What are Phobias?

Phobias can be defined as intense, irrational fears of specific objects, situations, or activities that lead to avoidance behaviour and significant distress or impairment in functioning. Phobias are categorized as anxiety disorders and can be highly debilitating for those who experience them. Common types of phobias include:

• Specific phobias:

  • Achluophobia: intense fear of darkness.

  • Acrophobia: intense fear of heights.

  • Aerophobia: intense fear of flying.

  • Agoraphobia: intense fear of certain inescapable/unsafe situations.

  • Arachnophobia: intense fear of spiders and other arachnids.

  • Cynophobia: intense fear of dogs.

  • Ecophobia: intense fear of cataclysmic environmental change.

  • Gephyrophobia: intense fear of bridges.

  • Hemophobia: intense fear of blood.

  • Hydrophobia: intense fear of water.

  • Mysophobia: intense fear of germs, contamination, or dirt.

  • Trypnaphobia: intense fear of needles or injections.

  • Trypophobia: intense fear of holes or textures with a pattern of holes.

  Several treatments / approaches are used to work with specific and social phobias, which includes an exploration of the nature of the phobia, desensitization to the trigger, re-framing one’s relationship with the trigger, as well as modelling alternative responses to the trigger.