What is a phobia? Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two—of spiders, 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.
Phobia questions and answers
The most common phobia is specific phobias. Around 7.7% to 12.5% of the population will experience a specific phobia in their lifetime.
1) Arachnophobia – fear of spiders
Arachnophobia is the most common phobia – sometimes even a picture can induce feelings of panic. And lots of people who aren't phobic as such still avoid spiders if they can.
Fear is a natural human emotion, and it is something that everyone experiences in their lifetime. What matters most is how you fight your fears, and whether you let them affect your life. You may not call your feeling 'fear'.
About 19 million Americans have one or more phobias that range from mild to severe. Phobias can happen in early childhood. But they are often first seen between ages 15 and 20. They affect both men and women equally.
Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Arachibutyrophobia is a rare phobia that involves a fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
An estimated 12.5% of U.S. adults experience specific phobia at some time in their lives.
True fearlessness actually does exist, however. It's an effect of an extremely rare disease called Urbach-Wiethe. Only about 400 people have ever been recorded with the condition. Symptoms include a hoarse voice and small bumps around the eyes, as well as calcium deposits in the brain.
S.M., sometimes referred to as SM-046, is an American woman with a peculiar type of brain damage that dramatically reduces her ability to feel fear. First described by scientists in 1994, she has had exclusive and complete bilateral amygdala destruction since late childhood as a consequence of Urbach–Wiethe disease.
With the right mindset you can change your story and say goodbye to living in fear. If you're ready to learn how to stop living in fear, you have to decide that your dreams are more important than your fear of failure.
Common examples of simple phobias include: animal phobias – such as dogs, spiders, snakes or rodents. environmental phobias – such as heights, deep water and germs. situational phobias – such as visiting the dentist or flying.
Arachnophobia – Arachnophobia is possibly the most well-known of all phobias. It is the fear of spiders, or arachnids. Estimates put arachnophobia at affecting roughly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men. Ophidiophobia – Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes.
Phobias persist for several years or even decades in 10–30% of cases, and are strongly predictive of onset of other anxiety, mood, and substance-use disorders.
While psychopaths show a specific lack in emotions, such as anxiety, fear and sadness, they can feel other emotions, such as happiness, joy, surprise and disgust, in a similar way as most of us would.
There are different ways that humans acquire fear — some fears are innate while some are acquired from our experiences or through social learning. Innate fears are hardwired in the human brain and serve to keep us safe from harmful situations; examples of these fears are fear of loud noises and fear of falling.
Research suggests that death anxiety is common, though people tend not to report their feelings. One study shows that between 3% and 10% of people feel they're more nervous than others about the thought of dying.
Fear isn't just in your head
To say that watching a scary movie can sometimes feel like a physical activity may not be that far of a stretch, because it's not just your brain that reacts to being afraid. As you already know, it's your entire body. The gasp and the goosebumps. The widened eyes and pounding heart.
What Does It Mean to Fear Long Words? Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words. Understanding the phobia can help you overcome it and live a fulfilling life. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary, and ironically, it means the fear of long words.
More than half of people don't fear death
Studies show that 52% of people say they aren't afraid of death, while 42% report fearing death to some degree. 1 in 4 Americans say they're not afraid of death at all.
Learned responses from early life.
Your phobia may develop from factors in your childhood environment. For example you might have parents or guardians who are very worried or anxious. This may affect how you cope with anxiety in later life. You might develop the same specific phobia as a parent or older sibling.
It's important to know that phobias are common. (Having a phobia doesn't mean you're crazy!) It also helps to know that phobias are highly treatable. No matter how out of control it feels right now, you can overcome your anxiety and fear and start living the life you want.
We are born with only two innate fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud sounds.