The most common phobias

A phobia is a compulsive fear that causes a person to experience uncontrollable anxiety, panic attacks, and sometimes somatic symptoms. Psychologists know many phobias, because each person is individual, and the development of a phobia is influenced by both genetics and personal experience. Nevertheless, many of the phobias are very common - people tend to be afraid of the same things. In this article, you will learn about the most common phobias.

A person lives in space and the sensation of this space is an integral part of our perception of the world. One of the most common phobias is acrophobia, which consists of an obsessive fear of heights. It is less likely to occur in residents of highland areas, however, in people raised in flat areas, the height causes fear.

This is a completely normal feeling inherent in us by evolution - after all, for our ancestor, high-altitude terrain really posed a considerable threat. Nevertheless, a phobia significantly interferes with a person's life - we are surrounded by bridges, stairs, not to mention air transport. In mild forms, this phobia can be overcome on its own, and in severe cases, it is recommended to seek help from a specialist.

Claustrophobia - another popular ailment that affects many people. it fear of confined spaces: The claustrophobic feels extremely uncomfortable in the elevator, in closed rooms, in transport.A person has a feeling that the walls are pressing on him; shortage of air and dizziness are considered very common symptoms.

Very often this phobia formed in childhood, if the child was locked up as punishment or if he was in an emergency in which he could not get out of somewhere. The exact reasons for the appearance of a phobia are individual for everyone.

Nobodyphobia - a fear of the dark, which is also very popular not only among children and adolescents, but also among adults. The grounds for this phobia are also quite natural, because we are afraid of the unknown: in conditions of poor visibility, we may not notice the threat. In the process of evolution, the intelligent fear of the dark allowed the first humans to survive. However, a phobia is not just a fear, but an obsessive and uncontrollable fear, which, of course, significantly reduces the patient's quality of life. Fear of the dark is easiest to overcome in childhood, and it gets harder as you get older.

Aerophobia - this is the fear of flights, which is also extremely popular in the modern world and prevents people from living, because the plane is the only transport that allows you to quickly get to the desired place. Fear is based on the fear of falling and crashing, on a misunderstanding of the structure and principles of the aircraft. Indeed, for those with no engineering background, the aircraft's reliability seems highly questionable. However, it is worth remembering that an airplane is one of the safest modes of transport, and many more people die in road accidents than in air crashes.

Ablutophobia - it is the fear of swimming in water. This disease occurs a little less often than the fear of heights, but it is also very popular and is completely similar in its mechanisms: most people live far from the seas and oceans, so being in the water seems potentially dangerous to them. In turn, a phobia can include various fears: fear of depth, fear of drowning or freezing in the water, fear that the current will carry a person far out to sea. Horror can accompany a person from childhood or suddenly arise in adulthood against the background of the influence of unfavorable factors.

A person in the world is surrounded by a lot of potential threats, including other inhabitants of our planet, as well as natural phenomena that we do not control. In fact, any external phenomenon can pose a potential threat to us, which means it can cause a phobia. However, there are fears that are common in many people.

Kinophobia is a fear of dogs that affects many adults and children. Rarely does this phobia just happen. In the vast majority of cases, it is based on negative experiences associated with dogs, for example, if a child was attacked by dogs in childhood, there is a significant risk of acquiring such a phobia.

Living with such an obsessive fear is very uncomfortable, because dogs surround us everywhere and it is difficult to fence ourselves off from them. At the same time, the kinophobe should understand that most of the dogs in town are kind, friendly and pose no real threat. Communicating with domesticated dogs can help overcome fear, along with meditation, breathing exercises, and seeing a counselor.

Many people are panicky afraid of spiders - this is called arachnophobia.... Spiders seem to many to be the most unpleasant representatives of the animal world, despite the fact that there are not so many dangerous and capable of biting among them. Along with this problem, there is also insectophobia - fear of insects.

The nature of these fears is the same: in fact, a person is afraid of small creatures that he cannot control. Most sufferers of these phobias simply unconscious and uncontrolled fear of any contact with dogs and spiders.

Ophidiophobia is a fear of snakes, which is also very common. Snakes are really dangerous creatures, and hardly anyone is not afraid to meet a snake, but for those suffering from a phobia, this fear goes beyond all boundaries. A distinctive feature of a real phobia can be considered the manifestation of anxiety and panic, even when there is no threat nearby: at the mere mention of snakes, an ophidiophobe can breathe more often, sweat and start real panic.

Phobia can be dealt with gradually: depending on how severe the case is, you may need to self-improve yourself, the help of a psychologist or medications.

Brontophobia is considered a popular problem - it is the fear of thunder and lightning. This fear is often experienced by children, but many carry it into adulthood. Indeed, this phenomenon of nature is frightening - our distant ancestors treated the thunderstorm as the wrath of the gods. Although lightning can pose a real threat, in an urban environment with an abundance of lightning rods, any risks are negligible, therefore this phobia is meaningless, a person is afraid of the very fact of a thunderstorm.

Phobias of this kind are more common in adults - in men and women, but sometimes diseases also occur in children, whom their parents overprotect and teach them to be clean in every possible way. It is not easy to get rid of phobias of this category, because the person himself is often not aware of his problem and considers the obsessive fear to be his firm convictions, sometimes he is even proud of it. In turn, desire and awareness on the part of the patient is the determining factors for healing from a phobia.

It is worth noting that health-related phobias have appeared quite recently, with the emerging fashion for a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition.

• Verminophobia is the fear of viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms. A person with a phobia will constantly wash their hands, clean and wash food. It is completely impossible to get rid of microorganisms - this is the natural environment that surrounds us, however, with a panic fear of picking up an infection, this argument does not work. To overcome a phobia, you must first convince a person that the desire for sterile cleanliness is abnormal.

• Amatophobia is another phobia that is popular today, which is the fear of dirt and dust. This is very important for allergy sufferers who see the environment as a potential threat to their own health. Also, this phobia is typical for people who are faced with the harm of dirt, have experienced accidents. For them, the mess in the apartment is simply unbearable, and leaving the village on a country road causes horror and panic. In the treatment of phobia, good efficacy is shown group therapy and hypnotic techniques.

• Lipophobia is a fear of fatty foods, which is more common among the fair half of humanity. Such fear is associated with the desire to have a beautiful figure and eat right, but in the form of a phobia, this fear is brought to the point of absurdity.Lipophobia sufferers everywhere count calories, strictly limit themselves in food, and sometimes try to impose their own model of behavior on others. Thoughts about fatty foods or accidentally eaten fatty foods terrify the lipophobe.

Sometimes a person is afraid of inexplicable things. A phobia is an unconscious fear that may well run counter to common sense. The obsessive fear of evil spirits is called satanophobia... Despite the development of science and secular life, this phobia is quite common in our time, both among religious and among ordinary people.

The peculiarity of mystical phobias lies in their enormous variability, because everyone imagines evil spirits in different ways, therefore, for such fears there is no single description and a single method of treatment. The easiest way to cope with the disease is with the help of a psychotherapist: it is important to correctly identify the reasons that contributed to the development of fear, and to understand in detail what exactly the person is afraid of.

Enosiophobia is the fear of sinning, which can be characteristic of many believers. A person tries to live correctly, in accordance with the virtues of his religion, but goes too far. The opportunity to stumble causes panic and serious anxiety in him. Often this ailment is associated with gadephobia - fear of hell. Such people think a lot about death and what awaits them after – they are in panic fear of eternal suffering that could threaten them for a wrong life in the earthly world.

A person lives in society, so many strong fears are somehow connected with the social side of our life. In psychology, there are many fears associated with social life, and most of them are quite popular.

Often, such phobias strongly affect the quality of life, require timely solutions and a lot of willpower to overcome them and a happy life in the future.

• In recent years, an obsessive fear of responsibility, called hypengiophobia, has been gaining popularity. People suffering from this ailment do not want to make independent decisions in a panic, they are afraid of responsible deeds, they are never sure of their own words and actions. Often this phobia is a consequence of certain personal qualities - infantilism, insecurity and even laziness. In the early stages, the phobia can be overcome by an effort of will, but as it develops, the disease leads to strong social isolation, therefore it often requires the help of a psychotherapist.

• Social phobia is also a popular fear, which is the fear of life among people. Such people are uncomfortable with any communication, and just being in crowded places. Among people, they feel insecure, afraid of increased attention due to the risk of being ridiculed or rejected. This is a very popular and severe phobia that interferes with life - a person tries to completely isolate himself from the world, but ultimately suffers because of this. Phobia develops during childhood, adolescence or adulthood under the influence of negative factors.

• Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking experienced by the vast majority of people throughout their lives.... Stage fright is typical for a person at any age, although the motives are different: some are worried that they are not ready to perform well enough, others are afraid of stumbling or getting into an awkward situation, while for the third category, any attention of a large number of people is simply uncomfortable.

From the outside, fear of public speaking can seem like an innocent phobia, but we just don’t think about how often we have to give a speech in front of an audience in our life.

• Autophobia or fear of loneliness is also very common in the modern world. Such people are very dependent on others, and alone with themselves, they have tangible discomfort and obsessive thoughts. Lack of self-sufficiency can be a serious problem.

It should be understood that a person is always alone in life, and people, even close ones, come and go. The autophobe painfully experiences parting and cannot even endure several hours without society. For a successful treatment, very it is important that the person recognizes the problem, as well as that close people do not turn away from him, but support him in the fight against the phobia.