Phobia is an irrational fear of something that is unlikely to hurt you. The term is derived from the Greek where "phobos" means fear or horror. The phobias are different and also the worries they cause vary in different people.
The most common phobias fall into five categories:
1. Phobias related to animals, birds, insects, etc. (spiders, dogs, insects, snakes, etc.).
2. Phobias related to the natural environment (heights, thunderstorms, darkness)
3. Blood-related phobias, injuries, medical issues (injections, needles, broken bones, falls)
4. Phobias related to specific situations (flights, elevator, sailing)
5. Other (choking, noise, breathing blockage)
The most common phobias are:
- acrophobia, fear of heights
- aerophobia, fear of flying
- arachnophobia, fear of spiders
- astrophobia, fear of thunder and lightning
- Autophobia, fear of being alone
- claustrophobia, fear of closed or crowded spaces
- hemophobia, fear of blood
- hydrophobia, fear of water
- Ofidiophobia, fear of snakes
- zoophobia, fear of animals
The rarest phobias are:
- electrophobia, fear of chickens
- onomatophobia, fear of names
- pogonophobia, fear of the beard
- nephphobia, fear of clouds
- cryophobia, fear of ice or cold
Source: Healthline
