Types of phobias

Phobias are categorised as either specific (simple) or complex.

Types of Specific Phobia

There are five types of specific phobia:

• Animal Type (I.e., mice, spiders, insects)
• Environment Type (I.e., heights, storms, ocean)
• Blood-Injection-Injury Type (I.e., seeing blood, medical procedures, receiving injections)
• Situational Type (I.e., driving, flying, elevators, enclosed spaces)
• Other Types (I.e., vomiting, choking, contracting an illness)

Some of the most common phobias include:

• Acrophobia: the fear of heights
• Arachnophobia: the fear of spiders
• Claustrophobia: the fear of confined spaces
• Ophidiophobia: the fear of snakes
• Cynophobia: the fear of dogs
• Astraphobia: the fear of thunder and lightning
• Aerophobia: the fear of flying
• Mysophobia: the fear of germs, dirt, or other contaminants
• Trypanophobia: the fear of injections

Types of Complex Phobia

Agoraphobia, is often misunderstood as a fear of open spaces, but it is more complex and relates to the fear of being alone or being in places or situations you feel unable to escape from.