Most Common Phobias - 9 Causes of Fear and Panic

Fear of Public Speaking and Spiders Often Cause Anxious Behavior

Feb 18, 2007
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen

Most Common Phobias Causing Fear and Panic - sxc clix

These most common phobias include a psychological explanation of how fear and panic is caused. Phobic behavior is psychological and stems from irrational fears.

The most common phobias in psychology include irrational fears of snakes, spiders, heights, and water. Fear of public speaking and fear of flying are also common phobias.

Psychological experts say that phobias are evolutionary, and thus not necessarily irrational. The most common phobias involve an overblown response to a situation that could be dangerous, such as a spider bite or speaking in public. Both situations are potentially dangerous. For instance, when you give a speech you could say or do something dumb and thus be rejected. This results in phobic behavior, or even panic attacks.

Social phobia, dental phobia, flying phobia, driving phobia are all examples of anxiety-inducing situations -- but they aren't the most common phobias.

A Psychological Explanation of How Phobias Evolve

Phobias grow from a normal fear based on reality and logic, to an overwhelmingly irrational avoidance of a harmless situation. For example, if you're running in the park and a snake slithers across the path in front of you, you may quit jogging in that park. That anxiety may not simply dissipate even though you no longer run in the park – it could spill over to running on the street, and even running on a treadmill in the gym. Some phobias develop this way.

Some common phobias and anxieties grow from a relatively benign experience -- or they arise from something traumatic. Sometimes, phobias evolve into anxiety disorders.

Possible causes of common phobias:

Physical makeup or genetics. You're simply born afraid of spiders or public speaking.
Chemical causes. Your brain has chemical imbalances that cause you to think irrationally.
Environmental causes. Your parents are highly anxious and afraid, and you learned their responses.
Medical causes. Some medical conditions, such as hypoglycemia, can trigger phobic responses or even panic attacks.

Forbes Magazine recently listed the nine most common phobias in "Our Most Common Fears."

The 9 Most Common Phobias in Psychology

Bugs, Mice, Snakes, and Bats. They're unpredictable, creepy-crawly, and possibly poisonous – who wouldn't be afraid? Spiders are the most common phobia.
Heights. We're afraid of them because we can't fly and we could fall. These are reasonable reasons for being anxious at the top of cliffs!
Water. Fear of water can be innate or learned due to a near-drowning experience. Water is a common phobia.
Public Transportation. We feel more vulnerable in public crowded places because we have less control over other people or situations. Fleeing is much more difficult, making crowded places a source of anxiety.
Storms. Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and even thunderstorms can cause irrational anxiety – because we know the damage they can cause.
Closed Spaces. Feeling trapped (imagine being in a coffin!) feels horrible. Evolutionary roots involve animals and traps or cages – our need to be free makes this a common phobia.
Tunnels and Bridges. Going through a tunnel is similar to being in a closed space, which makes you feel vulnerable. The fear of small spaces is a common phobia.
Crowds. Similar to being on crowded public transportation, huge groups of people can make us feel trapped and vulnerable. This common phobia is related to the fear of public speaking.
Speaking in Public. We feel like we'll be judged, we worry what we look and sound like, and some of us have anxiety attacks. We don't want to embarrass ourselves, especially in front of peers.