List of Phobias: Common Phobias From A to Z

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A phobia is an anxiety disorder involving excessive and persistent fear of a situation or object. Exposure to the source of the fear triggers an immediate anxiety response.

Phobias are one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH), approximately 12.5% of adults in the U.S. will deal with a specific phobia in their lifetime. Women are more likely to experience phobias than men. Typical symptoms of phobias can include nausea, trembling, rapid heartbeat, feelings of unreality, and being preoccupied with the fear object.

Types of Phobias

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) identifies three different categories of phobias:

  1. Social phobias: Now known as social anxiety disorder, this phobia is marked by a fear of social situations in which a person might be judged or embarrassed.
  2. Agoraphobia: This phobia involves an irrational and extreme fear of being in places where escape is difficult. It may involve a fear of crowded places or even of leaving one's home.
  3. Specific phobias: When people talk about having a phobia of a specific object such as snakes, spiders, or needles, they are referring to a specific phobia.

Types of Specific Phobias

While not comprehensive, this list of phobias offers a glimpse of the many phobias that can have a serious impact on a person's life. As you may notice while you browse through this list, most specific phobias fall into one of four major categories:

One important thing to remember is that virtually any object can become a fear object. The names of specific phobias are often formed as nonce words, or words coined for a single occasion only.

These names themselves are often formed by taking a Greek prefix that represents the fear object and adding the -phobia suffix. Because of this, any attempt at a completely exhaustive list of phobias would be a futile exercise. Any list of phobias could grow with the addition of newly coined terms for previously unnamed specific phobias.

A–Z List of Some of the More Common Phobias

This article lists more than 100 of the most common phobias. It also covers some of the treatment options that are available.

Click Play to Learn More About Common Phobias

This video has been medically reviewed by Daniel B. Block, MD.

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Recap

While listing all of the phobias that may exist is not possible, it can be helpful to look through a list of some of the more commonly described phobias. As you can see by looking at this list, almost any object or situation can become the source of fear.

Symptoms of Phobias

Phobias lead to physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms. Common symptoms include:

In addition to these physical symptoms, people may experience dread, a sense of impending doom, fear of losing control, or even the feeling that death is imminent. To avoid such feelings, people with phobias may avoid any situation where they might potentially encounter the source of their fear.

Causes of Phobias

The exact causes of phobias are not known, but it is likely that a combination of factors plays a part. Some factors that increase the risk of developing a phobia include:

Common vs. Rare Phobias

Some phobias are more common, while others are often quite rare. Five of the most common phobias include arachnophobia (the fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (the fear of snakes), glossophobia (the fear of public speaking), acrophobia (the fear of heights), and social phobia (the fear of social interactions).

The fear of public speaking is so common that some researchers have estimated that as much as 77% of people have some level of this fear.

Rare phobias may be novel terms coined to identify a single, unique case or fear that occur quite infrequently. Some different rare specific phobias include spectrophobia (the fear of mirrors), chiclephobia (the fear of chewing gum), and hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (the fear of long words).

Treatment for Phobias

While phobias can be distressing and create disruptions in your life, they are treatable. Some of the different treatment options include therapy and medication.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure-based treatments are the first-line approach in the treatment of phobias. In this type of treatment, you are gradually and progressively exposed to what you fear. You might start by just thinking about your phobia trigger and then move slowly toward looking at images of the object and finally being near the object in real life.

Types of exposure-based treatments that may be used include:

During this process, you'll also practice relaxation techniques to help calm your body when your fear response kicks in.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Often referred to as CBT, cognitive behaviorial therapy involves learning to identify the underlying negative thoughts that contribute to feelings of fear. Once you become better at noticing these thoughts, you can then work on replacing them with more positive, helpful thoughts.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy utilizes rhythmic eye movements to help people process and recover from traumatic experiences. It is frequently used in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but can also be effective in the treatment of a variety of other mental health conditions including phobias.

Medications

Medications may be prescribed in some cases to help manage some of the symptoms you might be experiencing as a result of your phobia. Medications your doctor might prescribe include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), beta-blockers, and anti-anxiety drugs.

A Word From Verywell

Phobias can have a serious impact on well-being, but it is important to remember that you are not alone. Phobias are common and treatable. If you believe that you have the symptoms of some type of phobia, consult a doctor for further evaluation and treatment advice.

Verywell Mind 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. National Institute of Mental Health. Specific phobia.
  2. Regier DA, Kuhl EA, Kupfer DJ. The DSM-5: Classification and criteria changes. World Psychiatry. 2013;12(2):92-8. doi:10.1002/wps.20050
  3. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013.
  4. Anxiety & Depression Association of America. Symptoms.
  5. Van houtem CM, Laine ML, Boomsma DI, Ligthart L, Van wijk AJ, De jongh A. A review and meta-analysis of the heritability of specific phobia subtypes and corresponding fears. J Anxiety Disord. 2013;27(4):379-88. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.04.007
  6. Heeren A, Ceschi G, Valentiner DP, Dethier V, Philippot P. Assessing public speaking fear with the short form of the Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker scale: confirmatory factor analyses among a French-speaking community sample.Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2013;9:609-18. doi:10.2147%2FNDT.S43097
  7. Thng CEW, Lim-Ashworth NSJ, Poh BZQ, Lim CG. Recent developments in the intervention of specific phobia among adults: A rapid review. F1000Res. 2020;9:F1000 Faculty Rev-195. doi:10.12688/f1000research.20082.1
  8. Valiente-Gómez A, Moreno-Alcázar A, Treen D, et al. EMDR beyond PTSD: A systematic literature review. Front Psychol. 2017;8:1668. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01668
  9. Spiegel SB. Current issues in the treatment of specific phobia: Recommendations for innovative applications of hypnosis. Am J Clin Hypn. 2014;56(4):389-404. doi: 10.1080/00029157.2013.801009

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd
Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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