Top Signs & Symptoms of Phobia & Its Types

Leena is a young girl of age 26. She is extremely intelligent and talented but somehow she fears going on the stage to perform. Despite several attempts to motivate her to face the public and give a dancer performance, she never dared to do so. Getting scared to go on stage to perform, being sweaty when around people, and trembling when you are about to give a public appearance are all symptoms of phobia. Leena is sadly suffering from social phobia symptoms. 

Leena is not alone, several other people around us are afraid of something or the other. They have their own phobias and fears. They take time to overcome such phobias, and in some cases, they are not even able to overcome them for life. 

Let us dig deeper to understand the common symptoms of phobia, arachnophobia symptoms, and social phobia symptoms.

What is meant by Phobia?

A phobia is a common name for an irrational fear or a condition in which a person panics. Phobias can be of different types depending on some situations, objects, and people. It won’t be wrong to call phobia a kind of anxiety disorder, where a person is frightened in a particular condition and gets all sweaty, trembles, or panicked. 

Top 9 Causes of Phobia

Now, comes the big question of what causes phobia? Phobias are caused due to several reasons like:

• A past incident
• Environmental factor
• Genetic factor
• A distressing situation of the past
• Confined space
• Anxiety disorder
• Traumatic brain injury
• Depression
• Medical health problem

Top 12 Types of Phobias

As we mentioned earlier, phobias can be of different types depending on the situation and person. Some of the common types of phobias are:

1. Social Phobia: Social phobia, also known as social anxiety disorder is the worst type of phobia, which could lead a person to stay aloof from others. In this type of phobia, a person panic seeing people around. Some common social phobia symptoms are blushing, dizziness, sweating, trembling, and a fast heartbeat. 

2. Agoraphobia: Second common phobia is agoraphobia, which is a fear of open spaces or places. People suffering from this phobia tend to feel numb, have chills, trouble breathing, rapid heartbeat, excessive sweating, diarrhea, and chest pain. 

3. Glossophobia: This is a common type of phobia, where one is afraid to speak in front of an audience. Some symptoms of glossophobia are shaking legs, chills, sweating, trembling voice, and rapid heart rate. 

4. Claustrophobia: This is a phobia of tight spaces. Symptoms of claustrophobia are quite similar to other symptoms of phobia like sweating, dry mouth, choking, fast breathing, upset stomach, tightness of the chest, and chills. 

5. Cynophobia: Also, known as a fear of dogs, cynophobia is a fear in which a person feels anxious, and suffers from panic attacks the moment he/she sees a dog. Some other signs of cynophobia are crying, intense emotions, screaming, and panic. 

6. Dentophobia: Another type of phobia is dentophobia, in which a person is afraid of dental procedures. This kind of phobia affects a person generally in a dental clinic just before dental treatment. It could be so severe to make a person avoid any kind of dental care due to extreme panic. 

7. Aviophobia: This is a phobia, in which a person is afraid of flying. Some common symptoms of aviophobia are clouded thinking, shaking, nausea, sweating, heart palpitations, and irritability. 

8. Acrophobia: Similarly, acrophobia is a fear of heights. A person suffering from acrophobia may experience symptoms like trembling, dizziness, shortness of breath, and rapid heartbeat. 

9. Arachnophobia: People suffering from this type of phobia are afraid of spiders. Some common arachnophobia symptoms are shaking, trembling, sweating, dry mouth, choking, dizziness, and rapid heartbeat. 

10. Ophidiophobia: Another common type of phobia is Ophidiophobia, which is a fear of snakes. Some common symptoms of Ophidiophobia are rapid heartbeat, nausea, dizziness, trembling, and sweating. 

11. Nyctophobia: This kind of phobia is often experienced in children. In this phobia, a person is afraid of darkness. Some common signs of nyctophobia are sweating, hot or cold flashes, trouble breathing, dizziness, upset stomach, and chest tightness. 

12. Trypophobia: Last of all, there is trypophobia, which is a fear of a disease or a dangerous situation. It is one of the most common types of phobias. Some common trypophobia symptoms are chills, nausea, trembling, pale skin, fast breathing, and choking.

The Bottom Line

No matter, whichever type of phobia you are affected by, you need therapy to overcome its symptoms. Try seeking treatment and managing your fears to live a healthy and productive life. Life is to enjoy, so try to live life fully without any phobias by getting the right medications or cognitive behavior therapy from an expert.