Dentophobia – Fear of dentists – Very common, the British Dental Association (BDA) quote that as many as 25% of the UK population suffer from this.Coulrophobia – Fear of clowns – Another common fear, 12% of the population suffer from a genuine phobia of clowns.People affected by claustrophobia will often go out of their way to avoid confined spaces, such as lifts, tunnels and tube trains, but avoiding these places may reinforce the fear. It’s estimated around 10% of the UK population are affected by claustrophobia during their lifetime. Claustrophobia – Is the irrational fear of confined spaces.It is quite similar to climacophobia, or the fear of climbing stairs, except in its specific focus. Bathmophobia – Fear of stairs or steep slopes – Reportedly Donald Trump suffered from this phobia.Some people worry about something going wrong with the plane, whilst others suffer from anxiety about an internal loss of control and the sensation of flight. Aviophobia or Aerophobia – Fear of flying – YouGov found that around 24% of British people have some form of anxiety about getting on a plane.Arachnophobia – Fear of spiders – One of the most common phobias, as around 18% of us admit to being petrified of spiders and daddy-long-legs some people cannot even look at the eight-legged creatures on TV.Nearly a quarter of the population is reportedly “very afraid” of being up high, while a further 35% are “a little afraid”. Acrophobia – Fear of heights – According to the most recent survey from market researchers YouGov, heights are the UK’s biggest fear it is the most common phobia.But what is a phobia? A phobia has been defined as “an overwhelming and debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal” and they are either categorised as Simple Phobias, also known as Specific Phobias, or as Complex Phobias. The NHS estimate that 10 million people in the UK have phobias and that phobias are the most common type of anxiety disorder. A phobia develops when the mind has learnt to associate a certain situation or object with the ‘fight or flight’ fear response.įear is described as ‘phobic’ when the object or situation is ‘illogically’ feared beyond its ability to harm, when we cannot rationalise it or put it into perspective, when it involves avoidance of the fearful object or situation or when it cuts out choices, interferes with our daily living and reduces our quality of life. It becomes an ‘anxiety disorder’ when someone experiences uncomfortably high levels of ‘fight or flight’ arousal in situations where you would not normally expect to feel this level of fear. This prepares us for what is known as ‘fight or flight’ – either to fight for our lives, or run for them. This type of anxiety is very useful as it warns us when danger threatens.įear releases adrenaline and other chemicals into the blood and this speeds up our heart rate, sharpens our senses and heightens our physical powers. Fear is a normal part of life, and we encounter many things that can be dangerous, painful or frightening, such as fire, physical attacks, treacherous weather conditions or ferocious animals.
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