A phobia is an unreasonable fear of a particular situation or object, that wouldn’t normally worry other people.
It may cause major disruption to life because it imposes such restrictions on the way people live as it may force you to take extreme measures to avoid situations they know will make them anxious, but this will actually make the phobia worse over time.
A person suffering from a phobia has intense symptoms of anxiety; some symptoms of anxiety include feeling worried, irregular heartbeats, sweating, breathing heavily, dizziness and faintness. (See anxiety information sheet for more symptoms). These symptoms only arise from time to time when they are in the particular situations that frighten them. At other times most people do not suffer any symptoms.
Around one in every ten people will have problems with anxiety or phobias at some point in their lives and never ask for any treatment or help to overcome their phobia's.
There are lots of various phobias people can suffer from, some common phobias include:
- Agoraphobia: Fear of open spaces - can cause such paralyzing fear that a person may remain isolated in their own home, afraid to go out.
- Claustrophobia: fear of confined spaces – This is sometimes confused with agoraphobia; it is a feeling of being trapped in a small or closed off space.
- Acrophobia: fear of heights
- Mysophobia: fear of dirt or germs – It is not necessarily about the need to be clean but more about the fear of picking up germs.
- Other common phobias include fear of animals, fear of strangers, flying, spiders etc.
There are various sources of support available to people who have a phobia, each offering different kinds of help. Options available may include medical treatment, counseling and therapy and self help groups.
For further details of useful websites to view in regard to phobia's and to see what leaflets and books you can access at our Information Point within DAMH, you can click on the phobia's word document at the top right of this page or alternatively you can click on the contact us at the top of the page to send us a message or request an Information Pack on one of the subjects listed.
Please note:
The information contained within this information pack is for general information only and is not intended to replace or substitute the advice or recommendations given by a medical professional. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the information provided, Dundee Association for Mental Health (DAMH) cannot recommend any of the services or resources included or accept any liability for the quality of service they provided.