Ten Phobias Most Often Found in People

By: medicmagic

Fear is a natural thing. But there are some people who has extraordinary afraid of certain things, this is called a phobia. Here are 10 of them which most often occurs:

1. Snake

This is the cause of the most common phobias. So, experts suspect that the fear of snakes has been printed in every person.

2. Spiders

This type of fear is often called Arachnophobia. Women are four times more scared of spiders than men. In a study presented in the Journal of Evolution and Human Behavior, David Rakison from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh said that a 11-month-old baby girl is already been able to show facial features which pictures fear of spiders or snakes, while not so in baby boys.

3. Room

Starting from claustrophobia, or fear of small room or space, to agoraphobia or fear that one can not escape from certain situations involving limited space. It usually occurs in elevators, public transportations, traffic jams or an area with crowded people.

4. Other People

This social phobia usually appears in a form of a feeling of panic accompanied by cold sweat, stomach pain, pale face that appears when one must appear in public. This phobia usually arise during childhood to adulthood, generally when a person is aged about 13 years old.

5. Height

Goose bumps when having to be at a certain height, is a symptom acrophobia or phobia of heights. This phobia is estimated to infect 3 to 5 percent of the population.

6. Dark

Fear of the emergence of a ghost, all supernatural creatures from under the bed, cupboards and windows when in the dark is one of the most commonphobias in children. But there are many adults who also suffers this phobia.

7. Lightning and thunder

For some people hearing a thunder and seeing lightning in the sky is not only a natural phenomenon that usually happens. Both of these can cause feelings of discomfort, panic, palpitations, and even the desire to move to another area.

8. Air Travel

Traveling using an airplane is a routine for many people these days, but certainly not for people with Aviophobia. This phobia is divided into two types, some fear of plane crashes which usually are fatal, while some experience the development of claustrophobia, or fear being in a closed cabin, said Barbara Rothbaum, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory University School of Medicine.

9. Dogs

This animal is said to be human’s best friend. But still there are people who suffer cynophobia or frightened of dog barks or bites. No matter if it is a cute Chihuahua or a big guard dog. This phobia generally occur after a person has been bitten by a dog or seeing other people being bitten, said Brad Schmidt, a professor of psychology at Ohio State University.

10. Dentist

The experience of sound and sense of pain when cleaning plaque or pain when their tooth is pulled, is enough to make people to suffer from dentist phobia. People who are phobic of the dentist will usually only visit a dentist if they have a very bad toothache.