Phobias

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.

A phobia is an excessive and irrational fear reaction. If you have a phobia, you will experience a deep sense of dread, and sometimes panic.

Phobias - Comprehensive overview covers types, symptoms, causes and treatment of persistent irrational fears.

A phobia is strong fear of something. Find out more in this article for kids.

Information about the causes of unreasonable and debilitating fears of a particular thing, called specific phobias.

Wikipedia's list of phobias.

Everyone feels anxious or uneasy from time to time. Your first day on a new job, planning for a long trip, going to the dentist....your palms sweat, you feel shaky, your heart pounds. Some anxiety helps to keep you focused on the job at hand. However, when your anxiety is so serious that it interferes with your work, leads you to avoid certain situations or keeps you from enjoying life, you may be suffering from a form of the most common type of mental disorder, an anxiety disorder.

Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two - of mice, for example, or your annual dental checkup. For most people, these fears are minor. But when fears become so severe that they cause tremendous anxiety and interfere with your normal life, they're called phobias.

But people with specific phobias, or strong irrational fear reactions, work hard to avoid common places, situations, or objects even though they know there's no threat or danger. The fear may not make any sense, but they feel powerless to stop it.

Get the facts on phobia causes, symptoms, and treatments. Kinds of phobias include social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobias (claustrophobia, arachnophobia).