What are Phobias? Causes, Symptoms, & Treatment

Someone who is suffering from a phobia will find that it severely interrupts their daily life and negatively impacts things like school, work, and relationships. Phobias may keep you from being able to attend events, follow through on family obligations, or stay focused on tasks that need to be completed.

Phobias are typically divided into four categories:

Specific phobias that pertain to fears around specific objects or situations
Social phobias that center around social situations
Agoraphobias that involve fear of open and public spaces
Other phobias that include fear of unusual or rare objects

Types of Phobias: A List of Common and Specific Fears

There are hundreds of different types of phobias, but here is a list to highlight some of the more common ones:

Acrophobia: fear of heights
Aerophobia: fear of flying
Aquaphobia: fear of water
Astraphobia: fear of storms
Claustrophobia: fear of closed spaces
Dentophobia: fear of going to the dentist
Enochlophobia: fear of crowds
Glossophobia: fear of public speaking
Hemophobia: fear of blood
Iatrophobia: fear of doctors
Mysophobia (germophobia): fear of contamination
Nosocomephobia: fear of hospitals
Zoophobia: fear of animals

There is a difference between specific phobias and social phobias. Specific phobias center around an intense fear of a specific object or situation. Social phobias involve fear of social situations and being negatively judged or scrutinized by others.

Phobias can develop or worsen over time. Often, phobias begin as a minor anxiety or fear. Without treatment and learning how to cope with these feelings, the anxiety around being exposed to the feared object or situation will most likely increase. Certain treatments can help reduce the symptoms associated with various phobias.

FAQs

How Many Phobias are There?

There is no exact number of phobias known since new ones are being identified and named regularly. There are hundreds and maybe even thousands of specific phobias that exist.

What is the Best Treatment for Phobias?

There are a few different therapeutic approaches that have been known to help treat phobias. These include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, and hypnotherapy. Medication is also sometimes prescribed to help alleviate symptoms of anxiety.

How Does Exposure Therapy Work?

Exposure therapy is a treatment option that involves gradual exposure to the feared object or situation over time and under the care of a therapist. At each stage in the gradual exposure, the therapist will work with you on establishing and practicing coping skills to manage the anxiety.

Can Phobias be Completely Cured?

Yes, phobias can be treated to lessen the severity of symptoms and sometimes even be completely cured. The results of treatment vary from person to person.

How Phobias Are Treated: Therapy and Counseling Options

Phobias are typically treated with therapy. A counselor can utilize a few different options of therapeutic interventions and sometimes may choose to combine different modalities into your treatment plan.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a popular, evidence-based treatment used by many therapists for a variety of mental health conditions. The function of CBT is to help you identify negative beliefs and thought patterns and reconstruct them to produce a desired behavior.

This approach works with phobias by helping you challenge certain irrational fears and establish a new thought pattern around the source of your anxiety.

Exposure Therapy

Another popular treatment for phobias is something called exposure therapy. This is where a therapist works with you to gradually expose you to varying levels of your feared object or situation while introducing new coping skills along the way.

It’s important to find a professional who is specifically trained in this type of therapy to avoid unnecessary stress or adding trauma to your phobias.

Medication

Many mental health professionals will recommend anti-anxiety or anti-depression medication as a supplement to your therapy. These drugs can help alleviate some of the more severe symptoms you experience, allowing you to focus on therapeutic treatments and cope with day-to-day life.

Exposure Therapy: A Proven Approach for Phobia Treatment

Exposure treatment for phobias can help in a few different ways, including:

Habituation: lessened fear over time
Extinction: no longer fearing a bad outcome from the feared object or situation
Self-efficacy: an increased feeling of confidence that you can cope with the anxiety
Emotional processing: improved capability of processing fear responses and coping with the unpleasant symptoms

The step-by-step process of exposure treatment for phobias will look something like this:

Step One: Assess the phobia and learn more about its impact on your life. In this step, you will work to identify triggers and better understand your fears and the symptoms of anxiety you experience when exposed to the phobia.

Step Two: Work with a therapist to create something called a fear hierarchy. This is where you will make a list of triggers or exposure to the feared object or situation, ranking from least anxiety-inducing to the most anxiety-inducing. This will allow you to begin a gradual exposure that works up to the more intense situation.

Step Three: Begin various steps of being exposed to a trigger while utilizing relaxation techniques. There are some different types of exposure your therapist may use, such as:

In vivo exposure: facing the phobia in real life
Imaginal exposure: vividly imagining the feared object, situation, or activity
Virtual reality exposure: utilizing technology to create a life-like exposure to the phobia
Interoceptive exposure: deliberately bringing on harmless physical sensations, yet feared.

For example, if you are undergoing fear of flying treatment, you may expose yourself to certain triggers like watching videos of airplanes, listening to sounds associated with flying or even visiting an airport.

The relaxation techniques used throughout the exposures may include:

Deep breathing
Progressive relaxation
Grounding exercises
Meditation
Tapping

The success rate is rather high with exposure therapy. Studies show that 60-90% of people who complete the treatment experience no or very mild symptoms.

Seeking Help: Finding the Right Phobia Therapy for You

There are a few different ways you can go about finding a qualified therapist for phobia treatment. Check out some sites that have comprehensive lists of mental health providers near you. You can also speak to your primary care doctor and ask for referrals. You can specify if you are looking for social phobia therapy or health phobia treatment.

When searching for the right therapist, some questions that come to mind are:

Is this therapist trained in treating phobias?
Do I need social phobia treatment or specific phobia treatment?
Does the therapist offer online or in-person counseling options
Will my insurance cover the treatment, and what are the costs?

Overcoming phobias is possible with the right steps. Speak to a medical professional and start treatment with a mental health provider to begin your journey.