[custom_adv] When a person has a phobia, they will often shape their lives to avoid what they consider to be dangerous. The imagined threat is greater than any actual threat posed by the cause of terror. [custom_adv] Phobias are diagnosable mental disorders. The person will experience intense distress when faced with the source of their phobia. This can prevent them from functioning normally and sometimes leads to panic attacks. In the United States, approximately 19 million people have phobias. [custom_adv] Phobias are one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. The National Institute of Mental Health suggests that eight percent of U.S. adults have some type of phobia. Women are more likely to experience phobias than men. Typical symptoms of phobias can include nausea, trembling, rapid heartbeat, feelings of unreality, and being preoccupied with the fear object. [custom_adv] While not comprehensive, this phobia list offers a glimpse of the many phobias that can have a serious impact on an individual's life. As you may notice while you browse through this list, most specific phobias fall into one of four major categories: fears of the natural environment, fears related to animals, fear related to medical treatments or issues, and fears related to specific situations. [custom_adv] One important thing to remember is that virtually any object can become a fear object. The names of specific phobias are often formed as nonce words, or words coined for a single occasion only. These names themselves are often formed by taking a Greek prefix that represents the fear object and adding the -phobia suffix. [custom_adv] While listing all of the phobias that may exist is not possible, it can be helpful to look through a list of some of the more commonly described phobias. As you can see by looking at this list, almost any object or situation can become the source of fear.
