Irrational fears and phobias: the most common phobias, explained

You know the spider can’t hurt you. You know the plane is safe. But your body doesn’t care: your heart pounds, you feel sick and every part of you wants to get away.

That’s what a phobia feels like. Here’s what makes a fear “irrational”, the most common phobias, and why they respond so well to treatment.

What is an irrational fear?

A fear is often called irrational when it’s much stronger than the actual danger. You may even know it doesn’t make sense, but that knowledge doesn’t switch the fear off, because fear comes from fast, automatic parts of the brain rather than logic.

When an irrational fear is intense, lasts six months or more, leads you to avoid the thing you fear and gets in the way of life, it may be a phobia.

How common are phobias?

Very. Specific phobias are the most common type of anxiety disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 9.1% of US adults have a specific phobia in a given year, and about 12.5% at some point in their lives.

The most common phobias

Doctors group specific phobias into five types:

Type	Examples
Animals	Spiders, snakes, dogs, insects, birds
Natural environment	Heights, storms, water, the dark
Blood, injection and injury	Needles, blood, medical procedures, dentists
Situations	Flying, lifts, enclosed spaces, tunnels, driving, bridges
Other	Vomiting, choking, loud noises, costumed characters

Fears of public speaking, being judged or leaving the house are common too, but they’re usually part of social anxiety or agoraphobia rather than specific phobias.

Some of our posts go into detail on claustrophobia, fear of heights, fear of the dark, fear of holes, fear of being alone, flying and dentists.

Unusual and rare phobias

People can develop a phobia of almost anything, and many unusual ones have Greek or Latin names, like cathisophobia (fear of sitting down) or arachibutyrophobia (fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth). Many of these names appear on online lists rather than in medical manuals, but the experience behind them can be real and distressing. Whatever the fear, the same treatment principles apply.

Why phobias develop

• A frightening experience, like being bitten by a dog or stuck in a lift
• Watching someone else be afraid, especially a parent in childhood
• Being told something is dangerous
• A panic attack in a particular situation
• Temperament and genes, which make some people more prone to fear
• Evolution: we may be primed to fear things that were dangerous to our ancestors, like heights, snakes and spiders

Avoidance then keeps the phobia going: each time you avoid, you feel relief, which teaches your brain the thing really was dangerous.

Treatment works, often quickly

The most effective treatment for specific phobias is exposure therapy: facing the feared thing gradually and safely until the fear fades. A review of 33 trials found exposure-based treatments worked better than other approaches. Some phobias respond in very few sessions. Our post on exposure therapy explains how it works.

Medicine isn’t usually needed for specific phobias, although a doctor may sometimes suggest something short-term for a one-off situation.

When to get help

Talk to a doctor if a phobia is limiting your life, for example stopping you from flying, getting medical care, going to work or enjoying time with family.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most common phobia?

Specific phobias as a group are the most common anxiety disorder. Fears of animals, like spiders and snakes, and of heights are among the most commonly reported.

What is the difference between a fear and a phobia?

A fear is a normal response to danger. A phobia is intense, lasting and out of proportion to the real risk, leads to avoidance and gets in the way of your life.

What is the rarest phobia?

There’s no official ranking. People can develop a phobia of almost anything, and many very specific phobias are rare. What matters is how much a fear affects your life, not how unusual it is.

Can phobias be cured?

Many people overcome phobias completely with exposure-based therapy, often faster than they expect.

How Breatheasy can help

Breatheasy can support you as you face your fear step by step. Tap “I’m feeling anxious” and Luma walks you through slow breathing and grounding, then shows how far your anxiety came down, which is exactly what exposure teaches: fear rises, then falls. Breatheasy is coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Sources

• Specific phobia statistics, National Institute of Mental Health
• Phobias, NHS
• Psychological approaches in the treatment of specific phobias: a meta-analysis, Wolitzky-Taylor and others, Clinical Psychology Review, 2008