Phobia

Germ phobia is an unnatural overwhelming fear of germs that affects a person’s daily living. It can be associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or exist on its own.

The clinical term for germ phobia is "mysophobia." This actually means a pathological fear of dirt. The disorder can be debilitating with a continuous fear of germs. In extreme cases persons with germ phobia becomes convinced that everything carries such a high level of germs that it is dangerous to touch anything.

Considered to be one of the most common phobias, Emetophobia is an intense irrational fear to vomiting, vomiting in public, seeing vomit or watching someone vomit, or the fear of being nauseous. A phobia of this kind usually develops at childhood or adolescence, but is not uncommon at adulthood. There is very little research in regards to Emetophobia and is considered to be somewhat elusive. There are legitimate causes and factors that contribute to the phobia.

Pediophobia is an intense and irrational fear of dolls, scarecrow and/or children. It comes from the Greek word "paidion" meaning little child and "phobos" meaning fear. The person that suffers from pediophobia may also suffer from a fear of mannequins or marionette puppets. Some pediophobic people may suffer from certain dolls such as porcelain dolls while others fear all dolls. Dolls that move and/or talk may also contribute to the fear.

What is claustrophobia?

When we talk of Claustrophobia we know it denoting a fear of enclosed apace when a person panics or feels scared when he/she feels that he/she is in a closed space such as lift, car, buses, crowded hall or any place which is too narrow . They feel sort of fear and in many occasions that leads to fainting too.

A study of Phobias in the Netherlands shows that the Fear of Dental Treatment ranks among the most serious phobias. This is most likely due to the fact that dental fear is often difficult to avoid. This phobia tends to result in a act of avoidance, tooth decay, pain, feelings of shame.


This study is done by working with two thousand people in the Netherlands who ages between 18 and 93 years old.

Astraphobia may be defined as a persistent, abnormal and unnecessary fear of thunder and lightning. The term astraphobia is derived from Greek words 'aster' and 'phobos' meaning star and fear respectively. This needless phobia causes great amounts of distress to number of people around the globe. People who have this phobia usually will not speak about their problem to others. It is also more common in dogs.

Arachnophobia is a type of specific phobia and can be defined as an unusual fear of spiders. The term arachnophobia is derived from Greek words 'arachne' and 'phobia' meaning spider and fear respectively. Many people experience fear only mild while some people have great fear for spiders.

It is one of the most wide spread phobias and is more common in women than in men. About half of women and 10% of men are arachnophobics.

Is it an act of cowardliness?

Social Anxiety commonly known as social phobia is a kind of anxiety problem. Too much of self-consciousness and extreme shyness create an irrational fear.

This phobia prevents a person from participating in day to day social activities.

What is it?

Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder in which a person has an intense fear of being in new places or places where he/she is not familiar with. The term "agoraphobia" is derived from Greek words "agora" that means marketplace and "phobia" which translates to fear. It is known that Agoraphobia is twice as likely to effect women as men. In Unites states alone there are about 3.2 millions of people who suffer from this type of anxiety disorder.

What is it?
Acrophobia is excessive and extreme fear of heights which is one of the most common phobias that occurs when one is looking down from high places like high floor building or on a summit. The term Acrophobia is denoted from Greek words "acro" which translate to "highest height" and "phobia" which means fear. People who suffer from this phobia usually avoids being in tall buildings and roller coasters ride. Despite the fact that these people also suffer from urges to throw themselves off high places, they are actually not suicidal.