Most Common Phobias

A phobia is defined as a persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of a particular object, person, animal, activity or situation. The list of phobias is quite lengthy, and includes the fear of some of the most simple things right from the fear of heights (acrophobia) to the fear of long words (hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia). Some people are afraid of water, while some are afraid of traveling in an elevator. With so many phobias haunting people, it is not quite surprising to wonder what are the most common phobias in the world.

Most Common Phobias in the World

A study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the United States recently, revealed that approximately 8.7 and 18.1 percent Americans suffer from some or the other phobia. If you are wondering what are the most common phobias affecting different people, here is a compilation of the ten most common phobias in the world.

Arachnophobia: One of the most common phobia in the world, arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. The term is combination of Greek words arachne meaning spider and phobos meaning fear. People suffering from this phobia often tend to feel uncomfortable in areas where they believe spiders may exist. Interestingly enough, more women are affected by arachnophobia than their male counterparts.

Acrophobia: Another common phobia haunting millions of people across the world is acrophobia, the fear of heights. The term is combination of Greek words akron meaning summit or edge and phobos meaning fear. This is also one of the most dangerous phobias because the person suffering from it is susceptible to panic attacks when subjected to great heights.

Astraphobia: Yet another phobia which haunts many people is astraphobia, the fear of thunder and lightning. At times, it is also referred to as brontophobia or tonitrophobia. The term is combination of Greek words asteri meaning star and phobos meaning fear. Astraphobia is quite common in children compared to adults.

Necrophobia: The fact that most of the people are afraid of dying makes necrophobia, the fear of dead things or death itself, quite common. The term is coined by combining Greek words necros meaning corpse and phobos meaning fear. Also referred to as thanatophobia, this phobia does include death of oneself, but it is not at all restricted to it, as the person can be afraid of a corpse as well.

Claustrophobia: Claustrophobia, the fear of closed spaces, is one of the most simple and common phobia which affects around 5 percent of the world population. It is quite dangerous because the person can suffer from panic attack when subjected to such situation. People suffering from claustrophobia tend to avoid traveling in elevators or aircraft.

Pteromechanophobia: Aviation industry has grown rapidly over the last few decades, and so has the fear of flying. Pteromechanophobia, i.e. the fear of flying is also referred to as aviophobia or aerophobia. This phobia can itself be a combination of two or more phobias such as acrophobia and claustrophobia.

Aquaphobia: Yet another most common phobia is aquaphobia, fear of water. People suffering from aquaphobia may feel water threatening irrespective of whether it is ocean water or water in a bathtub. Like the people suffering from acrophobia or claustrophobia, even people suffering from aquaphobia can suffer from panic attacks, if they are splashed with water or pushed in a pool of water unexpectedly.

Numerophobia: This may sound strange but there are people who suffer from numerophobia, i.e. the fear of numbers. Their fear may be restricted to a particular numbers such as 13, 17, 666 or any specific combination. The fear of numbers can be further categorized into specific phobias, for instance the fear of number 666 is referred to as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia and the fear of number 13 is referred to as triskaidekaphobia.

Carcinophobia: Another prominent inclusion in the list of most common phobias is carcinophobia, the fear of suffering from cancer. Even though the fear is quite unnatural, the person suffering from this phobia tends to relate any negative symptoms in the body with the malignant disease.

Trypanophobia: Trypanophobia is another common phobia associated with the medical field. It is basically the phobia of any medical procedure involving the use of injections or hypodermic needles. It is also referred to as aichmophobia, belonephobia or sometimes simple needle phobia.

These were the top ten most common phobias which affect millions of people in the world. Though, there is no way by which you can deter a phobia from starting, you can take some precautionary measures to avoid them for occurring frequently. Though most of these phobias are harmless, it is wiser to resort to medical help, especially when they start interfering with your day-to-day life.