not based on a sensible reasoning.
Besides this, there should be at least two of the following symptoms of anxiety in the frightening situations, and one of them should enter into the first four of the list:
- pronounced tachycardia;
- sweating;
- tremor or shiver;
- dryness in the mouth;
- difficulties of breathing;
- feeling of suffocation;
- pain or discomfort in the chest;
- nausea or unpleasant sensations in the stomach;
- feeling of dizziness, instability or syncopal state;
- derealization (feeling, that subjects are unreal) or depersonalization (feeling of unreality concerning own “ego”);
- fear of loss of the control and fear to go mad;
- fear of death;
- hot flushes or chills;
- numbness or sensation of tingling.
Among all phobias the most frequent are agoraphobia and a social phobia.
Doctors attribute to agoraphobia the fear to travel without being accompanied, the fear to stay among many unknown persons and other similar fears when the patient finds himself in the situations where there is a risk to remain without help, – the situations of the type, “If I am suddenly unwell”.
The noticeable fear to be in the center of attention or fear of improper behavior that may provoke confusion or humiliation is characteristic for the social phobia. These fears are revealed in social situations, such as a dinner in cafe, a meeting with an acquaintance at an evening party, presence at an assembly, necessity to address to the colleagues, etc.
All other phobias are related to the so-called isolated phobias. There are lots of them. Some of them are mentioned below.
FEAR OF ANIMALS OR INSECTS:
- ailurophobia, gatophobia— fear of cats;
- acarophobia — fear of ticks;
- arachnophobia — fear of spiders;
- cynophobia — fear of dogs;
- ophidiophobia — fear of snakes.
FEAR OF NATURAL FORCES (THE ELEMENTS):
- aquaphobia, a hydrophobia — fear of water, navigation;
- acrophobia, hypsophobia — fear of height;
- anemophobia — fear of a draft;
- bathophobia — fear of depth;
- brontophobia, tonitrophobia — fear of a thunder;
- keraunophobia, astrapophobia — fear of a lightning;
- nyctophobia, scotophobia — fear of night, darkness;
- ombrophobia — fear of downpours;
- pyrophobia — fear of fire;
- thalassophobia — fear of the sea.
THE FEAR CONNECTED TO HEALTH:
- bacillophobia — fear of pathogenic microorganisms;
- hemophobia — fear of blood;
- cardiophobia — fear of problems with heart;
- odontophobia — fear of stomatologic treatment;
- febriphobia — fear of a fever.
FEAR OF SITUATIONS:
- autophobia, monophobia — fear to remain to alone;
- claustrophobia — fear of the closed space;
- xenofobia — fear of the foreigners;
- ochlophobia — fear of the crowd, the overcrowded places;
- enosiophobia, enissophobia — fear of criticism.
FEAR OF SUBJECTS:
- aichmophobia, — fear of sharp, pricking subjects;
- hyalophobia — fear of a glass;
- eisoptrophobia — fear of mirrors;
- cyberphobia — fear of computers;
- macrophobia — fear of the big subjects;
- microphobia — fear of small subjects.
FEAR OF ACTIONS AND CONDITIONS:
- amaxophobia — fear to travel by transport;
- lalophobia — fear to speak;
- stasibasiphobia — fear of vertical position and walking;
- stasiphobia — fear to stand;
- tromophobia — fear shiver;
- ergasiophobia — fear of work, the responsibility;
- ereuthophobia — fear of reddening.
OTHER ISOLATED PHOBIAS:
- amathophobia — fear of a dust;
- dysmorphophobia — fear of imagined defects of appearance;
- xenoglossophobia — fear of foreign languages;
- misophobia — fear of dirt and infection;
- neophobia — fear of something new;
- onomatophobia — fear of the certain word or a name;
- panophobia— fear of everything;
- symbolophobia — fear of symbols;
- triskaidekaphobia — fear of number ” 13 “;
- trichophobia — fear of hair;
- phobophobia — fear of occurrence of a phobia ( “fear of fear”);
- phonophobia — fear of a sound;
- epistemophobia — fear of knowledge.
It is not a full phobias list. Nevertheless, it allows understanding how large the prevalence of anxiety disorders is at present.