2. oAlso called phobic neurosis ogeneral term for all phobias is phobic disorder oa phobia is an irrational, persistent, excessive fear of a specific object or situation oseverity ranges from mild & unobtrusive to severe & results in incapacity to work/travel/interact with others osignificantly impairs an individual's social/work performance oinvolves a sense of endangerment or fear of harm in most cases

3. I.3 types of phobias: 1.Social phobia a)fear of interpersonal situation where embarrassment could occur 2.Specific phobias a)animal b)natural environment c)blood injection/injury d)situational 3.Agoraphobia a) fear of being alone in public places, especially in places where a quick exit would be difficult if a panic attack was to happen

4. Common symptoms: You feel uncontrollable anxiety when exposed to the source of your fear You feel the need to do everything possible to avoid your fear You are unable to even function normally because of your anxiety You know your fears are unreasonable/exaggerated but you’re not able to control it You get anxiety just thinking about your fear Physical & psychological reactions:  Sweating  Rapid heartbeat  Difficulty breathing  Feeling of panic/intense anxiety

5. You should consider seeking medical or physical treatment when your unreasonable fear is a big nuisance and is seriously disrupting your life, you’re not able to function at work or in social environments. The right therapy can help most people. There is still a lot unknown about the actual cause of phobias. Some studies show a connection between phobias of people and their parents. Children might learn it from observing a family member’s reaction to objects or situations. Brain chemicals, genetics, and traumatic experiences have also shown an influence on the development of phobias. Your age, your gender, and your family play a factor in your risk of developing phobias. Most social phobias develop more often between ages 11 & 15 and very rarely after 25. Although people from either sex are affected by phobias, women and girls are twice as likely to have a social phobia than men and boys. Guys have a tendency to hide their anxiety or mask it with alcohol and not seek help as likely as women do for emotional problems. If someone in your immediate family has a specific phobia there is a higher chance of you developing as well.

6. Sciophobia: Fear of shadows Scolionophobia: Fear of school Sociophobia: Fear of society or people in general Somniphobia: Fear of sleep Spectrophobia: Fear of ghosts Spheksophobia: Fear of wasps Stenophobia: Fear of narrow things or places Suriphobia: Fear of mice Tachophobia: Fear of speed Taurophobia: Fear of bulls Technophobia: Fear of technology Telephonophobia: Fear of telephones Thalassophobia: Fear of the sea Thanatophobia or Thantophobia: Fear of death or dying Tocophobia: Fear of pregnancy or childbirth Tomophobia: Fear of surgical operations Traumatophobia: Fear of injury Trypanophobia: Fear of injections Urophobia: Fear of urine or urinating Verbophobia: Fear of verbal words Venustraphobia: Fear of beautiful women Verminophobia: Fear of germs Virginitiphobia: Fear of rape Wiccaphobia: Fear of witches and witchcraft Xenoglossophobia: Fear of foreign languages Xenophobia: Fear of strangers or foreigners Xyrophobia: Fear of razors Zeusophobia: Fear of God or gods Zoophobia Zoophobia : Fear of animals Ablutophobia: Fear of washing or bathing Anemophobia: Fear of wind Anthrophobia: Fear of flowers Batophobia: Fear of being close to high buildings Bibliophobia: Fear of books Chaetophobia: Fear of hair Chionophobia: Fear of snow Chronophobia: Fear of time Dendrophobia: Fear of trees Didaskaleinophobia: Fear of school Eisoptrophobia: Fear of mirrors Eosophobia: Fear of daylight Ergophobia: Fear of work Geliophobia: Fear of laughter Graphophobia: Fear of writing Heliophobia: Fear of the sun Hemophobia: Fear of blood Homichlophobia: Fear of fog Kainophobia: Fear of anything new Lachanophobia: Fear of vegetables Logophobia: Fear of written words Melophobia: Fear of music Metrophobia: Fear of poetry Neophobia: Fear of anything new, again... Oneirophobia: Fear of dreams Phengophobia: Fear of daylight, again... Photophobia: Fear of light Pogonophobia: Fear of beards List of some Phobias:

8. Sources: http://www.weird-phobias.com/list.htm http://psychology.about.com/od/phobias/f/dis_phobiadef.htm http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=phobic%20disorder http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/reports/depression_anxiety/922- 1.html?type=pf http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/288016-overview http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/phobias/DS00272/METHOD=print&DSECTI ON=all