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What Is a Phobia?
By Michelle Pugle Updated on February 21, 2021

Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD

Table of Contents

What Is a Phobia?

Diagnosis

Types

Prevention

Treatment

A phobia is an excessive, persistent, and irrational fear of something, and is a type of anxiety
disorder. It can be directed toward objects, places, activities, situations, animals, or people.We
all try to avoid things that make us feel uncomfortable, but people with phobias work hard to
avoid what scares them, so much so that it disrupts their daily activities. Symptoms can range
from mildly inconvenient (like sweating) to disabling (like avoidance behaviors that make
someone miss out on important opportunities).

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MarioGuti / Getty Images

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What Is a Phobia?
A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder that magnifies perceived threats and trigger exaggerated
stress responses.

The American Psychiatric Association identifies three major categories of phobias:

Social phobia, now called social anxiety disorder, is where people unreasonably fear
being humiliated, embarrassed, or judged by others in social situations. Unfamiliar people
and groups can be particularly distressing
Agoraphobia refers to an intense and debilitating fear of public places and situations
where it is difficult to escape or embarrassing to exit. This may include enclosed and/or
open spaces. Many people with agoraphobia also have panic symptoms or panic disorder,
which involves intense fear plus uncomfortable physical symptoms, such as trembling,
heart palpitations, and sweating
Specific phobias, known as simple phobias, are the most common type of phobias.
These phobias can be of animals (such as dogs and cats), people (such as clowns and
healthcare providers), environments (such as dark or high places), and situations (such as
flying or taking a train)

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Specific Phobias

Acrophobia: Fear of heights

Androphobia: Fear of men

Cynophobia: Fear of dogs

Pedophobia: Fear of children

Spectrophobia: Fear of mirrors

Tocophobia: Fear of childbirth

Zoophobia: Fear of animals

Symptoms
Symptoms often overlap across different types of phobias. Commonly experienced psychosocial
and physical reactions related to phobias include:

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Uncontrollable and severe feelings of panic and anxiety: Anxiety-associated physical

effects, such as nausea, sweating, blushing, heart palpitations, and trembling. Other
physical symptoms include increased heart rate, shortness of breath, a choking feeling,
chest pain or discomfort, upset stomach, feeling dizzy or faint, a feeling of losing control or
“going crazy” numbness, and chills or hot flashes

Intentional avoidance: People with phobias may try to avoid the things that cause them
intense fear and anxiety. Depending on the exact phobia, this can look like avoiding
everything from meeting new people to going into elevators to avoiding flying on a plane or
even leaving the house.

Understanding the fear is irrational but unable to control the exposure response:
When someone has a phobia, they are aware that their reaction is exaggerated but unable
to remedy it without help. Untreated phobias are life-limiting in that they cause significant
interference with daily activities and interpersonal relationships

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The Difference Between Fear and Phobia

Everyone experiences fear, but not everyone has a phobia. The difference exists in the degree
of anxiety involved and how long a high level of anxiety persists. For example, it's normal to fee
anxious around your neighbor’s pit bull, but you may have a phobia if you avoid your neighbor
for fear of seeing their dog. What people with phobias are afraid of usually poses little to no
danger. Also, regular, everyday fears do not require treatment, while phobias can become
chronically impairing in the absence of treatment.

Diagnosis
Diagnosis of phobias is based on criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) and requires the response to be disproportionate to any actual
threat.

Necessary elements of a phobia diagnosis include:

Exposure to the phobia almost always triggers an exaggerated stress response

The fear, anxiety, or aversion is persistent, typically lasting six or more months
It results in avoidance or enduring with extreme distress

Everyday functioning is impaired, impacting relationships and opportunities

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The disturbance is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder,
including fear, anxiety, and avoidance of situations associated with panic-like symptoms or
other incapacitating symptoms (as in agoraphobia); objects or situations related to
obsessions (as in obsessive-compulsive disorder); reminders of traumatic events (as in
posttraumatic stress disorder); separation from home or attachment figures (as in
separation anxiety disorder); or social situations (as in social anxiety disorder)

A mental health professional may ask about current symptoms and family history, particularly
whether other family members have had phobias.You may also be asked about any experience
or trauma that may have set off the phobia, such as a dog attack leading to a fear of dogs.

When to Seek Help

Getting help is an effective way to treat phobias. If you are experiencing new or worsening
symptoms of phobias, it is essential that you seek help to reduce its impact on your livelihood
and quality of life. If your current treatment plan has stopped working, you should also connect
with your healthcare provider.

Remember that your practitioner or mental health professional understands the nature of your
phobias and can help you recover.

For more information on ways to get help, visit:

Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA)

Phobics Anonymous at (760) 322-COPE

Childhood phobias typically present between ages 5 and 9, and go way beyond the typical fears
of childhood and can be life-disrupting. They are often short-lived, however, and disappear within
a few months.While children with phobias can fear the same things as children without phobias,
the key difference is that for a phobic child, there is no on-off switch for the fear. It’s ever-present
and so extreme that it interferes with their ability to relax, concentrate, and enjoy activities.

In adults, about 80% of new phobias become chronic conditions that do not go away without
proper treatment.

Types
Social Anxiety Disorder
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Social anxiety disorder is more than shyness or introversion. It is characterized by extreme fear
and distress in social situations.

Men and women are affected equally with this disorder. This condition affects about 7% of
Americans.People with social phobia can experience extreme difficulty in social activities, from
dating and meeting new people to answering questions in school and interviewing for jobs.
People with social phobia can lost out on opportunities as a result of aversion and avoidance.

People with social phobia are at high risk for alcohol or other drug use because they may come
to rely on these substances to relax in social situations.

Related: Social Anxiety Disorder: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Coping

Agoraphobia
The fear and aversion in agoraphobia comes from feeling unable to easily escape or get
help. Diagnosis requires a marked fear or anxiety about two (or more) of the following five
situations: Using public transportation, being in open spaces, being in enclosed spaces (e.g.,
shops, theaters, cinemas), standing in line or being in a crowd, and being outside the home
alone.

Agoraphobia sometimes occurs when a person has had a panic attack and begins to fear
situations that might lead to another panic attack.

Specific Phobias
Having a specific phobia means responding unfavorably to a specific trigger that is generally not
threatening to or distressing for others. It could be an environmental trigger like a lightning or
rain storm, an animal trigger like snakes or spiders, or a situational trigger such as entering an
airport or flying in a plane. Other common specific phobias include extreme fears of and
aversions to heights, needles, and seeing blood.

Prevention
There is no way to prevent a phobia, but early treatment of panic disorders may help prevent
agoraphobia.

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Treatment
Phobias in general are highly treatable because people are typically aware of their trigger.
Psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of both can be used, but the exact treatment plan
depends upon the type of phobia.

Psychotherapy
Healthcare providers will usually recommend talk therapy first, which includes:

Cognitive behavioral therapy: It is used to change specific thoughts that cause fear

Exposure-based treatment: It involves tackling parts of the phobia, working from the least
fearful to the most fearful. You may also be gradually exposed to your real-life fear to help
you overcome it

Phobia clinics and group therapy: They help people deal with common phobias such as
a fear of flying
Social skills training: This may be recommended for people with social phobia, and
involves social contact in a group therapy situation to practice social skills. Role playing
and modeling are techniques used to help you become more comfortable relating to others
in a social situation
Support groups: Sharing with others who have common experiences and problems can
help alleviate the stress and anxiety that come with phobias. Support groups are usually
not a good substitute for talk therapy or taking medicine, but can be a helpful addition. The
Anxiety and Depression of America has a list of support groups for people with phobias on
its website

Medication

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Typically medications work best when combined with psychotherapy. Some drugs used to treat
phobias include:

Beta-blockers like propranolol (Inderal) can be prescribed to dull the physical effects of
anxiety before exposure to a trigger like public speaking. This is particularly useful in cases
of social phobia
SSRI antidepressants, and other types of antidepressants, such as mirtazapine
(Remeron), venlafaxine (Effexor), clomipramine (Anafranil), and imipramine (Tofranil) can
be used in the treatment of agoraphobia
Benzodiazepine and anti-anxiety medications, such as clonazepam (Klonopin),
diazepam (Valium), and lorazepam (Ativan) may also be administered to treat social
anxiety (phobia) or agoraphobia. Do not drink alcohol while on these medications

A Word From Verywell

Phobias become less powerful and more manageable with adequate treatment. Even if you
have a phobia, through the right interventions, you can prevent it from taking over your life. The
most distressing step is probably reaching out and seeking help, but remember that proper
treatment with a professional can drastically improve outcomes.

8 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts
within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our
content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. Harvard Health Publishing. Phobia. Published December 2018.

2. Boston Children's Hospital. Phobias Symptoms & Causes.

3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Table 3.11, DSM-IV to DSM-5 Specific
Phobia Comparison - Impact of the DSM-IV to DSM-5 Changes on the National Survey on Drug Use
and Health. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2016
Jun.

4. NCBI Bookshelf. Social Phobia.

5. MedlinePlus. Social anxiety disorder. Updated January 5, 2021.

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6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Table 3.10, Panic Disorder and
Agoraphobia Criteria Changes from DSM-IV to DSM-5. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (US); 2016 Jun.

7. MedlinePlus. Phobias - simple/specific. Updated January 5, 2021.

8. Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Support Groups.

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