Phobias

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

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Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder. It is a strong, irrational fear of something that poses little or no real danger.

There are many specific phobias. Acrophobia is a fear of heights. Agoraphobia is a fear of public places, and claustrophobia is a fear of closed-in places. If you become anxious and extremely self-conscious in everyday social situations, you could have a social phobia. Other common phobias involve tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, animals and blood.

People with phobias try to avoid what they are afraid of. If they cannot, they may experience:

• Panic and fear
• Rapid heartbeat
• Shortness of breath
• Trembling
• A strong desire to get away

Phobias usually start in children or teens, and continue into adulthood. The causes of specific phobias are not known, but they sometimes run in families.

Treatment helps most people with phobias. Options include medicines, therapy or both.

NIH: National Institute of Mental Health

Start Here

• Phobias and Phobia-Related Disorders (National Institute of Mental Health)
• Specific Phobias (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Mental Health Medications (National Institute of Mental Health)
• Psychotherapies (National Institute of Mental Health)

Specifics

• Agoraphobia (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Fear of Public Speaking: How Can I Overcome It? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• How to Cope with Medical Test Anxiety (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Needle Phobia (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Social Anxiety Disorder: What You Need to Know (National Institute of Mental Health) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Agoraphobia (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Phobia, Social (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Phobic Disorders (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Efficacy of neurofeedback-assisted mindfulness for anxiety and nomophobia in Spanish young...
• Article: Shared genetic etiology between specific phobia and other psychiatric disorders.
• Article: Construction and validation of the prediction model for kinesiophobia in older...
• Phobias -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Find Your Local NAMI (NAMI)
• Find Your Therapist (Anxiety and Depression Association of America)
• FindTreatment.gov (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Also in Spanish
• Help for Mental Illnesses (National Institute of Mental Health) Also in Spanish
• Psychologist Locator (American Psychological Association)

Children

• Childhood Fears and Worries (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Phobias (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Fears and Phobias (Nemours Foundation)
• Social Anxiety (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Agoraphobia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Phobia - simple/specific (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Social anxiety disorder (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish