Phobias

A phobia is an excessive, unreasonable or irrational fear of an object, place or situation. Phobias are extremely common. A person can become phobic of something at any point in their lifetime, sometimes they start in childhood for no apparent reason; sometimes they emerge after a traumatic event; and sometimes they develop from an attempt to make sense of an unexpected and intense anxiety or panic (e.g. "I feel fearful, therefore I must be afraid of something").
 

A person could become phobic to just about anything and broadly speaking phobias can be split into two groups, Thing or object phobias ( eg. Cats, dogs etc.) and process phobias (flying, injections, dental phobias). Some phobias are a combination of the two, eg emetophobia the fear of vomit and sickness.
 

When the phobic person actually encounters, or even anticipates being in the presence of the feared object or situation, they experiences immediate anxiety.

The physical symptoms of anxiety may include:a racing heart, shortness of breath, sweating, chest or abdominal discomfort, trembling, etc.

The emotional component involves an intense fear -

of losing control,

embarrassing oneself,

passing out.
 

Commonly people try to escape, and then to avoid the feared situation wherever possible. Avoiding the feared situation may limit their life severely. Escape and avoidance also make the feared object/situation more frightening.