Recently I was at my girlfriend's house when a little spider walked across the floor. All of the sudden my girlfriend jumped on the couch and started screaming. "Get him, get the spider," she yelled, she even started hyperventilating. Once she calmed down she told me she had arachnophobia. I wondered: what turns a fear into phobia?So I decide to do a little research on phobias, which is the most common mental disorder in the U.S. Believe it or not there are hundreds of them -- everything from coulrophobia, fear of clowns, to gymnophobia, fear of nudity, to emetophobia which is the fear of vomiting.
People whose fears cause any of the following -- anxiety, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath or panic actually have a phobia. Some of the most common phobias are claustrophobia, the fear of enclosed spaces, acrophobia fear of heights and sociophobia the fear of socializing or social gatherings.
Our top searched phobia is agoraphobia which is the fear of going outside. Do you or anyone you know have a phobia? Do you know of any helpful treatments for phobia? Check out more fears by searching for phobias on AOL Search.
Top Searched Phobias on
1. Agoraphobia
2. Acrophobia
3. Claustrophobia
4. Arachnophobia
5. Emetophobia
6. Gymnophobia
7. Coulrophobia
8. Aichmophobia
9. Necrophobia
10. Sociophobia
More Sponsored Links For: anxiety disorders, manic depressive, social anxiety
posted by Heidi
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COMMENTS
I have a fear of cotton balls. Yes, stupid, I know, but I can't help it. :(
By brittanyy on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:13PM
I have a fear of phobias,.... phobiaphobia, I used to have a phobia about going backwards, how did the Romans term that,..? ,.. Subi dura a rudibus?
By peter on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:14PM
I LOVE clowns, they fascinate me!!
By Jen on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:17PM
I have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia i am scared looking at that word.
By someone on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:17PM
I am deathly terrified of clowns,snakes and spiders. it is to the point where i will have a panic attack, my heart will race and i will completly freak out. i will even start crying and i am 18 years old.my friend thought it was funny on halloween to tell me the clown was gone and it wasnt so i opened my eyes and turned around and there he was..i screamed, tripped,cried and hit my head on the metal guardrail(we were outside). she then knew that,that was a horrible prank.
By shortlilemogirl on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:19PM
i have a huuuggge but i mean huuuge fear of ROACHES! if i see a roach i will run away, cry even and my heart feels like its about to pop out of my chest i never had that phobie until once when i was small i woke up to find around 10 roaches in my roomm because we had gotten moved furniture and it got infested with them! however is soo hard now to go out at dark during summer cuz i know they are there when i see one i panic and dont know what to do or call someone to help me get rid of it even the thought of them gives me chills!! i dont think i could ever in a million yr face them they are gross, they fly and crawl everywhere and i want to vomit when i see them!!
By luckychan08 on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:19PM
Trypanophobia- fear of injections. wich are needless.
im extreamly afraid like i can talk about it but i can get into extreme depht or i will start to cry, ive had this phobia since as long as i can rember.
every time i go to the doctor, if im getting a needle or not, i wear a big bulky sweatshirt, even if its in the middle of summer!
and if i find out i am my mom lies to me to get me to go to the doctor,
when i finally find out im taking one i freak out and cry im 16 years old and i will hide under the chairs thats how bad it is.
also, the doctors usually get two streong guyys that have to hold me down, that makes it worse.
it usually takes me 5 hours to finally get it all down with, and im still held down in the end.
then after the needle im still crying for about an hour! EVEN WHEN ITS ALL DONE WITH.
i have it really bad its like crazy, i cant look at a picture or i freeak out. i ask to leave to room if im in school!
its so bad im now on medication, whnever i need an important needle, i take tranculizer medication.
it makes me not no anything thats going on, i feel dizzy and tired, and i can barely see and i dont no anything thats happening.
thats how bad its gotten! i just wish i could make it go away :(
By cassandra on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:20PM
I also have hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
By someone on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:25PM
I have arachnaphobia but I'm not as bad as I used to be. I would generally freak out every time I saw a spider. I couldn't even say the word. I'd call it a "bug." I would enter a room and look all around first, even on the ceiling for them before I could enter calmly. If one was in a room on a wall where I could see it, I would not even go in the room, and would scream for somebody to come and kill it.
When I was younger I would hold my breath until I could dart through the room and grab whatever it was I needed, keeping it in my blurred vision, enough to tell it was still there, but not enough to see it in detail.
What's even worse, is I'm afraid of the webs too. I can't even go through the woods without holding my shirt over my mouth in fear of running right into one! How wierd is that?!
By B on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:30PM
I have a fear of mongoloids witch sucks because i feel really bad for them but at the same time they scare me half to death.
By zachary rardon on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:25PM
I am so insanely afraid of spiders.. If I were that girl above, I wouldn't get on the couch, I would run away. One time I ran all the way out of my house! I have arachnophobia and anll my friends make fun of me by throwing plastic spiders at me. :(
By elwoodgirl995 on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:29PM
I know for sure that I have apiphobia-- a fear of bees. I've never been stung before, so I've no idea why I'm so scared of them! All I know is that spring isn't my favorite of seasons...
By Brittney Siverhus on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:35PM
i have a fear of mongoloids witch sucks because when ever i see them i feel really bad for them but at the same time they scare me half to death
By zachary rardon on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:28PM
well folks i have 3 majors phobias...they are equally scarry to me...lizards( no matter what size or color), rats, and frogs....it had gotten so bad til when i came home at night and salamanders or whatever they call them the clear kind would surround my door someone would have to scare them away and it one got into my apt i make them go in and kill it i had one in my mop bucket one time and i flew out the front door in my short see thru gown.
By 2thick4u on Mar 7th 2008 at 12:36PM
I have anatidaephobia and lysophobia: fear that somehow, somewhere, a duck is watching me, and fear of being chased by timberwolves around a kitchen table on a newly waxed floor. seriously
By mightymoethe3rd on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:32PM
I have a fear of being late. I will literally hypervenolate if I know I'm going to be late. Is there a name for this phobia?
By Megaf4 on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:33PM
I have a fear of being late. I will literally hypervenolate if I
know I'm going to be late. Is there a name for this phobia?
By Megaf4 on Mar 7th 2008 at 5:44PM
I dont fear clowns..I hate them! I see a clown and it's getting wounded!....Teach a grumpy old wierdo a lesson..PUNCH THE CLOWN!
By Narf101059 on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:34PM
I have a fear of mongoloids. This sucks because every time I see one I feel bad for them but at the same time they scare me half to death
By zachary rardon on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:35PM
I've ALWAYS been afraid of roaches. If I see one, I immediately have a panic attack, cry, scream, run to the other room, and sometimes take showers for hours on end. They are SOOO GROOOOOSSSS!
By Robyn on Mar 6th 2008 at 9:36PM