Types of Phobias

According to the American Psychiatric Association, there are three types of phobias or phobic disorders.

Agoraphobia :
This is the fear of open spaces. This is the most common of all phobias that usually starts in late adolescence and early adulthood. People with this phobia avoid crowded places and social gatherings as these open spaces lead them to anxiety, panic and depression.

Social Phobia :
This is the fear of social gatherings and social situations. People tend to develop a fear of embarrassment or ridicule in social situations and as a result they avoid such situations. This type of fear often leads to loneliness. The fear also involves excessive drinking in order to steady the nerves of an individual before any social event.

Simple Phobia :
This is fear of specific objects, situations or activities. It is also called specific phobia. People with the fear of specific objects avoid specific objects like ants, snakes, birds, heights, lifts, closed spaces or blood.

Apart from the above mentioned types of phobias, the American Psychiatric Association has also introduced a new type of phobia called Life Cycle Phobia.

Life cycle phobias involve anything related to the age factor, relationship, health life and work life that greatly influences and hamper the normal life cycle of an individual. The most examples of this phobia are childhood phobias, losing children, growing old, divorce, getting married, senility, disease, middle age, puberty, dating, and death. These are the common fears that are developed by many individuals leading to mild anxiety and panic attacks.