1. Thomas Bestul Kevin Murphy
PHOBIAS
Thomas Bestul Kevin Murphy

2. List of PHOBIAS Agoraphobia- fear of open spaces
Acrophobia- fear of heights
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia- Fear of long words (Ironic, eh?)
Hemophobia- fear of blood
Genuphobia- fear of knees
Mysophobia- fear of germs
Phobophobia- fear of phobias
Xenophobia- fear of strangers
Zoophobia- fear of animals
Pteriphobia- fear of ferns
(Cherry, 2010) (Liebgold, 1995)

3. Prognosis Phobias are the most easily treatable mental health problem
However, an untreated phobia will usually never go away, and some, like agoraphobia, only get worse over time
Attempts to avoid these phobias usually result in self-destructive behavior, such as smoking, alcoholism, and low self-esteem

4. Symptoms of a Phobia Feelings of panic, dread, or terror
Recognition that the fear is abnormal
Rapid heartbeat, trembling, overwhelming desire to get away
Taking extreme measures to avoid the fear
Impaired ability to function at normal tasks due to the fear

5. DIAGNOSIS Only trained mental health professional can diagnose phobias
Phobias can appear with other mental disorders
Can be diagnosed under one of the 3 types of phobias ( social phobia, specific phobia, and agoraphobia)
Exact diagnosis varies depending on the phobia
(Fritscher, 2009)

6. Treatment for Phobias
The most common treatment for phobias is exposure therapy
This allows the patient to face his phobia in a safe environment
After they face their phobia in the controlled environment and believe they are ready, they will face their fear in real life
Each phobia has a specialized treatment depending on the particular phobia
(Melinda, 2001)

7. Statistics
Phobias are very hard to track statistically, since a phobia usually cannot be medically diagnosed until age 18
Out of all American adults between ages 18-54, 5.3 million suffer from social phobia, 3.2 million from agoraphobia, and 6.3 million from specific phobia
The three most popular fears are animals, heights, and blood

8. Comorbidity with other Disorders
Social phobia is comorbid with many other disorders
Some of the disorders are low self-esteem, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, drug addictions, panic disorder, alcoholism, and social anxiety disorder
(“Social phobia: comorbidity”, 2007)

9. Etiology of Phobia
There are many theories to the origin, or etiology, of the specific phobias a person holds
One theory says that phobias have an organic base. For example, firstborn children have an 80% greater chance of developing phobias than younger siblings
Another theory states that phobias are developed by watching other people during childhood, mainly parents, and observing how they react to their own phobias.
Most experts would agree that traumatic childhood events are also a cause of phobias

10. Celebrity Phobias
Nicole Kidman- Lepidopterophobia (fear of butterflies)
Carmen Electra- Hydrophobia (fear of water)
Orlando Bloom- Swinophobia (fear of pigs)
Pamela Anderson- Eisoptrophobia (fear of mirrors)
Christina Ricci- Pteriphobia (fear of ferns)
Billy Bob Thornton- Altussessiophobia (fear of antique furniture)
Lyle Lovett- Bovine phobia (fear of cows)
Uma Thurman- Claustrophobia (fear of small spaces)
( “Fears and phobias”, 2010)

11. Strange Phobias Aerophobia- fear of swallowing air
Aulophobia- fear of flutes
Basophobia- fear of walking
Chaetophobia- Fear of hair
Chromatophobia- Fear of colors
Geumaphobia- Fear of taste
Kathisophobia- Fear of sitting down
Nomatophobia- Fear of names
Pogonophobia- Fear of beards (Ke$ha does not have this disorder)
Xanthophobia- Fear of the color yellow (Silva, 2010)

12. Works Cited
Silva, S. (2010). Weird phobias, strange phobias, funny phobias, unusual phobias. Retrieved from
Liebgold, H. (1995, July 17). The phobia list. Retrieved from
Cherry, K. (2010). Phobia list- an a to z list of phobias. Ask.com part of The New York Times, Retrieved from
Social phobia: comorbidity. (2007). Retrieved from
Smith, M. (2001). Phobias and fears. HELPGUIDE, Retrieved from
Fears and phobias of 25 big time celebrities. (2010). Netscape Celebrity, Retrieved from
Fritscher, L. (2009, February 07). Diagnosing a phobia. Ask.com part of The New York Times, Retrieved from