"A phobia is a persistent, irrational fear that causes a person to feel intense anxiety". People can develop phobias about many different things, such as spiders, the darkness, social situations, food, enclosed spaces, to name but a few.

Advertisement

Phobias can affect anyone from any class or background or age. A study by the NIMH has shown that between 5 and 21,5 percent of Americans suffer from phobias. Reactions to phobias could range from mere avoidance to complete panic attacks, with its own set of symptoms. It appears as if heredity also plays a role in the development of phobias.

Here is a shortened list of the A-Z of phobias:

Agoraphobia - a fear of open spaces
Bibliophobia - a fear of books
Carcinophobia - a fear of cancer
Dendrophobia - a fear of trees
Ecclesophobia - a fear of church
Felinophobia - a fear of cats
Genuphobia - a fear of knees
Hydrophobia - a fear of the water
Isolophobia - a fear of being alone
Japanophobia - a fear of Japanese people
Kleptophobia - a fear of stealing
Lygophobia - a fear of darkness
Musophobia - a fear of mice
Necrophobia - a fear of death
Panophobia - a fear of everything
Ranidaphobia - a fear of frogs
Schlionophobia - a fear of school
Telosphobia - a fear of being last
Uranophobia - a fear of heaven
Venustraphobia - a fear of beautiful women
Wiccaphobia - a fear of witches
Xanthophobia - a fear of the colour yellow
Zenophobia - a fear of strangers or foreigners

Rate this article Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent

JOBS

Senior Secretary Gauteng - North/Sandton Infrastructure Resource Gauteng - Johannesburg Management Accountant R450,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial Manager R350,000-400,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial and Project Accountant R300,000-360,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial Accountant R380,000-420,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg SSIS Business Intelligence Specialists (SSIS; SSAS) R350,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - North/Sandton Financial Accountant R350,000-450,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - South Find more jobs Register your CV Post a job