Phobias - what are they, and are they common?

Phobia – From the Greek: Phóbos, meaning “fear” or “morbid fear”

Phobias: a persistent (and often irrational) fear of an object or situation. Greek physician Hippocrates (470-410 B.C.E.) first described phobias 500 years after Hippocrates, Roman doctor, Celsus used the word hydrophobia for a patient who feared water. Now there are 400 phobias recognized by the medical profession.

Top 10 Phobias

1. Fear of public speaking – Glossophobia

2. Fear of death – Necrophobia

3. Fear of spiders – Arachnophobia

4. Fear of darkness – Achluophobia, Scotophobia or Myctophobia

5. Fear of heights – Acrophobia

6. Fear of people or social situations – Sociophobia

7. Fear of flying – Aerophobia

8. Fear of confined spaces – Claustrophobia

9. Fear of open spaces – Agoraphobia

10. Fear of thunder and lightning – Brontophobia

    
    

Celebrity Phobias

• Scarlett Johansson: Ornithophobia – The fear of birds

• Orlando Bloom: Swinophobia – The fear of pigs

• Megan Fox: Bacteriaphobia – The fear of germs and bacteria

• Billy Bob Thornton: Chromophobia – The fear of bright colors

• Madonna: Astraphobia – The fear of thunder and lightning

• Oprah Winfrey: Chiclephobia – The fear of chewing-gum

• Nicole Kidman: Lepidopterophobia – The fear of butterflies

  
  

Phobias You May Not Have Heard Of

• Anablephobia - Fear of looking up

• Anuptaphobia - Fear of staying single

• Bibliophobia - Fear of books

• Cathisophobia - Fear of sitting

• Ephebiphobia - Fear of teenagers

• Genuphobia - Fear of knees

• Hellenologophobia - Fear of Greek terms or complex scientific terminology

• Helminthophobia - Fear of being infested with worms

• Logizomechanophobia - Fear of computers

• Meningitophobia - Fear of brain disease

• Omphalophobia - Fear of belly buttons

• Phobophobia - Fear of phobias or fear

  
  

Source

Check out our TikTok channel, specifically the videos in our playlist on ‘Overcoming Your Phobia’ for more helpful hints and tips! Also – we discuss many phobias and tips to overcome them in our podcast ‘Making The Change’.