"Phobia (noun) - An extreme or irrational fear of something" - Oxford English Dictionary (Compact version)
That's a pretty dry and rather vague definition of a widespread health problem that is estimated to affect up to 90% of people at some point in their lives (with 70% being mildly phobic about something and 20% having a full-on phobia).
A stimulus of some kind (such as being in a particular situation or perceiving something regarded by the observer as potentially threatening or dangerous) matches a previous "encounter" in our memory, which is accessed via our subconscious (which is always attempting to keep us safe).
This triggers our fight-or-flight response, which in turn causes a cascade of physical symptoms - raised heart rate, increased metabolic rate, faster breathing etc. We are ready to fight the problem, or run away from it, even though in reality it may be harmless.
Cognitive Hypnotherapy can be used to help successfully treat phobias.
Although people can become phobic towards almost anything, here's a list of the most common phobias:
| Latin Name | Description |
| Arachnophobia | Fear of spiders |
| Ophidiophobia | Fear of snakes |
| Acrophobia | Fear of heights |
| Agoraphobia | Fear of expecting or experiencing a difficult or embarrassing situation from which the sufferer cannot find an escape (so they may not go out for example). People suffering from agoraphobia usually are not afraid of the open spaces themselves, but of public spaces or of situations where a person is afraid of having a panic attack and will not be able to receive help |
| Cynophobia | Fear of dogs |
| Astraphobia, Brontophobia, Tonitrophobia, Ceraunophobia | Fear of thunder and lightning |
| Trypanophobia | Fear of injections |
| Sociaphobia | Fear of social situations |
| Pteromerhanophobia, Aviophobia | Fear of flying |
| Mysophobia | Fear of germs or dirt |
| Dentophobia, Odontophobia | Fear of dentists |
| Claustrophobia | Fear of enclosed spaces |
| Emetophobia | Fear of vomit |
| Carcinophobia | Fear of cancer |
| Necrophobia, thanatophobia | Fear of death or dead things |
| Xenophobia | Fear of strangers or foreigners |
| Aquaphobia | Fear of water |
| Glossophobia | Fear of public speaking |
